Play your first hand

Mahjong is a four-player tile game of skill, strategy and luck. Learn what mahjong is, how the tiles work, the main rulesets around the world, and how it differs from the tile-matching games you may have seen online.

Lesson 1 · 8 min read

What do mahjong tiles mean? A full guide to the 144 tiles — suits, winds, dragons, flowers and seasons — with the symbols explained for beginners.

Lesson 2 · 8 min read

The complete beginner-friendly guide to mahjong rules. Learn the tiles, the wall, turns, calling, winning hands and scoring — plus a full hand played turn by turn, what happens when nobody wins, and how to choose your first ruleset.

Lesson 3 · 11 min read

Learn how to play mahjong from scratch: build the wall, deal, draw and discard, call pong and kong, and win your first hand. A complete beginner walkthrough with no assumed knowledge.

Lesson 4 · 8 min read

Mahjong is built for four players, but you can play tonight with two or three. Learn exactly what changes: the wall, claiming, the Charleston, sanma, Siamese racks, which tiles to remove, and how scoring adjusts.

Lesson 5 · 11 min read

How mahjong scoring works across rulesets: faan in Hong Kong, han in Riichi, points in Chinese Official. The common patterns and how to count your hand.

Lesson 6 · 8 min read

Practical mahjong strategy for beginners: choose a hand direction early, discard honours, read the discard pile, avoid over-calling, and reach ready faster. Beat the bots more often with these tips.

Lesson 7 · 7 min read

Play mahjong online free — no download, no install. Learn where to play, how the online rules work, and the etiquette of playing against bots and strangers.

Lesson 8 · 8 min read