American Mahjong

How to play

1. Use a 152-tile set with standard tiles, eight Flowers and eight Jokers. Every player takes 13 tiles; East takes 14 and discards first.
2. Read the original practice card, then complete Charleston: pass three tiles right, across and left. A second Charleston and courtesy pass are table options.
3. Draw and discard while steering toward one exact line on the practice card, not a general four-meld-and-a-pair shape.
4. Expose legal Pungs, Kongs or larger groups when the selected card line permits it. Concealed card lines may not be exposed before the final win.
5. Use a Joker only in a group of three or more; never use it as a single or pair. On your turn, a natural tile may exchange for a Joker in an opponent exposure.
6. Declare Mah Jongg only when all 14 tiles exactly match one legal original practice-card line.

Game features

• 152-tile American-style set with Flowers, Jokers and NMJL-inspired Charleston passes.
• Original Mahjong Hub practice cards — exact pattern wins, not generic meld shapes.
• Legal Joker groups, Joker exchange on your turn and exposure rules tied to the card line.
• Optional second Charleston and courtesy pass for table-style practice sessions.
• Four-player browser table with guided Charleston and card-pattern validation.

Supported devices

American Mahjong runs entirely in the browser on desktop and mobile without downloading an app. A wide screen helps read the practice card and exposures together; phones rotate to landscape for the full table layout. Supported on Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS.

Strategy tips

• Before Charleston, keep two or three compatible card lines open rather than committing to a single rare line.
• Pass tiles that do not support any of your likely card categories, but never pass a Joker.
• Do not expose a group merely because you can: exposure signals your target and may make your hand impossible to pivot.
• Treat Jokers as group accelerators, not universal wildcards; you still need natural tiles for singles and pairs.
• Use opponent exposures to decide which natural tiles are safe to discard and when a Joker exchange is valuable.

Frequently asked questions