How a game goes

Drawing, discarding and calling

On 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.

Turn order

When the Charleston ends, the dealer (East) discards first (the dealer already holds an extra tile, so there is no draw on the first turn). Play then moves to the right:

1. Draw a tile (the game draws it for you and highlights it)
2. Discard a tile

You always hold 13 tiles, or 14 just after drawing.

Discarding

Tap the tile you want to throw, then press “Discard” — or tap the same tile again. On a computer you can also select a tile and press Enter.

Worried about throwing the wrong tile? “Confirm before discarding” is on by default. Once you’re comfortable, you can turn it off in Settings so a single tap discards.

Not sure what to throw? Press “Suggest”. The suggested tile is usually one that none of your closest hands can use.

Calling: taking another player’s discard

When someone discards a tile you can use, buttons pop up at the bottom of the screen:

• Call pung (3) / Call kong (4) / Call quint (5): combine tiles from your hand (or jokers) with the discard to make a group, expose it on the table, then discard a tile.
• Mah Jongg!: this tile completes your hand.
• Pass: let the tile go.

Once you call, it’s your turn to discard right away. Any players in between are skipped, and you don’t draw.

When you can’t call

• No calling for singles or pairs. You can only call a tile to make a group of 3 or more. The exception: if that single or pair tile is the last one you need for Mah Jongg, you can call it to win.
• A discarded joker is dead. Nobody can call it, not even to win.
• Concealed hands (C) can’t expose. When you’re going for a concealed hand, the only tile you can call is the one that wins.
• If an exposure would leave no hand on the card you could still make, the game won’t let you call. So whenever you see a button, calling is legal.

When several players want the same tile

• Mah Jongg beats a pung or kong call.
• Between two Mah Jongg calls (or two exposure calls), the player next in turn after the discarder wins.

Exposed groups

A group exposed on the table is locked in — you can’t take it back or break it up. Once it’s out, everyone can see what you’re working on, and you are limited to hands that still use those groups.

So unless the tile is critical to you, don’t call a pung just because you can.

Mah Jongg

Collect 14 tiles that exactly match a hand on the card:

• Drawn by you: on your turn the “Mah Jongg!” button appears; press it to win self-drawn.
• Discarded by someone else: press “Mah Jongg!” when it’s offered. The player who threw that tile is the discarder and pays the most.

For how scores are worked out, see Mah Jongg and scoring.

Wall games

If the wall runs out before anyone makes Mah Jongg, it’s a wall game: nobody pays, and the deal passes to the next player.