Since there’s such a big difference between the two “mahjong,” we’ll split our guide for the best mahjong apps into two sections. The tiles are placed in four-layered patterns that only “open” or “expose” the tile if they’re on the edges without any tiles piled on top of them. This player then matches 144 “open” mahjong tiles thereby removing them from the board. Solitaire mahjong is usually played with just one player to clear the game board. This version is usually called “Solitaire Mahjong” due to its gameplay being closer to that card game than actual mahjong.

The second version is more widely known as “mahjong” in the west, but it is actually an entirely different game that only uses mahjong tiles. While they still share base rules and gameplay, the variations also use additional tiles like “Flowers” and “Seasons” tiles or replace tiles with local equivalents. This version has many rules and playing variations worldwide from Old Hong Kong style to American and Japanese (Riichi) style mahjong. Tiles are laid face down and arranged into a two-high square which gets slowly dealt out to players. The first type is the traditional mahjong gameplay where four or three players compete for winning hands or melds similar to the card game gin rummy. Modern mahjong players, especially in the west, would probably understand the game as two completely different things. There may be more or fewer tiles depending on the type of mahjong rules, but they usually start with the base 136 tiles.Īlso read: 20 Best Card Games on Android and iOS Aside from the suits, there are also four “Winds” tiles and three “Dragons” tiles with four duplicates. The suits then have four identical copies each. Tiles are mainly ceramic or porcelain rectangular cuboids with printed “suits, honors, and bonuses.” These suits are usually split into “dots, bamboo, and characters,” with numbers going from one to nine. The game is played using tiles, dice, and a set of printed markers. In the US, it first gained popularity in the 1920s and was usually stylized as “Mah-Jong” instead. It slowly spread through East Asia and Southeast Asia before being introduced to the west in the 19th Century. Mahjong itself is an old tile-based strategy game that comes from Qing China in the 18th Century. Tips for New Players of Traditional Mahjongįirst off, what is mahjong? It’s an easy enough question to answer, depending on who you ask.Traditional Mahjong vs Solitaire Mahjong.

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