How to play mahjong: your first game

What do you do in mahjong?

In traditional four-player mahjong, you draw and discard tiles to build a legal winning hand of sets and a pair. Most familiar variants use four sets; Taiwanese mahjong normally uses five. Start by agreeing on a variant, then learn its winning and scoring rules. This is the table game, distinct from mahjong solitaire.

Start with a table.

Mahjong is usually a four-player game of drawing and discarding tiles to complete a winning hand. You build your own hand while watching what everyone else chooses to reveal. The decisions become rich; the basic rhythm is wonderfully small.

This is the social tile game, distinct from the single-player tile-matching puzzles also called mahjong. You do not need to memorise every scoring pattern before sitting down. You do need to agree on the rules your table is using.

Mahjong has several traditions. Hong Kong, Taiwanese, Japanese riichi, Mahjong Competition Rules, and American mahjong have meaningful differences. This introduction explains the common building blocks of set-based play. For the Mahjong app’s rules, continue with our Taiwanese guide.

Meet the tiles.

A common set has three numbered suits: dots, bamboo, and characters. Each suit runs from one to nine, with four copies of each tile. There are also honour tiles: East, South, West, and North winds, plus the Red, Green, and White dragons.

Those suits and honours make 136 tiles. Sets that include eight bonus flowers and seasons have 144. Some traditions add other tiles or use a different selection, so begin with your table’s set and rules.

Numbered tiles can form sequences within one suit. Honour tiles cannot form sequences: East, South, and West together are not a run. This is one of the most helpful distinctions to learn early.

Think in sets and a pair.

In many common forms of mahjong, an ordinary winning hand consists of four sets and a pair. Each set is a sequence of three consecutive numbers in the same suit, three identical tiles, or a declared four-of-a-kind. A pair is two identical tiles.

For example, 2–3–4 bamboo is a sequence. Three Red dragons are a triplet. Two 7 dots make a pair. A sequence never crosses suits or wraps from nine back to one.

You may hear a sequence called a chow or sheung, a triplet a pung or pong, and four-of-a-kind a kong or gong. Names vary between tables and languages. Ask, then use the vocabulary of the people you are playing with.

Taiwanese play normally adds a fifth set: five sets and one pair make a 17-tile winning structure. Most players hold 16 tiles between turns. Declared gongs and bonus flowers need special counting. A completed shape must also satisfy the scoring rules of the chosen variant.

Draw. Consider. Discard.

Once the wall is built and the hands are dealt, the dealer begins with an extra tile and discards first. On an ordinary turn after that, you draw a tile, consider the hand it creates, and discard one tile face up.

Your aim is to improve the hand while noticing the information around the table. Which suits are your neighbours discarding? Which tiles are already visible? A tile you do not need may be exactly what another player is waiting for.

A discard can sometimes be claimed to complete a set or a winning hand. Claims interrupt the ordinary draw-and-discard sequence, but eligibility and priority depend on the rules. In the app’s Taiwanese game, a winning claim has priority; pong and gong claims outrank a sheung; only the next player may claim a discard for a sheung.

When a legal hand is complete, declare mahjong according to the table’s procedure. If nobody wins before the live wall is exhausted, the hand is drawn and your rules determine what happens next.

Give your first game some room.

For a first session, keep the stakes to points and let everyone ask questions. Sort your tiles by suit, leave space between possible sets, and learn to recognise a pair without committing to it too early.

1. Agree on the variant, winning requirements, and scoring before the first deal.
2. Ask an experienced player to explain one full turn and one legal claim.
3. Keep exposed sets clear, and leave discards visible to everyone.
4. Confirm a winning hand together before clearing the table.
5. After the hand, revisit one decision. You do not need to analyse every tile.

A good first session leaves you wanting another. Familiarity comes from the small repetitions: finding your draw, choosing your discard, seeing a pattern a little sooner.