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Mahjong: A Visual Guide

themahjong.guide

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Re: Mahjong: A Visual Guide

#51

Post by riffraff »

jader201 wrote: post #9

Some (mostly American?) people know Mahjong as a solitaire game [1] that they likely have played on their phone or Windows PC/Mac. This article is talking about the (arguably less known?) 4-player competitive game [2], and assumes you already know the difference (which some may not). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong_solitaire [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong

I did know mahjong as a solitaire game, but an arcade one! It was quite common in cabinets when I was a kid (80s-90s)

I only learned it was also multiplayer when it appeared in some movies.

Re: Mahjong: A Visual Guide

#52

Post by ljm »

jader201 wrote: post #9

Some (mostly American?) people know Mahjong as a solitaire game [1] that they likely have played on their phone or Windows PC/Mac. This article is talking about the (arguably less known?) 4-player competitive game [2], and assumes you already know the difference (which some may not). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong_solitaire [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong

I know the 4 player version from the Yakuza games. I only knew about the solitaire version until then from a demo version on Net Yaroze on the PlayStation, where you basically got some weird games along side the demos on a new demo disc every month.

Reminds me of poker.

Also I miss the excitement of a new issue of a magazine with a demo disc of a few new games.

Re: Mahjong: A Visual Guide

#53

Post by gs17 »

CJefferson wrote: post #19

This is a really nice website! In China it turns out there are lots of rule sets. The city I'm currently living in (Changsha) has it's own ruleset for example, with less tiles than these examples.

Yeah, the grad students near me always play Sichuan-style, because it's simpler (only numbered tiles, scoring is a bit easier).

Re: Mahjong: A Visual Guide

#55

Post by ww520 »

b450 wrote: post #28
ww520 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Base point is like the minimum payout. All players agree upon a minimum payout (base point) ahead of time. E.g. $10 as the minimum for the first fan. A fan literally means doubling. A 4 fan win means the payout is $10x2x2x2=$80 from each losing party. It can go up very quickly.

We play with a base point being a dime or a quarter. Note also that the function from fan to points is subject to house rules, it's not always p(f) = 2^f (I've seen rules for example that start to "level off" the payout at higher fan values). I'd add the note that the whole strategy of mahjong really only gets interesting when you play repeated hands (a full game has at least 16 hands, with each player acting as the…

Yes. Many people set a limit on the maximum payout as doubling goes up very fast. A 8-fan win is $1280 payout, from each player. People usually limit the max to be 9 fan.

Re: Mahjong: A Visual Guide

#57

Post by pigeons »

jader201 wrote: post #9

Some (mostly American?) people know Mahjong as a solitaire game [1] that they likely have played on their phone or Windows PC/Mac. This article is talking about the (arguably less known?) 4-player competitive game [2], and assumes you already know the difference (which some may not). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong_solitaire [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong

I never knew about the solitaire game but growing up in America, starting in childhood it seemed everyone "knew" (or thought they knew and spread rumors) why certain people were missing fingers.

Re: Mahjong: A Visual Guide

#59

Post by Zababa »

tromp wrote: post #13

I've known about Mahjong for decades but TIL it has many similarities to a game I play regularly, Rummykub. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rummikub describes it as combining elements of the card game rummy and Mahjong.

Having played a lot of Rummikub with my grandparents and a lot of mahjong I'd say they feel pretty different.

Re: Mahjong: A Visual Guide

#60

Post by Zababa »

flobosg wrote: post #23

In the Kaiji manga, the “Minefield Mahjong” arc uses a variation of Japanese Mahjong. It can be read without knowing the general rules (as I did), but I guess they make some of the scenes more understandable and/or impactful. Maybe I’ll give it a reread after checking this out.

If you want to read manga for mahjong I'd say go straight for Akagi and Ten, by the same author. Akagi has a great anime adaptation that covers the first third. Both are excellent mangas in their own right, with or without understanding mahjong.
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