These days, there is a great push for gaming companies to produce the next breakthrough electronic game which offers stunning graphics, interesting storylines and a fluid interface. However, there is something to be said for games that don't need gimmicks and which have been around for hundreds of years. A case in point is the game of mahjong which has been around since the days of Confucius approximately 500 B.C. The game's longevity just speaks to the fact that it has elements of gameplay for everybody.
If you play the traditional version of mahjong you would be playing it between four players. These four players would be seated in positions across from each other as either East, South, West or North. The East position is the person who plays first and this one is the dealer. The advantage of being in this position is that if you win the hand, you continue in this role and you can also score higher on a hand.
In a Mahjong tile set you will have a total of 144 tiles. These consist of three different suits of 36 tiles per suit. These come in bamboo, characters and circles. You then also get 12 dragon tiles and 16 wind tiles. You will also get 8 flower tiles, but these ones are not actually part of the game play. They do however help in giving players extra points while drawing and distributing tiles.
The game starts with each player receiving 13 tiles. You should aim to create 4 melds of 3 each of which consists of pung (triplets) or chow (a series) by taking discarded tiles or drawing them yourself. To complete a winning hand you need to add a pair of eyes. That means that you will end up with a winning hand of 14 tiles.
There are several ways to gain bonus points in Mahjong. If you have all chows, pungs or the same suits or the triples are made using dragon tiles. The best you can do is to make a pung with your own wind tiles.
The game will definitely confuse you at first, but as soon as you have the tile set in front of you and play a few games you will get the hang of it easily. For players who also play gin rummy it is just so much easier to play the game as many of the same principles apply.
The game of mahjong takes is fairly easy to learn, but takes a very long time to master. If you play a lot you will figure out the little subtleties of the game and constantly improve. You will also get better at playing your opponents and calculation odds
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