Mahjong Games

Before playing for the first time, we recommend that you get yourself familiar with the rules:
1. The goal of the game is to arrange your 14 tiles in sets, you can find the list of sets in the Mahjong Terminology page.
2. Read about the 5 different tile types on the Mahjong Tiles page - the most important thing to know is how to tell apart the Dragon and Wind tiles from the other tiles.
3. After you are familiar with the tiles and the set types (Chii, Kan, Pon and Pairs), briefly read the game basics section on the Mahjong Rules page.
4. On each turn, You will get one new tile, and you will have to discard one tile by clicking on it. It is fine to discard the new tile that you just got.
5. During the game, if you can use a tile that your opponent just discarded, a sign will automatically appear on the bottom of the screen, click it to take and use the discarded tile.
6. Try to play for a while, if you want more information, finish reading the rules page, you can also find more history and info on the continuation of this page.

Mahjong is a popular game originated in China. The game involves four players and was originally called MaQue, which means sparrow and is still called by this name in most of the southern Chinese vernaculars. In other parts of China it is often referred to as MaJiang.
The game involves a certain degree of expert skills, tactful strategy, and meticulous calculation. During the game each player deals with thirteen to sixteen tiles in hand, depending on the different versions of this game being played.
Nowadays,mahjong games are played in different countries using different rules, which are generally based, with some modifications, on the traditional Chinese rules.

Mahjong games have different rules in different countries, but ideally during the game, the player draws a tile and discards one.
The winning depends 'on the draw' which is picking up a new card or taking discarded one and the hand is completed.
The origin of Mahjong, unveils its curtain to a lot of myths and stories. But one among them is that a famous Chinese philosopher Confucius invented the game around 500 BC.
According to this myth the prevalence of this game in many parts of China is because of Confucius's travel to many parts of China to teach his doctrines.

The story behind it is that a lady was in isolation in the emperor's palace. In her boredom she started carving tiles of this game in ivory and bamboo.
Once she was done, she called three of her maids and told them to play the game with her. It was Confucius who later developed the game.
The myth also tells that Confucius was very fond of a bird, that's the reason the name Mahjong means a sparrow. But ironically there is no evidence to the existence of the mahjong game before the 19th Century, so it's unlikely that Confucius was the inventor of this game.
Historians believe that Mahjong was founded on the classic Chinese game "MaDiao" (also known as Ma Tiae).
During the Ming dynasty, Mahjong was played with 40 paper cards which looked like the cards used in Ya Pei game.
1 to 9 is numbered in these 40 cards in four special suits, beside four additional flower cards. This is fairly alike to the numbering of mahjong tiles played today, although the mahjong game has only three suits and draw on four packs of Ya Pei cards.
There are few other theories about the invention of the game. One among the assumptions is that Chinese officers during the Taiping Rebellion fashioned this game to wile away their time.
Another speculation is that a gentleman from the Shanghai region invented the game somewhere between the years 1870 and 1875.
Some think that two brothers from NingPo shaped mahjong in 1850, from an existing game MaDiao.
Mahjong games were later banned in China in 1949, this ban was withdrawn in 1985. Today, this game is one of the most favorite pastime in and around China and among all communities.