Learn, to enjoy the game.
Be the first to complete a winning hand β a specific pattern of 14 tiles that matches one of the hands on this year's card.
152 tiles total. Click any tile to see its name. The card uses abbreviations shown below.
You don't need to read Chinese to play: most American sets print the number or letter in the corner of each Crack and Wind tile, and so does this app.
In this app's examples: 1-9 in blue, or 1D, 2D... 9D
In this app's examples: 1-9 in green, or 1B, 2B... 9B
π¦ Why is 1 Bam a bird? A single bamboo stick looks too much like "1," so it's shown as a bird.
In this app's examples: 1-9 in red, or 1C, 2C... 9C. The Chinese on each tile is the number plus θ¬ ("ten thousand"); the corner number is all you need.
On the card: N = North, E = East, S = South, W = West. "NEWS" = one of each.
On the card: R = Red, G = Green, 0 (zero) = White/Soap. "D" means any dragon.
On the card: F = any Flower. All 8 are interchangeable.
On the card: J = Joker. Wild in groups of 3+, never in pairs or singles.
Test your knowledge! Identify the tile shown.
Learn the Mandarin pronunciation for each tile. Tones optional (e.g., "bei" or "bΔi").
Listen to the pronunciation and type what tile it is (e.g., "east" or "4 cracks").
Practice Mandarin numbers with ordering and math.
Click the tiles in numerical order (lowest to highest):
Test your knowledge of American Mahjong rules. Read the full rules β
You drew a tile. Which one should you throw back?
You're building:
Your hand (14 tiles β discard one):
Tap the tile you want to discard.
Early game strategy: identify which categories your messy hand could pursue.
Your hand:
Which categories could you realistically pursue? (Select all that apply)
Early game decision-making: for each tile in your hand, decide if it helps your viable directions or should go.
Your hand:
You're considering:
Look at this tile in your hand:
Does it fit any of your directions?
Strategy timing: know when to commit to a direction vs stay flexible.
Your hand:
Directions you're considering:
Is it time to commit, or stay flexible?
Someone discarded a tile you need. Should you call it (and expose), or wait to draw it?
You're pursuing:
Your hand:
Discarded tile you could call:
Do you call it or wait?
Pick 3 tiles to pass. Keep what your possible hands need; pass what none of them use. Jokers can never be passed.
Hands you're still in:
Your hand (tap 3 tiles to pass):
Real gameplay practice: you drew a tile. Which one do you throw back? The best discard keeps as many of your possible hands alive as it can.
Hands you're still in:
Your hand:
You drew:
Click the tile you want to discard
Track what's been discarded to know what's still available. Foundation skill for defensive play.
Discards on the table:
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Given the discards, can you still complete your hand? Recognizing a dead hand lets you shift to defense.
You're pursuing:
Your hand:
You still need:
Discards on the table:
Can you still complete this hand?
When multiple tiles don't help you, choose the one least likely to help opponents.
These are heuristics, not certainties. Real defense requires reading multiple signals.
Which tile is safest to throw?
Opponent clues:
Study a player's discard pile. What hand are they likely building?
Player's discards (in order):
What is this player likely building?
Quickly identify which section of the card to check.
Structure trumps numbers. Categories are assigned by the most distinctive feature:
If a hand is all pairs/singles, it's Singles and Pairs β even if the numbers spell 2026 or are all odds/evens.
Matching dragons: Each dragon "belongs to" a suit based on color: Red Dragon β Cracks (both red), Green Dragon β Bams (both green), White Dragon (Soap) β Dots. (Soap also plays zero in hands like 2026; as a zero it goes with any suit.) When your hand is all one suit, the matching dragon completes it without making it a Winds-Dragons hand.
Which category does this hand belong to?
Once you can recognize the Winds, Dragons, and Cracks by sight, practice saying them in Mandarin.
All character tiles with pronunciation, pinyin, and meaning. Optional: you don't need Mandarin to play.
Mahjong (ιΊ»ε° or ιΊ»ι mΓ‘quΓ¨, literally "sparrow") emerged in mid-19th century China, likely around the Yangtze River delta region. Its exact origins are murky β some trace it to card games, others to domino games that evolved over centuries.
By the late 1800s, mahjong had spread throughout China and became wildly popular across all social classes β from farmers to emperors. The game combined skill, strategy, and luck, making it perfect for both entertainment and gambling.
The three suited tiles represent different forms of currency:
So the three suits represent escalating wealth: coins β bundles of coins β paper bills. Very fitting for a gambling game.
Winds (ζ±εθ₯Ώε)
The four winds represent compass directions and correspond to the four players' positions. In Chinese cosmology, directions carry significance β East is associated with spring and new beginnings, which is why the East player deals first.
Note: Mahjong winds go counterclockwise (East β South β West β North), opposite to Western compass conventions. This follows traditional Chinese directional ordering.
Dragons (δΈε sΔn yuΓ‘n)
The three dragons may connect to the imperial examination system β the meritocratic tests that determined government positions for 1,300 years:
Another theory links them to δΈε (sΔn yuΓ‘n) β the "three firsts" (top scorers) at different exam levels. Either way, they represent aspiration, achievement, and reward.
Joseph Park Babcock, a Standard Oil executive working in China, brought mahjong to America around 1920. He simplified the rules, added English terminology, and published "Rules of Mah-Jongg" (the "Babcock Rules").
Mahjong became a massive craze in 1920s America β especially among Jewish communities in New York. Department stores sold out of sets. The New York Times reported on the "mahjong madness."
This is when "Cracks" emerged β Americans hearing "Characters" and the term evolving. "Bams" from "Bamboo." "Dots" was more intuitive than the Chinese η (tΗng).
In 1937, the National Mah Jongg League (NMJL) was founded by a group of Jewish women in New York City. They standardized American rules and began publishing an annual card of valid hands.
This made American Mahjong unique:
The NMJL remains the governing body for American Mahjong and donates proceeds from card sales to charity.
Different variants flourish worldwide:
Each variant has passionate players. American mahjong's social aspect β the talk, the snacks, the regular game groups β keeps it thriving, especially in Jewish-American communities where it's been passed down for generations.
"Mahjong" comes from ιΊ»ι (mΓ‘quΓ¨), meaning "sparrow." Several theories exist:
The game is also written ιΊ»ε° (mΓ‘jiΓ ng) in simplified Chinese, which became the Westernized "mahjong" or "mah-jongg" (Babcock's spelling).
Every player needs the first two parts: what a hand is worth and who pays. Keeping score for the whole table can be one person's job.
Most casual games use coins, chips, or just pen and paper. Common starting amounts:
House rules vary β confirm scoring with your group before playing.
These errors make your hand "dead": you can't win that round. Once another player calls you dead (and you agree), you stop playing and just pay the winner:
In casual/beginner games, groups often let players fix honest mistakes. Ask your table's house rules!
A "safe" discard is one unlikely to help opponents win:
How tiles are shuffled, walls are built, and the game begins.
Click "Roll Dice" to see how the break point is determined step by step.
Click "Roll Dice" to start. East (the dealer) will roll to determine where to break the wall.
The minimum you need to sit down and play. The deal, penalties and table management can be left to one person at the table: that's Run the Table.
For edge cases, tile counts, and detailed rules, see Full Rules under Run the Table.
Before the first turn, everyone passes unwanted tiles to each other. It's how you shape a random deal into something you can build on.
Before play begins, players pass tiles to improve their hands. This is uniquely American.
Detailed rules for when you need to look something up.
A question every new player asks: "Is mahjong mostly luck?" The honest answer: it's both, and that's what makes it great.
One game: Luck dominates. A beginner can beat an expert in any single round.
Many games: Skill shows through. Over 50 or 100 games, better players win more often.
The joy: Luck keeps things exciting. Anyone can win tonight. But skill means you're not just hoping β you're playing.
"Mahjong is a game of skill, with enough luck to keep the experts humble and the beginners hopeful."
The NMJL card lists ~50 winning hands β specific patterns of 14 tiles. To win, you must complete one of these patterns exactly. Here's how to read them:
Example is representative, not from current card. Many hands incorporate the year (2025, 2026).
The ~50 hands are organized into categories. Categories stay roughly the same each year (though specific hands change). Most categories have 7-9 hands, some more or fewer.
Examples are representative, not from the current card. Here red = Cracks, green = Bams, blue = Dots; on the real card, colors only tell you how many suits.