The complete guide
How to Choose a Chinese Mahjong Set
Mahjong looks hard from the outside. It is really a matching game with some strategy on top, and most people pick up the basics in one evening.
What is in the box
You get 146 melamine tiles, engraved with Chinese characters and symbols. The suite breaks down as 36 circles, 36 bamboos, 36 characters, 12 dragons, 16 winds and 8 flowers and seasons. Two blank spares are in there as well, so one lost tile does not finish off the set.
Three dice, a wind indicator and English instructions come with it. Racks and pushers are not included. If your table likes playing with racks, you will need to pick those up separately.
Check the ruleset before you buy
This set is built for Chinese gameplay rules. There are no joker tiles in it, so it is not compatible with American or Western rules.
If the people you play with use Chinese rules, this is the right shape of set for them. If they play American mahjong, look for a set that comes with jokers instead.
Tiles, case and weight
Tile size matters more than people expect. Each tile here is 32 x 24 x 16mm, big enough to read from across the table and small enough to hold a row of thirteen without fumbling. The melamine face is scratch resistant, so the engraving stays sharp through a lot of shuffling.
Everything packs into a red vinyl case measuring 30.5 x 23 x 4.7cm. The full set weighs 3.2kg, so it goes into a bag easily for a night at a friend's house, a family weekend or a week away. Give the tiles a quick count back into the case at the end of the night and the set stays complete for years.
How a round actually runs
Four players is the traditional table. Each player starts with 13 tiles, and the remaining tiles form the draw pile with the top tile set aside as the prevailing wind indicator.
From there you take turns drawing and discarding, building towards four melds and one pair. The first player to get a full hand calls mahjong and takes the round. Scoring depends on the ruleset your group agrees on, with bonus tiles, dragons and special combinations adding to the total.
Not sure whether this set matches the way your group plays? Send the support team a question before you order and someone will normally come back to you within one business day.