Mix: shuffles all the tiles so that they end up in different positions and new pairs become available. The Independent Internet Mahjong Newspaper". Mahjongnews.com. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007 . Retrieved 7 September 2012. It is not necessary to know the names or the Chinese characters of each bonus tile, only the number, as this is associated with a specific direction, and the player receives bonus points when the bonus tile matches the seat direction. There is no relation between the bonus tile "bamboo" flower and the bamboo suit of suited tiles (e.g. 4 bamboo). In traditional Chinese culture, the Four Gentlemen are the plum (winter), orchid (spring), bamboo (summer), and chrysanthemum (autumn) which are regarded as the representative plants of those seasons, but people regard it as plum blossom (spring), orchid (summer), chrysanthemum (autumn) and bamboo (winter) now.

Rules governing discarding Joker tiles also exist; some variations permit the Joker tile to take on the identity of any tile, and others only permit the Joker tile to take on the identity of the previously discarded tile (or the absence of a tile, if it is the first discard). Wang, Xianwen; Mao, Wenli; Liu, Chen (2013). "Games and Culture: Using Online-gaming Data to Cluster Chinese Regional Cultures". arXiv: 1310.0621 [ cs.CY].Joker tiles may or may not affect scoring, depending on the variation. Some special hands may require the use of Joker tiles (for example, to represent a "fifth tile" of a certain suited or honor tile). Mahjong serves as a minor plot point in the 2016 Arrival where General Shang uses the game to interact with the aliens.

and 9 of each suit, one of each wind, one of each dragon, and one extra piece of any of those thirteen elements While there are a huge number of regional variations to it, the basic principles of many Mahjong games are the same and feature the following tiles: Hong Kong mahjong or Cantonese mahjong is a more common form of mahjong, differing in minor scoring details from the Chinese Classical variety. It does not allow multiple players to win from a single discard. [ citation needed]

While the basic rules are more or less the same throughout mahjong, the greatest divergence between variations lies in the scoring systems. Like the rules, there is a generalized system of scoring, based on the method of winning and the winning hand, from which Chinese and Japanese base their roots. American mahjong generally has greatly divergent scoring rules, as well as greatly divergent general rules. More elaborate superstitions in mahjong range from those found in the game poker, such as not counting one's wins and losses, to the comical, such as changing one's undergarments after a loss. As with all superstitions in gaming, none of them have been properly demonstrated as effective, though, for some, the rituals have become an integral part of the game experience and its aesthetics. [51] Glossary [ edit ] English Cheng, ST; Chan, AC; Yu, EC (24 May 2012). " An exploratory study of the effect of mahjong on the cognitive functioning of persons with dementia". Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 21 (7): 611–7. doi: 10.1002/gps.1531. PMID 16779765. S2CID 6080864. In Mahjongg Solitaire, you’ll also notice special tiles that can be matched even without the same image. These are highlighted in blue or green. More Games Like This A rarely occurring and high-scoring feature of Hong Kong mahjong is a move called robbing the kong. If a player declares a kong by adding a fourth piece to a melded pong but another player can use that piece to complete a hand, the completing player takes priority to win the hand and may steal that piece from the player who intended to declare the kong.