Mahjong How to play
How to play mahjong
Start with the basics.
Then find your kind of table.
Four players, a wall of tiles and a hand to build. The rhythm is familiar across many styles, but a winning hand — and its score — can be very different.
Choose a rules guide
These are four named styles, not every version of mahjong. “Chinese” below means Chinese Official (MCR); China has many regional games. Only Hong Kong is playable on Mahjong Live at present.
Old Style · Mahjong Live
Hong Kong
3 fan to win
Flowers can add bonuses.
MCR · 2006 standard
Chinese Official
8 points to win
81 scoring patterns to combine.
Four players · WRC 2025
Japanese Riichi
A yaku to win
Han, fu and visible discards.
NMJL-style
American
Match the annual card
Jokers and the Charleston.
| What changes? | Hong Kong | Chinese Official | Japanese Riichi | American |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winning hand | Usually 4 sets + a pair | Usually 4 sets + a pair | Usually 4 sets + a pair | One complete line on the annual card |
| Minimum | 3 qualifying fan in our preset | 8 points, excluding flowers | At least one yaku; dora alone is not enough | Match the card and its instructions |
| Scoring | Fan → payment bands | Add permitted patterns | Han + fu → payment table | Printed hand value + payment rules |
| Flowers | Optional bonus tiles here | Replaced; 1 bonus point each | Not used in WRC play | Part of the hand when the card requires them |
| Jokers | No | No | No | Yes, in identical groups of 3+ only |
| Stand-out rule | Check the table’s fan minimum | Patterns have exclusions | Riichi, dora and furiten | The Charleston and a shared card edition |
Your first hand
Learn the basics
This walkthrough uses our Hong Kong table. American card hands, Japanese yaku and Chinese Official scoring have their own requirements in the guides above.
1. Meet the tiles
There are three numbered suits: dots, bamboo and characters. Each runs from 1 to 9. There are also four winds (East, South, West and North) and three dragons (red, green and white). There are four copies of each ordinary tile.
Some tables use flowers and seasons too. These are bonus tiles. Show them and take a replacement; do not put them into your sets.
Characters
Dots
Bamboo
Winds
Dragons
2. Know what you are building
A normal winning hand has four sets and one pair. A set is three in a row in one suit, three identical tiles, or a declared group of four identical tiles. A pair is two identical tiles. The example below has three runs, one Pung and a pair.
A run cannot mix suits or use winds or dragons. Dots 8–9–1 is not a run. Four identical tiles count as one set when you declare a Kong.
1–2–3 characters
2–3–4 characters
4–5–6 characters
Three red dragons
Pair of 5 characters
3. Start a hand
Four players sit around the table. Tiles are shuffled face down and built into walls. Most players start with 13 ordinary tiles. East, the dealer, starts with one extra and discards first. Keep your own hand hidden from the others.
4. Draw one, discard one
On your turn, take a tile from the wall. Decide whether it helps your sets. Choose one tile from your hand and discard it face up in the middle. The next player then takes a turn, unless someone claims the discard.
You usually hold 13 ordinary tiles between turns and 14 just before you discard or win. A declared Kong adds an extra physical tile and gives you a replacement draw.
5. Learn the calls
- Chow: three in a row
- Use the previous player’s discard to finish a run in one suit. You cannot Chow a discard from either of the other two players.
- Pung: three the same
- Use any player’s discard to join two matching tiles in your hand.
- Kong: four the same
- Declare four matching tiles, then draw a replacement. You can also complete a Kong using a discard or add a tile to your exposed Pung when the rules allow.
- Win
- Claim a tile that completes a legal winning hand, or win with your own draw. The game checks both the hand and its score.
- Pass
- Leave the discard for someone else. You do not have to claim a set just because you can.
A winning claim has priority over a Pung or Kong, which has priority over a Chow.
Chow: three in a row
Pung: three the same
Kong: four the same
Pair: two the same
6. Check the score before calling Win
Having the right shape is only part of winning. Our Hong Kong tables also need at least 3 qualifying fan. Fan are points for patterns and how you win; flower bonuses do not reach this minimum. Four Pungs and a pair, for example, earn 3 qualifying fan. The game explains legal calls, and beginner move help can show available sets.
There are special winning shapes too. Learn the normal four-sets-and-a-pair hand first, then use the Hong Kong rules guide for scoring and exceptions.
Try it on the board
Choose Learn to play from the game menu. The tutorial introduces the table, your hand, drawing, discarding and claims in context. After that, try Single player with move help turned on.