Playing MahJong – Where do I start?

Board games have evolved through the century. Every culture has their own game of choosing. Some are harder than others, some easier. But how does one look at the game of Mahjong–a game that doesn't use traditional cards or English numbers–and think, "Looks pretty easy."

The answer is, they don't.

Truthfully, I first saw that game and wondered why my friends were using dominos like that.

The game of Mahjong doesn't use cards are pieces–it uses tiles. Of the 144 large white bricks, there are 3 suits going from 1 to 9:

• Craks - essentially a written character card.
• Bams - small bamboo figures .
• Dots - little circles.

Yes, I know, these descriptions are a little basic but it's what they are! The fourth and last suit, not going from 1 to 9 are the direction cards, word cards, and flower cards.

Okay, so HOW do I play?

Well, firstly you need to get the right cards. Everyone starts off with 13 tiles at the beginning of the game. You'll first sort these by craks, bams, dots, and the extra cards. Make sure to sort them in order of 1 to 9, this is important for later.

Next, you'll try to get the cards you need. Each turn you will pull a tile and discard a tile. As the rounds go by, you'll want to be collecting cards that are either identical or sequential. By the end of the game, you'll need 4 sets of 3 and 1 duo. This means you can have any combination of 3 identical cards or 3 sequential cards, with 2 identical cards for your duo. Heres a little diagram that may help you make sense:

AAA ABC BBB XYZ LL – This would be an example (of course using English letters) of 2 identical sets, two sequential sets, and one duo.

During the game you will see some interesting cards–the flower cards. These cards are extra points. When you get one, you'll put it down in front of you and pull a card again from the back of the deck. Just make sure to pull from the right place so you don't destroy the feng shui!

Lastly, I'll introduce you to the idea of pong. Say you have this set:

AA ABC BBB XYZ LL

All you need to win is an A or an L. So, if somebody you're playing with decides to drop either of these cards, you can yell out "PONG!" and grab it. You can also do this anytime in the game, not just when you're one card away from winning.

So there you have it! A simple description on how to play Chinese Mahjong from an American boarding school student. Enjoy!