2. Components

In this post, we will introduce everything you need to get your own Mahjong game started! For a quick summary, check out our unboxing video!

Of course, the most iconic part is the Mahjong tiles themselves. They come in various beautiful art styles but are always a set of 144 tiles, divided into Suited Tiles, Honor Tiles, and Special Tiles.

Suited Tiles: Bamboos, Characters, and Dots

The most common tiles are the Suited Tiles, which are 108 tiles that are divided into three suits. Each suit has the numbers 1 to 9, with 4 copies of each number. The order is important as throughout the game, you will be able to form sequences using the numbers.

The first set is the Bamboos (also known as Sticks), which you can simply count the number of bamboos on the tile to determine the order. The only exception is the 1 tile, which is instead represented by a bird.

The second set is the Characters (also known as Numbers or Thousands). The order of these is the most confusing as they are entirely based on the Chinese characters for the numbers. While the tiles for 123 can be easily counted, the rest you will have to get used to (in the meantime, refer to our image!).

The third and final set is the Dots (also known as Circles or Cookies). These are the simplest of them all, as you can count the number of dots and easily figure out the order.

Honor Tiles: Winds and Dragons

Next, there are the 28 Honor Tiles, which can be divided into Winds and Dragons (the namesake of our blog!). Unlike the Suited Tiles, these have no numerical sequences, making them harder to use but with a big payoff! (more on that later).

The first four tiles in the image are the Winds, representing East, South, West, and North respectively.

The last three tiles are the Dragons, which yield higher scores than the Winds. They can be simply referred to as the Red Dragon, Green Dragon, and White Dragon tiles. However, their Chinese names more accurately translate to Red Clock, Fortune, and Whiteboard.

Special Tiles: Flowers and Seasons

In your set, you will also find 8 Special Tiles. These offer special advantages when drawn and increase the points you earn if you win the hand. Typically, there are four Flowers (labelled with the Chinese characters for 1-4) and four Seasons (labelled with the Chinese characters for the seasons). Our set, as shown in the image, has Arabic numbers instead of Seasons, which is unusual.

Now that you have a basic understanding of the tiles, there are a few other peripherals to mention!

Playing Surface

To play, you will need a flat surface, most commonly a table. While there are professional tables with cool features like automatic shuffling, this is not realistic for a casual game. It is fun to try our a Mahjong cafe with these advanced tables though! However, for a home game, any square or rectangular table will do.

"Laying a towel or felt on your table will protect the tiles and help soften the shuffling sound, which is handy if your neighbours are complaining!"

Dice

You will need two 6-sided dice, which are used for the initial drawing phase of the game. It is to determine which player will start and how the walls of tiles will be split for the game. More on this in future posts!

Currency

We will explain the detailed rules of scoring later on, but just know you will need some currency to keep track of scores. Mahjong originated as a gambling game, so one option is to use real money to settle scores between players at the end of each round. However, if you just want to have fun, you can use chips or other fake money to do the same thing. We have free printable Mahjong money on our "Extras" page for you to use!

"Be wary of playing Mahjong with real money, unless you really trust all the other players. It is easy for swindlers to rig a game against you!"