How to Play American Mahjong
A beginner's guide to the tiles, the card, the Charleston and how a game is won.
American mahjong in a nutshell
American mahjong is a game for four players, built around tiles and a card of winning hands. Each player builds a hand of 14 tiles that matches one of the hands on the card. The first to complete a hand calls "Mahjong!" and wins the game.
It is a game of skill, strategy and a little luck, and it is very social. Most people learn it in an afternoon and spend years getting better.
The tiles
A standard American set has 152 tiles:
- Three suits, numbered 1 to 9, four of each: Bams (bamboo), Cracks (characters) and Dots (circles).
- Winds: North, East, West and South, four of each.
- Dragons: Red, Green and White (the White Dragon is often called the Soap), four of each. Each dragon goes with a suit.
- Flowers: eight.
- Jokers: eight. A joker can stand in for any tile in a group of three or more identical tiles.
Some groups also play with blanks, extra plain tiles that let a player trade a blank for a discarded tile. In Mahj Muddle, the match type tells you whether blanks are in play: Modern and Party are played with blanks, Traditional and Power without.
The card
Every year the National Mahjong League publishes a new card listing that year's winning hands, grouped into sections. Every player needs the current card; you can buy it from the National Mahjong League. The hands change each year, which keeps the game fresh.
A hand on the card shows exactly which tiles you need: which numbers, which suits, which groups, and whether the hand must stay concealed.
How a game goes
- Build the wall. The tiles are shuffled face down and stacked into a wall in front of each player.
- Deal. Each player takes 13 tiles. East, the dealer, takes 14 and starts.
- The Charleston. Before play, everyone passes tiles they don't want to their neighbors, three at a time, in a set order: right, across, left. A second round is optional, then a courtesy pass across. It is the best chance to steer your tiles toward a hand.
- Play. On your turn you take a tile from the wall and discard one, face up. Play moves around the table.
- Calling a discard. You may claim another player's discard when it completes a group of three or more (an exposure, laid face up) or when it gives you Mahjong.
- Mahjong! The first player whose 14 tiles exactly match a hand on the card wins. If the wall runs out first, it is a wall game and nobody wins.
A few rules beginners ask about
- Jokers can't be used for a single tile or a pair. A discarded joker can't be called.
- Swapping a joker: on your turn, if someone has a joker in an exposure and you hold the tile it stands for, you may swap it in and take the joker.
- Dead hand: if a player exposes tiles that can't make any hand on the card, their hand is dead. They stop playing but still pay.
The best way to learn is to play
Reading a guide gets you started; sitting at a table makes it click. Mahj Muddle leagues welcome beginners, players are matched by level, and many leagues offer a TryIt pass so you can play one match before joining a season.