4. Scoring (Basics)

3 min read

Updated: Nov 21, 2024

Check out our comprehensive video on scoring above! Or, if you prefer, here's a written summary:

The Flower and Ceiling System

Scoring in Mahjong can get really complicated. After all, much of what separates an expert from a beginner is knowing when to pursue certain hands.

Our ruleset aims to simplify scoring down into one system: Flowers and Ceilings. Flowers are used to calculate the value of Basic Hands, while Ceilings are used to determine the value of Special Hands or Special Bonuses (to be discussed in a later post!).

Before you begin, you must determine a base dollar amount of Flowers. If you are using fake money, we suggest setting this value to $1, as it will make calculations easier. However, if you are gambling real money, be advised that a $1 base could lead to singular hands being worth hundreds, so people typically opt for a much smaller base, like 5 cents.

Next, the value of a Ceiling is 50x the value of one Flower. This means, if you use a $1 base, a regular hand is capped at $50 value. A hand worth 2 Ceilings would have a $100 value.

Calculating Your Score

Okay, so you've formed a winning hand...now how do you determine how much money to take from your opponents?

For starters, every hand is worth a base of 2 flowers no matter what. You then apply multipliers to this value based on a few factors: number of flowers accumulated, type of hand, and special bonuses achieved. In this post, we will delve into the first two factors.

Accumulating Flowers

At the start of a player's first turn, they should look at their initial hand to see if they have any Flower tiles. If so, they should reveal all their Flower tiles and replace them with an equal number of tiles drawn from the back of the wall.

If a player ever draws a Flower tile on their turn, they should reveal it and replace it with a tile drawn from the back of the wall.

Another way to gain Flowers is to acquire a set of Winds or Dragons. Each set of Winds is worth one Flower, while each set of Dragons is worth two Flowers.

Finally, you can earn Flowers from a Kong. If you get the fourth tile from another player (Kong), it is worth one Flower. If you get the fourth tile on your own (Self Kong), it is worth two Flowers. A Self Kong has one tile flipped face down to distinguish it from a regular Kong (pictured below)

Types of Hands

Before we break down all the possible hands in our ruleset, remember there are many ways to play Mahjong, and you can add whatever hands you find fun!

Just remember to assign a multiplier or Ceiling value that makes sense for the difficulty of the hand (we can help with this if you send us a message)!

Our video explains what each one means, but feel free to reference our handy guide below!

Basic Hands