Learn to play American Mah Jongg, from scratch

Never played? Start here: 8 short lessons teach the game one step at a time, from the tiles to a whole game, with a question now and then to check the idea. Each takes a few minutes.

The lessons

1. The tiles. The 152 tiles: three suits, the winds and dragons, the flowers, and the jokers.
2. Reading the card. How a line on the card makes a hand: its groups, its suits, its value, and where Jokers can go.
3. The Charleston. Passing tiles before play: right, across and left, then again if everyone agrees, and the courtesy pass.
4. Turns and claims. Whose turn it is, who gets a discard two players want, and the discards no one can call.
5. Calling. Taking a discard to finish a group, exposing it, and swapping for a Joker.
6. Mah Jongg and the payments. Winning with 14 tiles that make a line, and what each player pays you.
7. Dead hands and wall games. When a hand can't win any more, and when no one wins at all.
8. A first game, step by step. One hand from the deal to Mah Jongg: a pass, a discard, a call, a Joker swap, the win and the payments.

Then strategy: 6 lessons on racks dealt by the engine, where the best choice beats a beginner's rule of thumb, and on what the luck of the deal decides. Pro has them all; on Free's plan, a new one comes each week.

How the lessons work

• Real tiles and racks. Each lesson shows the tiles, a rack and the hands on the card, and you answer by tapping tiles or choosing an answer.
• The reason after every answer. A wrong answer says why, and you try again. Only first tries count toward your score.
• Checked by the engine. Nearly every answer is checked by the app's tests against the engine the robots play by, so what you learn is what happens at the table (How it works).
• On the app's own card. The lessons use the Practice Card, written for learning. Its hands are the kinds the American game is built on, such as runs, like numbers, winds and dragons, so what you learn carries over to any card.
• Free. The beginner lessons are free, with no limit. The first needs no account; the rest need a free account, so your progress is kept.

What is American Mah Jongg?

American Mah Jongg, also spelled mahjong, is a game for four players with 152 tiles: three suits, winds, dragons, Flowers and Jokers. Each player builds a hand of 14 tiles that makes one of the hands on a card, which the National Mah Jongg League publishes every year. Before play, the players pass tiles to each other in the Charleston. Then each turn you draw a tile and discard one, and you may call another player's discard to finish a group. Jokers stand in for tiles in groups of three or more. The first to complete a hand on the card calls Mah Jongg and wins.