How to play Mahjong

Seats and rule choice

You sit East. Set South, West and North individually to wait for a human, AI only, or AI that a human can replace during play. Games start once all four chairs are filled. Spectators can Watch, then join an eligible AI chair and inherit its current hand. Choose the rules before creating the table; existing games retain their rules.

American · GamingHub hand card

American play uses eight interchangeable flowers and eight jokers in a 152-tile set. Complete a pattern on the original GamingHub American v1 hand card shown at the table. This permanent card is separate from annual league cards. Its families are Step ladder, Four winds, Three towers, Dragon garden, Seven stepping pairs and Twin fives.

Start with a three-pass Charleston: select three tiles to pass right, then across, then left. Jokers cannot be passed. Each pass resolves after all four players submit. East starts with 14 tiles and discards after the Charleston. The optional second Charleston, courtesy and blind passes are omitted in this house ruleset.

Jokers replace tiles only in matching sets of three or more, never singles or pairs. Claim a discard to expose a matching pung, kong or quint permitted by the hand card; chows are not allowed. You cannot claim a discarded joker. Concealed pairs remain hidden until Mahjong. During your discard phase, exchange a matching natural tile for a joker in any exposed set. The first complete hand wins; its card value is displayed without payments or multi-round scoring.

Chinese objective and turns

Make four melds and one pair. A meld is a pung of three identical tiles or a chow of three consecutive tiles in one numbered suit. East draws first. On your turn, draw to 14 tiles, declare Mahjong if complete, or discard one tile.

Chinese discard claims

Before the next draw, any opponent may claim the latest discard to win or form a pung. Only the player immediately after the discarder may claim it for a chow. A claim exposes the meld, then the claimant discards without drawing.

Chinese tile limits

Chows use Bamboo, Character, or Dot tiles only. Winds and dragons can be pairs or pungs. Four copies of each tile exist, so exposed melds and discards show what is still possible.

Chinese variant

The first valid declaration wins; if the wall empties after the final draw, the game is a draw. The streamlined Chinese option retains four melds and a pair, without kongs, flowers, seasons, seven pairs, thirteen orphans, fan requirements, payments, or round scoring.