Mahjong facts for kids

Basic equipment: chips, tiles and dice.

Mahjong is a fun game for four players that started in China. It's a mix of skill, smart thinking, planning, and a bit of luck!

How to Play Mahjong

Mahjong is played at a square table. One player is called "East," and the others are "South," "West," and "North" based on where they sit. If the East player wins a round, they stay East for the next one. If they don't win, the player to their right (North) becomes the new East. A game usually ends when each player has been the dealer four times, or when they've played a set number of rounds.

Old Hong Kong Mahjong

A set of Mahjong tiles.

There are many ways to play Mahjong, with different rules and tiles. "Old Hong Kong Mahjong" is a great way to learn because it uses the most common tiles and has simpler rules and scoring. This article will focus on this version.

Game Pieces and What They Do

You play Old Hong Kong Mahjong with a standard set of tiles. Sometimes, people use cards instead. Mahjong sets often come with:

Counters: To keep score.
Dice: To decide how to start the game.
A marker: To show who the dealer is and which round is being played.

Some sets also have racks to hold your tiles, especially if the tiles are big or have a unique shape.

A Mahjong set usually has at least 136 tiles, but most have 144. Sets from the United States or Southeast Asia might have even more. Mahjong tiles are sorted into three groups:

Suits (called Simples)
Honors
Bonuses

Simples Tiles

There are three types of Simples tiles: Bamboos, Dots, and Characters. Each type has tiles numbered from 1 to 9. There are four identical copies of each Simples tile. This means there are 108 Simples tiles in total.

		Numbers
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Simples	Dots
	Bamboo
	Characters

Honors Tiles

Honors tiles come in two types: Winds and Dragons.

The Winds are East, South, West, and North. In Mahjong, East is always the starting direction.
The Dragons are Red, Green, and White. The White Dragon tile might be blank or have a simple frame.

These tiles don't have numbers like the Simples tiles.

Winds
East	South	West	North

Dragons
Red	Green	White

Bonus Tiles

There are two kinds of Bonus tiles: Flowers and Seasons. Unlike other tiles, there's only one of each of these tiles. There are four Flower tiles and four Season tiles in a set. Each tile shows a different flower or season.

When you draw a Bonus tile, you don't keep it in your hand. You set it aside near your other tiles (it helps with scoring later if you win). Then, you draw an extra tile to replace it.

Flowers
1	2	3	4

Seasons
1	2	3	4

You don't need to know the names of the Bonus tiles, just their numbers. The Flowers are Plum (1), Orchid (2), Chrysanthemum (3), and Bamboo (4). The Seasons are Spring (1), Summer (2), Autumn (3), and Winter (4).

Starting the Game

First, you need to decide who is the dealer (East player). One way is for each player to roll dice, and the highest roll becomes East. Another way is to pick a "Wind" tile (East, South, West, North) face down. The tile you pick shows your starting position. Players sit at their chosen "wind position" around the table. East is the dealer, South is to their right, West is across, and North is to their left. Play usually goes counter-clockwise.

Hands, Rounds, and Matches

A full game of Mahjong (a "match") has four "rounds." Each round represents a "prevailing wind," starting with East. After the East round, you play a South round, then West, then North. The prevailing wind affects how you score points. A special marker usually shows the current prevailing wind.

In each round, at least four "hands" are played, with each player taking a turn as the dealer. In the first hand of a round, the player who won the dice roll is East (dealer). For the next hand, the player to their right becomes East, and so on, moving counter-clockwise. This continues until all four players have been the dealer. A marker helps keep track of who is East and the current round number.

If the East player wins a hand, or if no one wins (a "draw" or "goulash hand"), an extra hand is played. The same player stays East, and the prevailing wind doesn't change. This means a game could go on for a long time! Some players set a limit on how many extra hands can be played.

Dealing the Tiles

Shuffling Tiles

First, all the tiles are placed face down on the table and mixed up. Everyone should help shuffle, moving the tiles around loudly for a while. If any tiles flip over, quickly turn them back face down so no one knows what they are.

Stacking Tiles

Next, each player builds a "wall" of tiles in front of them. You stack 18 tiles in a row, two tiles high (so 36 tiles total). Then, you push your wall together with the walls of the players next to you to form a square.

Most players angle their walls slightly. This creates a smaller square in the middle and more space for your tiles. It also makes it easier to pick up tiles from the wall.

Drawing Tiles

The dealer rolls three dice. The total number helps decide where to "break" the wall. Counting counter-clockwise from the dealer (who is 1), you pick a player's section of the wall.

Using the dice total again, the player whose wall was chosen counts stacks of tiles from right to left. This spot is where the "deck" of tiles is cut. Starting from the left of the cut, the dealer takes four tiles. Then, players take blocks of four tiles, moving counter-clockwise, until everyone has 12 tiles. Finally, each player draws one more tile to have a 13-tile hand.

After dealing, if you have any Flowers or Seasons tiles, set them aside. Then, in counter-clockwise order, each player draws replacement tiles from the end of the wall until they have no more Bonus tiles in their hand. If you draw another Bonus tile as a replacement, you wait for your next turn to draw another replacement.

Gameplay Starts

The dealer starts by drawing one tile from the wall. If this tile doesn't complete a winning hand, they "discard" a tile by throwing it into the middle of the table.

Mahjong Rules

Local play on the street in Lanzhou

Players take turns, moving counter-clockwise. Each turn, you draw a tile from the wall and then discard one. You can also say what tile you're discarding. This continues until one player gets a "legal winning hand" and shouts "Mahjong!" while showing their tiles. There are a few ways this normal turn order can be interrupted.

During the game, you should always have 13 tiles in your hand (not counting Flowers, Seasons, or extra tiles from a Kong). If you have more or fewer than 13 tiles when it's not your turn, you might get a penalty.

What is a Legal Hand?

A winning hand has 14 tiles. Since you usually have 13 tiles, you win by either:

Drawing a tile from the wall that completes your 14-tile hand (called "winning from the wall").
Taking a tile another player discards to complete your 14-tile hand (called "winning by discard").

A winning hand is usually made of four "melds" (special groups of three tiles) and "the eyes" (a pair of two identical tiles). There are some special hands that don't follow this rule.

Most games have a "table minimum" score. This means your winning hand must be worth a certain number of points to count. In Hong Kong Mahjong, this is often three points.

Melds

Pongs are a set of three identical tiles. For example:

You can make a Pong with any tile except Flowers or Seasons. The tiles must be exactly the same, and you can't mix different suits.

Kongs are a set of four identical tiles. Think of a Kong as a Pong with one extra matching tile. For example:

There are three ways to form a Kong:

- Concealed Kong: You have three matching tiles hidden in your hand, and you draw the fourth matching tile from the wall. You show the four tiles, placing two face up and two face down.
- Exposed Kong: You have three matching tiles hidden in your hand, and another player discards the fourth matching tile. You can take that tile, show your three tiles face up, and place the stolen discard on top of one of them.
- Exposed Kong from Exposed Pong: You already have an Exposed Pong (three matching tiles you took from a discard). Later, you draw the fourth matching tile from the wall. You can add this tile to your Pong to make a Kong.

When you form a Kong, you must draw an extra tile from the end of the wall, then discard one. The fourth tile of a Kong doesn't count towards your 13 tiles. Making Kongs can earn you more points and stop other players from getting those tiles.

Chows are a set of three suited tiles in a row (sequence). For example:

The tiles must be in exact numerical order and from the same suit. You can't skip numbers or go from 9 back to 1. Honors, Flowers, and Seasons can't be used for Chows. You can only take a discarded tile to form a Chow if it was discarded by the player immediately before you, and if no one else needs that tile for a Pong, Kong, or to win.

Eyes (also called a pair) are two identical tiles. These are a key part of almost every winning hand. You can only take a discarded tile to form a pair of Eyes if it means you win the hand right away. For example:

Interrupting Play

Sometimes, the normal turn-by-turn play can be interrupted:

Flower or Season Tiles

If you draw a Flower or Season tile, you announce it and place it to the side. Then, you draw a replacement tile from the end of the wall. This makes sure you still have 14 tiles before you discard. You might even draw several Bonus tiles in a row!

Taking Another Player's Discard

When a player discards a tile, other players can "steal" it to complete a meld (Pong, Kong, or Chow).

Advantages: You can finish your hand faster and score more points.
Disadvantages: You show part of your hand to others, and you can't change the meld once you've shown it.

If you take a discarded tile for a meld, you must say what type of meld it is and show the tiles face up. Then, you discard a tile, and play continues to the player on your right. This means some players might miss their turn.

If more than one player wants a discarded tile:

A player who can win the hand with the tile always gets it first.
Otherwise, a player who can make a Pong or Kong gets it before a player who wants to make a Chow.

You can only take a discard for a Chow from the player directly before you. But you can take a discard for a Pong, Kong, or to win the hand from any player.

Winning the Game (Going Mahjong)

You can win in two main ways:

From a Discard

If a player discards a tile that completes your winning hand (and meets the minimum points), you shout "Mahjong!" You take the tile and show your winning hand. The game ends, and scoring begins. If more than one player can win from the same discard, players either compare their scores (highest score wins) or the player closest to the discarder in turn order wins.

From the Wall

You can also win by drawing a tile from the wall that completes your hand. This is called "winning from the wall." In Hong Kong Mahjong, this is great because it doubles the points the other players have to pay you!

Robbing a Kong

This is a rare but high-scoring move! If a player declares a Kong (by adding a fourth tile to a Pong), and that specific tile is the one you need to win your hand, you can "rob" it from them! You shout "Mahjong!" and take that tile to win the game.

Example Winning Hands

A winning hand usually has four melds (Pongs, Kongs, or Chows) and a pair (Eyes). It must also meet the agreed-upon minimum points.

– – – – This hand has four Pongs and a pair of East Winds. It only uses Bamboo tiles (no other Simples), which gives extra points (a "clean hand"). Since it has no Chows, it's an "all Pong/Kong hand" and scores even more!

– – – – This is a high-scoring hand using only Circle tiles, called a "pure hand." It has Chows, Pongs, and a pair of Circles.

Some special hands don't follow the "four melds and eyes" rule, like "seven different pairs" or "13 orphans."

False Mahjong

If you call "Mahjong!" but your hand isn't complete or doesn't have enough points, you usually get a penalty. You might have to pay points to the other players, or you might have to play the rest of the hand with your tiles face up so everyone can see them.

Repeated Hands

If the dealer wins a hand, or if no one wins (a "goulash hand"), an extra hand is played. The dealer stays the same. If there are many goulash hands in a row, the winner of the next game might get a lot of extra points! Because of these extra hands, a game that's supposed to be 16 hands long can easily become 20 or more. Players can agree to ignore this rule to make the game shorter and more predictable.

Game Speed

Players can also agree on how fast the game should go. For a fast game, players might agree that after a tile is discarded, there's only a few seconds to claim it before the next player draws from the wall. Once the next player draws, the discarded tile can't be claimed anymore.

Scoring in Mahjong

Scoring in Old Hong Kong Mahjong is pretty simple. Only one player wins each hand (or it's a draw and replayed). The winner must have a legal hand that meets the minimum points agreed upon before the game. The other players then pay the winner.

After winning, you count your "faan points" based on:

Your melds (Pongs, Kongs, Chows).
The overall pattern of your hand.
How you won (e.g., from the wall).
Any Bonus tiles you collected.
Special hand patterns.

To win, your hand needs at least the minimum faan value (often 3). Bonus tiles don't count towards this minimum, but they add to your total score after you win.

The other players don't score their hands. Once the winner has their total faan points (basic + bonus), these points are turned into "base points" using a chart. These base points show how much the other players owe the winner.

Players pay the winner (with chips or money) based on three things:

The base points.
If the winner won from the wall (this doubles the points!).
If the winner was the dealer (East player) or not (this also doubles points for everyone involved).

If two of these doubling rules apply to a player, they double their payment, then double it again!

Faan Value

Basic Faan Value

Your winning hand needs a minimum number of faan points (often 3).

Basic Elements
Item	faan value
A Pong or Kong of Dragons	1
A Pong or Kong of your Seat Wind (your direction) or the Round Wind (current prevailing wind)	1
A hand made of only Simples tiles	1
A hand made of only Chows and a pair of Simples tiles	1
A hand made of only Pongs or Kongs and any pair (no Chows)	3
A hand made of only one type of Simples (Bamboos, Dots, or Characters) mixed with Honors tiles	3

Advanced Elements (harder to get!)
Item	faan value
3 hidden Pongs or Kongs (not made from discards)	3
3 Kongs	3
7 pairs (a special hand pattern)	4
A hand made of only one suit (Bamboos, Dots, or Characters) with no Honors	6
Two Pongs of Dragons and a pair of the third Dragon	12
Three Pongs of Winds and a pair of the fourth Wind	12

Bonus Faan

These points are added to your score but don't count towards the minimum faan needed to win.

Bonus Faan from How You Won
Item	faan value
Winning by drawing from the wall	1
Robbing a Kong	1
Winning on the very last tile from the wall, or the very last discard	1

Bonus Faan from Flowers and Seasons
Item	faan value
No Flowers or Seasons tiles in your hand	1
Having your "own" Flower (your seat number matches the flower number)	1
Having your "own" Season (your seat number matches the season number)	1
Having all 4 Flowers	2 (plus 1 if you had your own flower)
Having all 4 Seasons	2 (plus 1 if you had your own season)
Having all 8 Flowers and Seasons (super rare!)	Automatic win with maximum payment

You only get bonus faan for Flowers or Seasons if they match your seat number (East=1, South=2, West=3, North=4), or if you collect all four Flowers or all four Seasons.

Payment

The losers pay the winner points. Players decide beforehand how to keep track of points (like using chips or just keeping a tally). Your faan value is changed into "base points" using the table below. These base points are then used to figure out how much each loser pays.

Base points (Old Hong Kong Simplified)
faan points	Base points
3	1
4	2
5	2
6	2
7	4
8	4
9	4
10+	8 (maximum)

This table assumes you need at least 3 faan to win. If you have 3 faan, your hand is worth 1 base point. If you have 9 faan, it's worth 4 base points. Losing players pay the winner these base points.

Here are some special cases that double the base points:

If the winner wins by drawing from the wall, their base points are doubled.
If the hand was won by a discard, the player who discarded that winning tile pays double what they owe.
If the winner is the East player, all losers double the base points they pay.
If the East player is a losing player, they pay double the points to the winner.

If two of these doubling rules apply to one player, they double their payment, then double it again! This means winning from the wall and being the dealer (or losing to the dealer) can make a big difference in the final payment.

Limit Hands

"Limit hands" are very rare and special hands that automatically give the winner the maximum payment from each player. Players decide if these hands are allowed and what the maximum payment is (often 64 points).

Some limit hands must be "concealed" (meaning you didn't use any discards to make them) or "semi-concealed" (you only used a discard to win the hand). Examples include the "13 orphans" and "heavenly hand."

Limit Hands (winner gets the agreed maximum payment from each player)
Item	Explanation
Heavenly Hand	The dealer draws a winning hand right at the start of the game.
Earthly Hand	A player completes a winning hand with the dealer's very first discard.
Thirteen Orphans	Player has one of each 1 and 9 tile from all three suits, one of each Wind, one of each Dragon, plus an extra copy of any one of those 13 tiles.
Heavenly Gates	Player has 1112345678999 of any simple suit and one extra piece of numbers 1 to 9. This hand always has 4 melds and the eyes.
Hidden Pong Hand	You have 4 Pongs that were all made from tiles you drew yourself (not from discards).
Kong Hand	You have 4 Kongs in your hand.
Honors Hand	Your hand is made up entirely of Winds and Dragons.
Pearl Dragon	You have 3 Pongs or Kongs of Circles and a pair of Circles, plus a Pong or Kong of the White Dragon (no Chows).
Ruby Dragon	You have 3 Pongs or Kongs of Characters and a pair of Characters, plus a Pong or Kong of the Red Dragon (no Chows).
Jade Dragon	You have 3 Pongs or Kongs of Bamboos and a pair of Bamboos, plus a Pong or Kong of the Green Dragon (no Chows).
Great Dragons	You have 3 Pongs of all 3 Dragons.
Great Winds	You have 4 Pongs of all 4 Winds.

Examples of High-Scoring Hands

All-Pong hand (對對糊)

- - - -

Kong hand / 18 Arhats hand (十八羅漢)

- - - -

Clean hand (混一色)

- - - -

Pure hand (清一色)

- - - -

Great Winds hand (大四喜)

- - - -

Great Dragons hand (大三元)

- - - -

Thirteen Orphans hand (十三幺)

Mahjong Solitaire

There's also a single-player version of Mahjong called Mahjong Solitaire. It's based on the four-player game but can be played alone, often on computers. It's much simpler: you remove pairs of matching tiles from a pyramid-shaped stack. You win if you clear all the tiles, and you lose if you run out of moves.

Images for kids

Chinese dice
Cubic dealer and prevailing wind marker
Inside an automatic mahjong table.
Top eight are Vietnamese jokers. Bottom four are Chinese.
Mahjong counting sticks: Chinese on the left, Japanese on the right.
The top 3 players at the World Mahjong Championship in Tokyo, October 2002. Left: John J. O'Connor (2nd place). Middle: world champion Mai Hatsune, from Japan. Right: Yuichi Ikeya (3rd place).
Money-suited cards.
Mahjong tiles from the late 1800s, given to the Long Island Historical Society in 1875 by Glover.
Students in the United States learning how to play Mahjong.