Game: Mah-Jongg

Thread: Re: My NYC Chinatown Mah Jongg adventure

WOTANSON — 2008-09-03T01:04:48+00:00

Hi and sorry it took so long to get back to you. It was one of those cookie cutter "trading corporations" on one of the narrow streets in the Allen and Hester St. area, far from the Canal St. nightmare. They sell everything from toothpaste to toys, sunglasses etc. but for the locals, not tourists or outsiders. They had a couple of sets in the window and after a lot of pantomime we settled on $25 down from $28, no tax. Good luck to you.
Cheers,
Rob

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gittes — 2008-09-02T22:00:23+00:00

A complete set.

Thread: Re: Which discards can you use?

Wermuth — 2008-08-29T07:25:13+00:00

otrex wrote:
Hey, does anyone have a good link for Modern Japan rules?

These rules are very detailed and user friendly:
http://guide.riichi.nl/reachmahjong/intro.htm

Thread: Re: Which discards can you use?

otrex — 2008-08-29T01:03:00+00:00

Hey, does anyone have a good link for Modern Japan rules?

Thread: Re: My NYC Chinatown Mah Jongg adventure

jaredhayter — 2008-08-27T21:15:18+00:00

Can you give us a description of where the store you bought from was? I've never seen a set worth buying for as little as $25. In the Chinese shops in Edison, NJ, I usually see sets going for around $40. It would be worth it for me to take a trip into NYC if I can get such a good deal.

Thread: Re: Which discards can you use?

DrFlanagan — 2008-08-26T19:02:48+00:00

howdyhamster wrote:
DrFlanagan wrote:
And chows can only be from the next player.
Wouldn't that be from the previous player?
I play Modern Japanese rules, btw, so maybe your ruleset of choice is different.
I play Modern Japan too, and we actually agree, although my wording was a bit wonky. "Chows can only be taking from the previous player" sounds better, as you wrote, than "Chows can only be taken by the next player," which is what I meant.

Thread: Re: Which discards can you use?

howdyhamster — 2008-08-24T17:14:00+00:00

DrFlanagan wrote:
And chows can only be from the next player.
Wouldn't that be from the previous player?
I play Modern Japanese rules, btw, so maybe your ruleset of choice is different.

Thread: Re: Which discards can you use?

DrFlanagan — 2008-08-23T03:54:04+00:00

And chows can only be from the next player.

Thread: Re: Which discards can you use?

otrex — 2008-08-23T00:44:19+00:00

Just the most-recently discarded tile can be taken (remember pung calls have precendence over chows). The other tiles should be in plain view though so that players can know which tiles represent risky discards.

Thread: Which discards can you use?

neoshmengi — 2008-08-23T00:24:01+00:00

Are you limited to the tile that was just discarded or are all the old discards fair game?

Thread: Re: Quadruples?

Alan Kwan — 2008-08-20T02:05:51+00:00

There are two kinds of kong. A concealed kong consists of four tiles drawn from the wall. An exposed kong consists of three tiles drawn from the wall and one tile claimed from another player's discard.

There are two ways of making an exposed kong. You make a "big" exposed kong when you have a concealed triplet in your hand, and an opponent discards the fourth. You make a "small" exposed kong when you have an exposed triplet on the table, and you add the fourth from your hand. In either case (also when declaring a concealed kong), you immediately draw a supplement tile from the wall to make up for the shortage in the number of tiles you have.

If you already have an exposed triplet, you cannot make a kong when another player discards the fourth tile, since that would become a second discarded tile in the set.

Thread: Re: Stuck between two sets!

ptsuk — 2008-08-15T21:46:28+00:00

Why not buy both!

I have 5 sets of mahjong tiles. Yes it can get addicting! I can also specifically tell you that the Yellow Mountain Import people are great to purchase from! I got two sets from them that I had been looking for a long time for as i wanted some "beefy" chunky styles. I ended up getting the

Winter Mellon XL set which comes in a nice wooden case. http://www.ymimports.com/Items/us-cf005-c?&caSKU=us-cf005-c&...''Winter%20Melon%20Set''

Vietnamese Set which comes in a nice leather case. http://www.ymimports.com/Items/us-vf001-b?&caSKU=us-vf001-b&...

I also have a "jumbo" Chinese set that is smaller than the Viet, and Winter Mellon set I first bought, then I have a the "book shelf" set from borders which are about half size tiles but still manageable to play with and the set i throw in a zip lock for traveling. then the other set i have is literally one make of some cheap plastic and "stickers" that are about the size of chicklet gum squares. can't play with it at all, but a neat little addition to the collection

Thread: Re: Quadruples?

Zalasta — 2008-08-11T18:22:09+00:00

DavidT wrote:
gschmidl wrote:
lorna wrote:
If you have already placed 3 down you can't claim the 4th tile.

That's correct if someone else discards it, like Lorna said.

If you happen to draw it yourself, you can add it to the three you placed down, though.

...and if another player needs that tile to go out when you do this, they can call out and take it from you. It's called "robbing the kong."

Edit: Note that going out in this fashion gives you one double for your score.

Also, if you draw the tile you need to go out because of the kong, it's literally called the "flower blooming on top of the kong". That will also gets you additional score.

Thread: Re: Quadruples?

gschmidl — 2008-08-11T18:12:47+00:00

Whereas robbing the KING Kong will just get you killed.

Thread: Re: Quadruples?

DavidT — 2008-08-11T00:47:44+00:00

gschmidl wrote:
lorna wrote:
If you have already placed 3 down you can't claim the 4th tile.

That's correct if someone else discards it, like Lorna said.

If you happen to draw it yourself, you can add it to the three you placed down, though.

...and if another player needs that tile to go out when you do this, they can call out and take it from you. It's called "robbing the kong."

Edit: Note that going out in this fashion gives you one double for your score.

Thread: Re: Quadruples?

lorna — 2008-08-10T16:57:19+00:00

[q="gschmidl]
If you happen to draw it yourself, you can add it to the three you placed down, though

yes, I didn't mention that, thanks

Thread: Re: Quadruples?

gschmidl — 2008-08-10T06:32:11+00:00

lorna wrote:
If you have already placed 3 down you can't claim the 4th tile.

That's correct if someone else discards it, like Lorna said.

If you happen to draw it yourself, you can add it to the three you placed down, though.

Thread: Re: Quadruples?

lorna — 2008-08-10T05:47:07+00:00

well, I only know a Chinese Rules but if you have 3 in your hand hidden and the 4th is discarded or you draw it, you can "kong" it and score a bonus during scoring. To compensate you draw an extra tile off the dead wall when you play a kong. If you have already placed 3 down you can't claim the 4th tile. Hope that helps.

Thread: Quadruples?

Revelade — 2008-08-10T04:57:27+00:00

So if you have three-of-a-kind and a fourth is dropped, you can yell Pong? Since the fourth piece doesn't count towards your hand limit... is your turn over?

Thread: Re: Playing for stakes

Alan Kwan — 2008-08-08T01:35:31+00:00

gschmidl wrote:
However, this is massively complicated, as this system is scored by 81 (or another one with 44), of which more than one can apply at one time.
Chinese Official is massively complicated, but Zung Jung is rather simple. Even a simple scoring system such as HKOS has around 20 patterns (Perlmen & Chan), while classical scoring has 9 or more different cases for adding points for triplet/kong/pair besides the patterns.

The 12 or so "New Style" pattens (in categories 5 to 8) in Zung Jung adds a whole new dimension to the game. Zung Jung is fun to play, for love or for money.

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Shad — 2008-08-07T03:51:48+00:00

My little brother gets mahjong tips from my new Aunt-in-law during my wedding weekend... (censored)

Thread: Re: stone for what use?

Keng Ho — 2008-08-06T16:39:38+00:00

I'd be happy to trade you one or more wind indicators for interesting dice, small games or geekgold.

Thread: Re: stone for what use?

gschmidl — 2008-08-06T16:07:18+00:00

Lucky you, I've still not managed to find nice-looking wind indicators anywhere, including NYC's Chinatown.

Thread: Re: stone for what use?

Keng Ho — 2008-08-05T15:28:32+00:00

That's right. It sounds like it is a wind indicator.
The zhong and the fa on the other 2 sides are just for decoration and serve no purpose.

It's easy to think that these indicators might be dice, but they have no actual randomising function. Having said that, and as an avid dice collector myself, I have devised this as a means of justifying having them in my dice collection:
The Game of the Four Winds
http://beta.communities.msn.co.uk/DiceManiacsClubakaTheRando...

Any scurrilous allegations of similarity to certain other directional wagering dice games will be spurned with the silent disdain they deserve.

Thread: Re: stone for what use?

WoofWarpWeft — 2008-08-05T13:29:05+00:00

GUNTHARIO wrote:

But i'v got one piece in my set of which I can't find the purpose. It's a kind of big dice with all the winds on it and the red and the green dragon also...

I thought it was for showing which was the leading wind of the game, but what are the dragons doing there???

According to this picture in Mah-Jongg's BGG Gallery, it is a wind indicator, which you suspected.

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But, I don't know why the Red and Green Dragon symbols would be on there either. Some of the dice shown are blank on those two sides. All I can say is that there are MANY variations of the game, so maybe the two dragons come to into play in one of them.

BTW: My set didn't have a die. It came with four thin plastic disks, each with a 'WIND'.

Thread: stone for what use?

GUNTHARIO — 2008-08-05T09:51:20+00:00

Hello there,

I bought a Mah Jong set (in fact it is "Mah Jang"!!!) in China. I'm trying to get familiar with the rules.

But i'v got one piece in my set of which I can't find the purpose. It's a kind of big dice with all the winds on it and the red and the green dragon also...

I thought it was for showing which was the leading wind of the game, but what are the dragons doing there???

Anyone knows how to use this stone?

Thread: Re: How to double

gschmidl — 2008-08-03T21:27:54+00:00

Doubled three times.

This is also why you set a score limit (e.g. 500).

Thread: How to double

DavidT — 2008-08-03T20:40:14+00:00

Quick question:

When you complete a hand that gives you, for example, three doubles... Is that just "times three" or "doubled three times?" Thanks!

Thread: Re: Playing for stakes

gschmidl — 2008-08-03T18:58:40+00:00

deacondavid wrote:
In my experience the sticks vary from set to set, both in markings and numbers included. Are the numbers you mention for each player or the total with the set?

I tend to play using chips, though I have also used the sticks.

10/8/2/1 per player, for a total of 40/36/8/4. The markings do indeed vary, so Tom Sloper recommends going by count, and also recommends the cited number of sticks.

Thread: Re: Playing for stakes

gschmidl — 2008-08-03T18:56:37+00:00

Alternatively, if you're playing by the official competition rules, only the winning hand is scored and receives that score from the other player, unless the winner wins on a discard and his hand is worth more than 30 points, in which case everyone pays 30 points and the discarder pays the rest (for everyone). However, this is massively complicated, as this system is scored by 81 hands (or another one with 44), of which more than one can apply at one time.

Thread: Re: Playing for stakes

deacondavid — 2008-08-03T18:50:28+00:00

In my experience the sticks vary from set to set, both in markings and numbers included. Are the numbers you mention for each player or the total with the set?

I tend to play using chips, though I have also used the sticks.

Thread: Re: Playing for stakes

gschmidl — 2008-08-03T18:47:14+00:00

The winner is paid the value of his hand by all the losers. If the winner is East Wind, he receives double the value of his hand.

Then the second-highest winner receives the difference between his score and that of the third. and fourth highest.

Then the third-highest winner receives the difference between his score and that of the fourth highest.

Important: if East Wind does not win, he has to pay double.

The sticks with 8 dots are worth 2 points each.
The sticks with 1 dot are worth 10 points each.
The sticks with the 5 dots are worth 100 points each.
The sticks with the 6+3 dots are worth 500 points each.

(The number of dots is less important than quantity here)

Scores are rounded to the nearest possible value attainable with a combination of sticks. However, you do not have enough sticks for four players -- you should have 10 2pt, 8 10pt, 2 100pt and 1 500pt stick per player for a total of 40 + 36 + 8 + 4.

Thread: Playing for stakes

DavidT — 2008-08-03T17:59:15+00:00

We've played Mah-Jongg a number of times in the past, but we've always just scored using pen and paper. We're starting to play again and would like to introduce stakes to the game, especially since our set has all of these sticks (I'm sure that's not the right terminology, sorry) to be used for that purpose.

Can anyone point me toward an easy reference for how to incorporate 'money' into the game. The 'sticks' we have are:

18 with one red dot
20 with eight black dots
4 with five red dots
2 with sixe red dots and three green dots

Thanks!

Thread: Re: My NYC Chinatown Mah Jongg adventure

gmonk — 2008-07-31T13:40:18+00:00

Good story. I love marketplace stories like this. There's something about hunting down just the right game set (for any traditional game) that makes it an adventure.

Thread: My NYC Chinatown Mah Jongg adventure

WOTANSON — 2008-07-31T12:50:11+00:00

Hi all,
I run a monthly Rummikub meeting on Meet Up and am an avid Mah Jongg player. I play American (NMJL) Mah Jongg weekly and Chinese official sporadically. I thought that before my meeting this past Saturday on St. Marks place, I would head to Chinatown to find a set of those big tiles, you know the ones with the gaudy bright colors. I brought along the address of a place that I was told sold automatic Mah Jongg tables and I figured I'd get a bit of lunch since I was there.

I found the table shop easily though neither of the two ladies there spoke English (my Chinese in all dialects is non existent) so I spent about 20 minutes watching the different tables work and desperately trying to buy one of the nice sets that goes with the tables,-no dice.

So off I go to find a set of tiles, I check out a couple of places that the locals seemed to shop in, and I come up empty. What I do find is not one, but two Mah Jongg parlors a block or two from each other, I stand looking at the games in progress for about 15 minutes in each parlor all the while being stared at by the non playing patrons. The play was aggressive and and the players so intense, definitely very cool.

Eventually I found a store with a decent selection of sets and got one with Navy blue backings, bright colored engravings and big (1.5"H, 1.125"W and .875"D), all for $25USD total. To top it off I had a great lunch of noodle soup with spicy chili cooked beef. A perfect afternoon all around.

Cheers,
Rob

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siuchak — 2008-07-21T16:25:05+00:00

Mah Jongg Birthday Cake

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siuchak — 2008-07-21T16:23:13+00:00

Amber Mah-Jongg

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siuchak — 2008-07-21T16:21:31+00:00

Gold Mah Jongg

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Keng Ho — 2008-07-18T18:35:12+00:00

Japanese paper Mahjong cards - the box

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Keng Ho — 2008-07-18T18:32:13+00:00

Japanese paper Mahjong cards - what comes in the box (including a blank card)

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powwowdancer — 2008-07-16T20:12:44+00:00

Here's the counters that the winner had and what I had left.

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Grimwold — 2008-07-15T15:59:27+00:00

Box Scan of Gibson Games Mahjong Set

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siuchak — 2008-07-11T16:39:33+00:00

total: 450,000

Thread: Re: Shopping in toronto

Talisinbear — 2008-07-05T19:13:32+00:00

there must be a Canadian source. I want to find a set in the fall too

Thread: Re: Shopping in toronto

fscher — 2008-07-05T13:21:20+00:00

If you don't find one, check http://www.WhereTheWindsBlow.com

Shipping is high from USA, but it is an option if you can't find one local in Toronto.

Thread: Shopping in toronto

Lacota — 2008-07-05T05:33:04+00:00

Are there any good places to buy sets in Toronto? I've had no luck finding them.

Thread: holiday session

Alan Kwan — 2008-06-11T06:16:12+00:00

Sharline's exams are over, and we have a holiday on the day after "dragon boat festival", so we gathered and played. We played 4 cycles of free-for-all, than 4 cycles of the "pairs-team" game.

For the first 4 cycles, the seating order was Anita, Sharline, Victor, and Alan (me).

Victor won the first hand with Nine-tile Straight. Sharline then won the third hand with Three Similar Sequences (discarded by me ). The other two hands in the first cycle were drawn, with some players calling with big hands which didn't win.

The second cycle had three small wins and a drawn hand.

Sharline won the 9th hand with a Mixed one-Suit + 9-tile Straight double combo. On the next hand, I made an ugly discard to Victor's Mixed Lesser Terminals (which was, yet, worth less to Victor than what he lost on the previous hand, since he discarded to that one). At this point, I was down 230 points, having discarded twice to big hands and having won only a small 12-point hand myself. With only 6 hands left, it looked like I was likely losing the session, but I didn't lose hope and fought on. And I did come back. Such is the nature of mahjong: keep a good spirit, and the winds of fortune may change, and you'll win a few big hands and come back.

On the next hand, I won a fast chicken, which did indeed smashed some very promising hands of my opponents'. Then on the 12th hand, I won a nice Three Smilar Sequences hand.

My opponents had small wins in the first two hands of the fourth cycle. In the 15th hand, I won a nice 21-pointer with Two Identical Sequences. In the 16th hand, my hand had potential for 567 Three Similar Sequences, and Victor supplied me with two of the chi. So with C-567 and D-567 exposed on the table, everyone could see that B567 were dangerous tiles, and I was indeed calling for B6. But Anita then carelessly discarded a B7, while pondering "what kind of hand does he/she have?" (referring to one of the other players). I knew that she was not addressing me (since my hand was way too obvious), but I seized the opportunity and said, "Three Simialr Sequences, can't you see? " Normally, a player in my situation should stay silent and try not to draw the others' attention, but I deliberately said that as a bluff (or rather, double-bluff?). And my bluff did work: Sharline immediately followed with the B6! So I won the last hand, and the 41-pointer brought me back from the red into the black.

Frist four cycles (free-for-all) results:

Final scores:
Anita -250, Sharline +147, Victor +34, Alan +69

Table data:
Hands played: 16
Big hands (30+ points): 6
No-pattern hands (below 5 points): 2
No-win hands: 3

Individual data:

Anita
total win 2 hands for 7 points
won 2 small hands for 7 points
won 0 big hands for 0 points

Sharline
total win 3 hands for 141 points
won 1 small hands for 8 points
won 2 big hands for 133 points

Victor
total win 3 hands for 118 points
won 1 small hands for 15 points
won 2 big hands for 103 points

Alan
total win 5 hands for 117 points
won 3 small hands for 35 points
won 2 big hands for 82 points

We then played four rounds of the pairs-team game. The teams were Alan and Sharline, vs. Victor and Anita, in that order around the table. (In other words, Sharline and Anita were the lower-seat players.)

In the first cycle, Victor's team won two 50-point hands, and then our team won a 46-point one. (Sorry that I forgot to record the contents of the hands.) Then in the 6th hand, Sharline was playing for Mixed Greater Terminals, and claimed three terminal pong, so everyone knew that she was calling for some terminal. I luckily drew a B1, which I discarded for her - for 137 points to our team.

Victor's team then won 6 of the next 8 hands. Most of them were small hands, but none was chicken, so they added up. With those they caught up, and had a small lead of 19 points before the final hand. But I won the final hand with Mixed One-Suit + All Triplets, with three claimed tiles all from my opponents (not my partner Sharlien).

Second 4 cycles (pairs) results:

Sharline-Alan team:
total win 5 hands for 282 points
won 2 small hands for 19 points
won 3 big hands for 263 points

Anita-Victor team:
total win 10 hands for 221 points
won 7 small hands for 78 points
won 3 big hands for 143 points

final result Sharline-Alan +61

Table data:

Hands played: 16
Big hands (30+ points): 6
No-pattern hands (below 5 points): 0
No-win hands: 1

It was a pleasing session for me, with a small win in both the free-for-all game and the pairs game.

Thread: Re: Home-made Mah-jongg set?

Alan Kwan — 2008-06-11T03:24:24+00:00

Mahjong has become so popular (in the East) that the economy of mass-production has diminished any incentive to home-make a set.

Nowadays even a hand-made set requires certain machinery and is made by a master craftsman. There is no room for a layman to try.

Thread: Re: What can be done in this situation?

Alan Kwan — 2008-06-11T03:13:41+00:00

A claim of "win " (aka "mahjong") is not merely (a special case of) a "pong" or "chi" claim. It is actually considered a different claim with a high precedence (against contesting claims).

You can claim "win" from any player's discard (not just your upper seat's) to complete a sequence and win. And to answer your question, you can claim "win" when fishing for a pair. If you claim "win" at the same time as another player claiming chi/pong/kong, you have higher precedence and get the winning tile, regardless of which spot it fills in your hand. (A "win" claim which completes a sequence [or any spot] has higher precedence than a competing [non-win] pong/kong claim.)

For example, if you have three exposed sets and the following tiles (in the same suit) in your hand:

[c]2223[/c]

You can claim a 1, 3, or 4 (in the relevant suit) discarded by any player to win the hand:

[c]123 / 22
234 / 22
222 / 33[/c]

This is known as a multi-way (3-way in this case) call.

(And concerning the previous two replys, the reward for self-draw and the minimum requirement for going out are both irrelevant to the original question.)

Thread: Re: Computer Mah-Jongg...the REAL game

gravaton — 2008-06-09T18:09:04+00:00

This is something I looked into for a long time as well, so I might as well put what I know on the table. Disclosures before I answer: My game rules of choice are basically Japanese Modern/Riichi. I'm not an expert at the game, but I would consider my skill level to be "Pretty good", for those that care I am currently ranked 2 dan on Tenhou with a 1650+ rating. I do not speak or read Japanese (nor do I have access to someone who can do those things), so when I say that I can work my way through a particular program's Japanese-language interface, it would be reasonable to presume that someone with no Japanese skills could do as well (if not better) than I could.

Four winds is a very nice program, and definitely worthwhile if you want to play many or obscure variants (or even test out your own rules). It also makes an alright multiplayer client, a touch of lag but very playable. Where it really fails, in my eyes, is in player AI...the computer players just kind of blunder about, so while you'll get good practice building hands and getting familiar with the game, you won't really learn how to play with other people. In fact you might find yourself learning some bad habits, since the computer players will let you get away with things that humans never would.

My single player game of choice is the latest PSP version of Mahjong Fight Club. The game is also available for the Nintendo DS, and is (from all reports) basically identical on both platforms. You can find either version pretty easily at Play-Asia.com. The DS version does offer free wireless internet play, but I haven't had the chance to really explore this option so I can't comment on it. Local multiplayer is supported (amongst multiple PSPs and DSs), but it's a bit unlikely that you'll be able to gather 4 people, each with a PSP, or each with a DS and a copy of the game. Either way, the game itself is very well done, with a nice ranking system and some very strong AI players. I have suspected a few times that the game falls a bit short of truly random, but it could really be my own suspicions getting the better of me. Either way, playing MFC will give you a decent handle on competitive play - what tiles are risky, how to avoid someone's Riichi, how to build your hand effectively, etc. I have shared this software with a few friends and it has definitely helped improve their game.

For serious competition, online is really the only way to go. There are a few good places to play online. Ron2 (http://www.ron2.jp) is sponsored by the JPML (Japan Pro Mahjong League), and they will let you have a few days of free trial but they then charge $5/month. In addition to the monthly fee, the entire interface is in Japanese. It's possible to work your way through it with zero language skills, but it's a bit of a learning curve. The upside is that there are many professional players who play there, and you gain access to a library of their past games. There are also many good observation and learning tools. You can find a guide to how to get started on Ron2 here:

http://www.reachmahjong.com/home/index.php?option=com_conten...

My current online play site of choice is Tenhou (http://tenhou.net), mostly because it's free . The initial page is a bit confusing, though, there are actually two versions of the client. One is a downloaded application and while it's very nice, it also costs $5/month to use. The other is entirely web-based (and accessed by clicking the buttons that say 'PLAY'), and free. Unlike Ron2 and many other sites, you don't get a username and password. Instead, you get a single "passcode" that you have to enter in order to access your user. Be careful to remember yours, because if you forget it there's no facility that I know of to return it to you! It's a pretty good experience overall, though. Unfortunately I don't have a guide handy, but feel free to ask if you want some help getting setup, I should still remember .

Both sites have good stat-tracking/rating/ranking facility, and both are stocked with a good quotient of skilled players to test your skill against. Both will try to match you with people of similar skill level for your games, so you don't have to worry about jumping into a pool of sharks (though there's no real penalty for losing). Also, at neither site will people expect you to chat much, if at all, so you don't have to worry about being "rude" or doing the wrong thing.

Hopefully this massive essay has helped you out a bit, although if you were looking to play one of the Chinese variants I probably haven't assisted at all . Feel free to contact me with questions/corrections/additional information, as it's always good to have more data!

Thread: Home-made Mah-jongg set?

Joeyeti — 2008-06-09T13:53:05+00:00

I know that this may seem like a tedious and/or superfluous work, but...

... have you done your own Mah-jongg set? Or are you planning to do one?

If yes, what materials and tools (did/do you/do you plan to) use for the tiles and drilling/inking?

What do you even think about making one at home at all?

And subsequently, do you know of any online tutorials or pages that would offer help with such an endeavour?

J.

Thread: Re: Computer Mah-Jongg...the REAL game

Joeyeti — 2008-06-02T10:09:44+00:00

Is there possibly an Open Source (or Freeware) variant?
I gather that 4 Winds is a Trial one...

Thread: Re: Questions about components

zorazen — 2008-05-25T21:08:17+00:00

cymric wrote:

Stupid secondhand games.
There's always the option of *not* getting a secondhand game, is there...?

Well, yes. I was being a bit sarcastic.

Thanks for all the component advice!
Anyone know of a good place to get a case for a set? He just sort of threw everything in one bag and it's completely disorganized.

Thread: Re: Questions about components

cymric — 2008-05-25T20:17:10+00:00

zorazen wrote:
I'm assuming that the tile with the blue rectangle is the White Dragon? Am I wrong?
Yes. I prefer my White Dragon to be completely white, though.

And I noticed that the "1" season tile has the "1" printed sideways, whereas the 2 is printed vertically.
Doesn't matter.

Now, there is one die I'm confused by. It's numbered from 2-4 and the last side is printed an E. There's a holder for it, and the top and bottom of the die are blank.
This is the Wind Disc (or Die, in this case). Mah-Jongg is played in 4 rounds of at least 4 games each, depending on what ruleset you follow. The first round has East as the prevailing Wind, the second South, the third West and the fourth and final North. This odd die is used to indicate what round it is.

Stupid secondhand games.
There's always the option of *not* getting a secondhand game, is there...?

Thread: Re: Questions about components

zorazen — 2008-05-25T20:07:28+00:00

I went ahead and took some pictures anyway. First of all, I'm an idiot. I never really looked at the tiny dice and now I see that they are just regular old dice.
Here's a link to my gallery.
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/336274
I'm assuming that the tile with the blue rectangle is the White Dragon? Am I wrong? And I noticed that the "1" season tile has the "1" printed sideways, whereas the 2 is printed vertically.

Now, there is one die I'm confused by. It's numbered from 2-4 and the last side is printed an E. There's a holder for it, and the top and bottom of the die are blank.
Stupid secondhand games.

Thread: Re: Questions about components

MetalVic — 2008-05-25T19:30:07+00:00

This site will probably tell you way more than you want to know. All the information can be a little overwhelming, and the layout of the site isn't beautiful. But it is very informative if you're willing to do some poking around. http://www.sloperama.com/mjfaq.html.

Thread: Re: Questions about components

cymric — 2008-05-25T19:29:59+00:00

Seasons are boring additions to the game. You mix them in with the regular 144 and then build walls 18 stones long and 2 high. As soon as you draw a Season from the Living Wall, you lay it open on the table, and draw a replacement stone from the Dead Wall. At the end of the game you get points for the amount of Seasons, and earn a few doublings based on which Seasons you drew. There's no skill whatsoever involved in their use, reason why I never play with them, and actively encourage people to do the same.

The dice are used to decide who opens the Wall and where, but you don't need more than 2 dice, really. Therefore I'm at a loss what the 'lot of tiny dice with brightly coloured dots' could be used for---perhaps with a ruleset I'm not familiar with. The chips are point markers. I never use these eiter, preferring a pen-and-paper table, calculating everyone's relative total. The advantage is that the scores should always add up to zero.

Thread: Questions about components

zorazen — 2008-05-25T19:19:40+00:00

I got my Mah Jhongg set from my brother. He's in prison, for the next twelve years, and I don't talk with him at all, otherwise I'd just ask him these questions.
Anyway, he stored the tiles and racks in a bag. Everything is scattered and not organized. There's rules, but they look like they were printed off the internet ten years ago. I have the season tiles and the only thing the rules say is "You can play seasons if you want." It doesn't say how. I assume you are supposed to have four rows of seventeen tiles, double stacked. If you play with the extra season tiles, how do you incorporate them?
Also, the game came with 7 dice, a bag of chips and a lot of tiny dice with brightly colored dots on them. I can post a picture when I'm no longer with flu. Any idea as to what these may be for?

Thread: Re: What can be done in this situation?

phurballdj — 2008-05-09T19:35:48+00:00

hakko504 wrote:
Revelade wrote:
So I have 4 sets (three of a kind or straight) of three revealed. So that means I have 1 tile left that's hidden. So the only way for me to call mahjong is if I happen to draw the tiles twin? Can I call pung even though I only have 1?No, you can call Mah-Jongg if someone discards the tile you need to complete the pair as well. But IIRC most scoring variants give you a bonus if you draw the tile from the wall rather than claim it from another persons discard.
I agree with Håkan, with one added wrinkle: If you are playing what my friends used to call the "No Chicken" rule (not sure of the official name for it), meaning you can't go out with a mixed sequence/triplet set and no other points (from flowers, etc.), you would have to draw it yourself or find a flower tile first, assuming you had that kind of hand at that point.

Thread: Re: What can be done in this situation?

hakko504 — 2008-05-08T09:50:50+00:00

Revelade wrote:
So I have 4 sets (three of a kind or straight) of three revealed. So that means I have 1 tile left that's hidden. So the only way for me to call mahjong is if I happen to draw the tiles twin? Can I call pung even though I only have 1?No, you can call Mah-Jongg if someone discards the tile you need to complete the pair as well. But IIRC most scoring variants give you a bonus if you draw the tile from the wall rather than claim it from another persons discard.