Mah Jong is an old chinese game with four players. In the game you have 13 tiles which you try to exchange one by one to combine something called a Mah Jong, Tin or Hu (these are some names for it). The tiles are Circles (1 to 9), Signs (1 to 9), Bamboo (1 to 9), Winds (E, S, W and N) and Dragons (red C, green F and white P). There are four of each of these tiles in the game. There are also four tiles for Seasons (1 Spring, 2 Summer, 3 Autumn and 4 Winter [red numbers]) and four tiles for Flowers (1 Rose, 2 Orchid, 3 Bamboo and 4 Crysanthemum [blue numbers]).
Possible combinations are Chow or Shang, which is a straight of three. These can only be combined with Circles, Signs or Bamboo. Another combination is Kong or Peng which is three of a kind. A three of a kind can be combined with all tiles except Seasons and Flowers. Kang och Gang is the third combination which is four of a kind (see three of a kind). A winning combination consists of at least 14 tiles where we have four combinations and a pair. When you have all except the last tile to complete your hand you are "waiting".
Example of a Tin (Mah Jong or Hu):
Circle 3, Circle 4, Circle 5 (Chow, Shang)
Sign 2, Sign 2, Sign 2 (Kong, Peng)
North, North, North, North (Kang, Gang)
Red dragon, Red dragon, Red dragon (Kong, Peng)
Bamboo 5, Bamboo 5 (a pair)
When a player has got Tin (Mah Jong or Hu) one deal is completed.
A COMPLETE GAME
A game consists of four rounds which in turn consists of at least four deals. Every round has name after one wind. The first round is East, the second South, the third West and the fourth is North. The game starts with round East. The players participating have names after winds. The first player is East and so on. The first player continues to be East as long as she/he makes Tin (Mah Jong or Hu). If any other player makes Tin the winds are rotated so that player two now becomes East. Round East continues until all players have been East and another players gets Tin. After that comes round South. Player one starts to be East. When another players gets Tin the winds are rotated and the next player is East and so on until all rounds are played through. Through the game the winner in each deal gets points from all other players but doesn't pay to anyone. The other players give points to each other in relation to how good hands they have collected together. The winner of the whole game is the player that has got the best points.
PLAYING THE GAME
When a new game is started the program deals tiles to all players. East always gets 14 tiles and the other players gets 13. East starts the game by discarding a tile. The other players have a chance to pick up the discarded tile if they can make a combination right away with the tile. In that case a dialog is displayed and the player can choose a bid. The player with the highest bid gets the tile. The bids are (lowest to highest) Chow, Kong, Kang and Tin. If no player can bid the tile "dies" and will not return anymore in this deal. The turn goes to the next player (South), who gets a new tile from "the wall" (which you cannot see in this computer game). She/he then discards a tile and the other players have an opportunity to bid. Lets say that the tile is Circle 4 and that player North has two Circle 4 already. She/he then gets an opportunity to bid Kong. The turn goes to that player and she/he gets the tile and combines it together with the two in her/his hand and displays them at the table. She/he then discards a tile and the game goes on. If no one bids the turn goes to East. Player West hasn't done anything yet in the came because North gave a bid and got the turn.
The game goes on and the players combine tiles to get a tin. Each time they get a complete combination it is displayed if they get it through a bid, but not if they get it from the wall. When a player makes a Kang (four of a kind) she/he need an extra tile in order to be able to complete for tin. That tile is taken from another part of the wall (the 14 last tiles, seen only in a real game). When a player has all except the last tile to complete her/his hand for a tin she/he is "waiting".
CALCULATING POINTS
The combinations in a hand have different values. Here is a table of points for the possible displayed combinations (received through bidding):
Tiles: Combination, Points
Signs, Circles and Bamboo (1 or 9), winds and dragons: KANG, 16 p
Signs, Circles and Bamboo (2 through 8): KANG, 8 p
Signs, Circles and Bamboo (1 or 9), winds and dragons: KONG, 4 p
Signs, Circles and Bamboo (2 through 8): KONG, 2 p
Signs, Circles and Bamboos: CHOW, 0 p
A combination that is not displayed due to a bid has twice the value of the corresponding combination above.
Som other things that give points if not displayed are:
A pair of wind of the round that also is the players wind, 4 p
A pair of wind of the round, or a pair of wind of the player, or a pair of a dragon, 2 p
The player who gets tin receives 20 p. If the winning tile comes from the wall she/he receives extra two points. If the hand couldn't be completed with any other tile she/he gets two extra points. If the tile was a completition tile from the wall due to Kang, or a Flower/Season the player gets 10 extra points. If the hand only consisted of worthless combinations and a worthless pair the player receives 10 p.
DOUBLINGS
Certain combinations allow a player to double her/his points. First the total points of the hand has to be calculated. The points are then multiplied by two for each doubling the player has.
GENERAL DOUBLINGS OF TOTAL POINTS
General doublings are doublings that all players can have. A Kong or Kang with dragons, the Wind of the player or the Wind of the round doubles a players points once for each. A Kong/Kang of a Wind of the player that simultaneously is a Wind of the round therefore gives two doublings.
DOUBLING OF TOTAL POINTS FOR THE WINNER
If the winning tile was the last tile in the deal the points are doubled once. If the hand consists of only Kongs the points are doubled once. A hand that only contains Ones, Nines, Winds and Dragons (except for Flowers and Seasons) doubles the points once. A hand that only consists of one of Signs, Bamboo or Circles, and then only contains Winds and/or Dragons doubles the points once.
A hand that only consists of one of Signs, Bamboo or Circles doubles the points three times. A hand that contains Kongs or Kangs of two Dragons and also A pair of the third Dragon doubles the points three times but the player gets no general doublings.
PAYING
After the points are calculated the players pay to each other in relation to how much points they have. The player who got tin doesn't pay to anyone, but receives points from all other players. Let's say that the points where
E: 12
S: 36 (Tin)
W: 8
N: 4
The winner of the deal gets: East pays and wins always doubled so he has to pay 2*36 points to South. West and North pays 36 points to South.
East gets (doubled) (12-8)*2 from West and (12-4)*2 from North.
West gets 8-4 from North and pays (12-8)*2 to East.
North pays (12-4)*2 to East and 8-4 to West.
TIED GAME
A game is tied if no one gets Tin before all tiles are taken except the 14 last in the wall. If a game is tied, then no points are payed. The Winds are not rotated.
SPECIAL HANDS
The computer game recognizes no special hands for now. Special hands are rare events that give a fix amount of points. These will be implemented in a future version of this game.
GAME FEATURES
A new game can be started by choosing New game in the File menu. A dialog appears and you have to name players and select which of them should be computer players.
When you accept a Chow that can be built in more than one way, eg Sign 2-Sign 3-Sign 4, or Sign 1-Sign 2-Sign 3, the game displays a special dialog. You should then click on one of the two left hand tiles to build the "smaller" Chow, and one of the two rightmost tiles to build a "larger" Chow. You could also have three possible ways to build a Chow. In that case the middle tile means a "middle" Chow. If you hold down the mouse button on a tile you can move the pointer around and see which tiles will be used in the combination. The combination gets selecten on release of the button.
The game cannot be saved in the middle of a deal.
When you can make a Kang at hand you have to accept it the first time the games offers you a possibility. You won't get more than one offer per possible Kang at hand.
STRATEGY
Try to be an alert player and follow the other players doing. Through the tiles they display and discard you may be able to find out what the have in mind.
Valuable tiles, like Dragons and Winds can be disastrous if discarded late in the game. Other players often value these higher than normal tiles (Signs, Circles and Bamboo), and the strategy here is to know when to keep them and when not. Especially in a late phase of the game you have to be careful in choosing the right tiles to save/discard.
Chows can make fast Tins, but often not so valuable. If you play East it could be right to take many Chows to be able to win fast, but one Tin with lots of points outweigh lots of worthless Tins when playing East.
