How a game goes

Jokers and joker swaps

A 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.

Where can jokers go?

A set has 8 jokers. A joker can stand in for any tile in a group of 3 or more (a pung, kong or quint):

Where can’t jokers go?

• Singles and pairs: FF, NEWS and the year 2026, for example, all need real tiles.
• Singles & Pairs hands can’t use a single joker.
• They can’t be passed in the Charleston.
• A discarded joker is dead. Nobody can call it, so throwing a joker just gives it away to the discard pile.

Joker swaps

This is the most fun move in American mahjong: on your turn, if any player’s exposure on the table (yours included) contains a joker, and you hold the real tile that joker stands for, you can swap your real tile for the joker.

In the game, a “Swap joker” button appears on any exposure you can swap from, and a hint at the bottom of the screen says “You can swap a joker out of an exposure.”

• Swap on your turn, before you discard.
• You can make several swaps in one turn, as long as you hold the matching real tiles.
• A joker you take can go into any of your own groups of 3 or more.

Getting the most out of jokers

• Keep your jokers. Unless your hand is a singles-and-pairs hand where jokers are useless, don’t throw them.
• Win without jokers and the payout doubles. If your hand is already looking clean, consider going jokerless — but don’t pass up a winning tile just for the bonus.
• If your exposure has a joker in it, others can take it. When you call and expose a group, the game uses your real tiles first and only adds jokers if it has to.
• When you see a joker in someone else’s exposure, check whether you hold the matching tile — you might be able to grab it.