Mahjong

Mahjong is a traditional Asian four-player puzzle game. The game has gained popularity on the internet, as it is available to play and compete with others for free. It is believed to have been developed by Confucius in 500BC.

Fast Facts

1. Players: 2–4
2. Ages: 4 and up
3. Play time: 0–3 hours

How to Play

The game begins with a collection of painted tiles stacked in a pyramid, and the goal is to remove all of the tiles. This is accomplished by pairing same-face tiles together that do not have a tile to their left or right.

Variations

1. Chinese Classical Mahjong: Introduced to the United States in the 1920s.
2. Hong Kong Mahjong or Cantonese Mahjong: The most common type of Mahjong, which uses a different score type than the Chinese Classical version.
3. Sichuan Mahjong: Popular in southern China. It is a faster play than the Classical version.
4. Taiwanese Mahjong: Is played in Taiwan. It involves 16 tiles, which is three more than other versions.
5. Japanese Mahjong: The standard form of Mahjong in Japan.
6. Western Classical Mahjong: Introduced by Babcock to the United States in the 1920's. It uses Wright-Patterson rules, used in the U.S. military, and other similar American-made variants that are closer to the Babcock rules.
7. American Mahjong: Standardized by the National Mah Jongg League and the American Mah-Jongg Association.
8. 3-Player (or 3-ka) Mahjong: A simplified three-person Mahjong that involves 13 tiles and a total of 84 tiles on the table.

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