American Mahjong Beginner’s Guide
Everything you need for your first game: the tiles, how to read the card, the Charleston, calling, jokers and scoring. Read it in order, or jump to the chapter you need.
New to American mahjong? Start here
In five minutes you will know what the goal is, how a game flows and what every part of the table does. Then deal your first hand against easy bots.
The basics
1Your first gameThe goal of American mahjong, how a game flows and what each part of the table does. Read this page and you are ready to play.2Meet the 152 tilesThree suits, winds, three dragons, flowers and jokers. Watch out for one thing — each dragon belongs to a suit, and the Soap can also stand in for 0.3Reading the cardEvery line on the card is a hand you can win with. Learn what the numbers, colors, D, F, 0, X and C mean and you can read the whole card.
How a game goes
4The CharlestonThe tile-passing ritual before play. The first Charleston is required, anyone can stop the second, and you finish with an optional courtesy pass of up to 3 tiles across.5Drawing, discarding and callingOn your turn, draw a tile and discard a tile. You can only call a discard to complete a group of 3 or more, or to win — never for a single or a pair.6Jokers and joker swapsA joker can replace any tile in a group of 3 or more, but never in a single or a pair. On your turn you can also swap a real tile for a joker in any exposure on the table.7Mah Jongg and scoringEvery hand’s value is printed on the card. The discarder pays double and the others pay once; on a self-drawn win all three pay double; jokerless doubles it again.
Going further
8Helper and settingsThe card panel works out your closest hands and how many tiles each still needs, and drops hands that can no longer be made. Settings let you enlarge tiles, change speed and toggle hints.9Strategy for beginnersPick two or three directions early, keep your jokers, read the discards for dead hands, don’t rush to expose and watch out for feeding a win. Start with easy bots and work your way up.10FAQStuck mid-game? Why you can’t call a tile, why jokers won’t select, why a button is grayed out, where your game went… Find the answer by what just happened.
Stuck in a game?
Start from what just happened — no need to reread the whole guide.
- I need that discard, so why is there no call button?
- I can’t select my jokers during the Charleston
- The “Pass 3” button is grayed out
- I think my hand is complete, but there’s no “Mah Jongg!” button
- Why did a hand disappear from the card panel?
- The bots play too fast for me to follow
- The tiles are too small
- Will I lose my game if I close the tab?
- Where are my stats saved?
- Is this card the same as the official card?
- Can I play with friends?
- Some rules differ from how we play at home