Chinese Official Mahjong
The rules used at world mahjong championships: 8 points to win, 81 scoring elements. Practise against three computer opponents — every fan and exclusion is counted for you.
You need 8 points to win!
Grandpa, let me try!
Official competition rules
The 1998 Mahjong Competition Rules: 144 tiles with flowers, 13-tile hands, chow, pung and kong, an 8-point minimum and no dealer bonus — the same as tournaments worldwide.
Fair computer opponents
Easy, normal and hard. The computer never sees your tiles or the wall, and plans its hands toward 8 points like a real player. No cheating.
Waits with their fan
See which tiles you wait on, how many are left and what each would score. Waits under 8 points are flagged, and the results list every fan plus the ones excluded.
Free, no download
Nothing to install, no account, no annoying ads. Your game and stats are saved on this device.
How to play Chinese Official Mahjong
From the first draw to the winning tile — four simple steps to start playing Chinese Official Mahjong.
-
1Draw & flowers
Flowers go aside — draw again!On your turn, draw a tile and discard one; your hand stays at 13. Draw a flower? Lay it out and take a replacement from the end of the wall.
-
2Chow, pung, kong
Pung! That’s a set!Claim the discard of the player on your left to make a chow (run). Any discard can make a pung (three alike) or kong (four alike).
-
3Reach 8 points
8 points to win!A winning hand needs at least 8 points, and flowers don’t count. The wait hint shows what each winning tile is worth.
-
4Win!
I won!Four sets and a pair worth 8 points or more is a win. The fan and the payments are worked out for you.
Play as long as you like
From a three-minute hand to a full 16-hand competition game.
- Beginner — Plays loosely and claims a lot. Good for learning.
- Normal — Plans toward 8 points, counts the visible tiles and plays for quick wins.
- Expert — Plans more carefully, picks better waits and defends once you look close to winning.
Full rules
- Everyone gets 13 tiles; the dealer takes a 14th and discards first. Flowers are laid out at once and replaced from the end of the wall.
- On your turn, draw one tile and discard one. You may claim a discard to make a pung (three alike) or kong (four alike) from anyone, or a chow (run) from the player on your left only. Winning beats pung and kong, which beat chow.
- Four sets plus a pair wins. There are also special hands: Seven Pairs, Thirteen Orphans, Honors and Knitted Tiles, and Knitted Straight hands.
- A winning hand must be worth at least 8 points, not counting flowers. Points come from the 81 fan; smaller fan already implied by a bigger one are not counted again (the non-repeat principle).
- Scoring: on a discard win, the discarder pays fan + 8 and the other two pay 8 each. On a self-drawn win, each of the three pays fan + 8.
- No dealer bonus and no dealer repeat: the deal passes to the next player after every hand, and the prevalent wind changes every four hands. If the wall runs out, the hand is a draw and nobody pays.
The tiles
Characters, dots and bamboo, 1 to 9, four of each; East, South, West and North winds; Red, Green and White dragons; plus eight flowers (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, Plum, Orchid, Bamboo, Chrysanthemum). 144 tiles in all.
The 81 fan
MCR fan range from 88 points down to 1. A fan already implied by a bigger one is not counted again — Big Four Winds does not also score Prevalent Wind, Seat Wind or All Pungs.
88 pt
- Big Four Winds
- Big Three Dragons
- All Green
- Nine Gates
- Four Kongs
- Seven Shifted Pairs
- Thirteen Orphans
64 pt
- All Terminals
- Little Four Winds
- Little Three Dragons
- All Honors
- Four Concealed Pungs
- Pure Terminal Chows
48 pt
- Quadruple Chow
- Four Pure Shifted Pungs
32 pt
- Four Pure Shifted Chows
- Three Kongs
- All Terminals and Honors
24 pt
- Seven Pairs
- Greater Honors and Knitted Tiles
- All Even Pungs
- Full Flush
- Pure Triple Chow
- Pure Shifted Pungs
- Upper Tiles
- Middle Tiles
- Lower Tiles
16 pt
- Pure Straight
- Three-Suited Terminal Chows
- Pure Shifted Chows
- All Fives
- Triple Pung
- Three Concealed Pungs
12 pt
- Lesser Honors and Knitted Tiles
- Knitted Straight
- Upper Four
- Lower Four
- Big Three Winds
8 pt
- Mixed Straight
- Reversible Tiles
- Mixed Triple Chow
- Mixed Shifted Pungs
- Chicken Hand
- Last Tile Draw
- Last Tile Claim
- Out with Replacement Tile
- Robbing the Kong
6 pt
- All Pungs
- Half Flush
- Mixed Shifted Chows
- All Types
- Melded Hand
- Two Concealed Kongs
- Two Dragon Pungs
4 pt
- Outside Hand
- Fully Concealed Hand
- Two Melded Kongs
- Last Tile
2 pt
- Dragon Pung
- Prevalent Wind
- Seat Wind
- Concealed Hand
- All Chows
- Tile Hog
- Double Pung
- Two Concealed Pungs
- Concealed Kong
- All Simples
1 pt
- Pure Double Chow
- Mixed Double Chow
- Short Straight
- Two Terminal Chows
- Pung of Terminals or Honors
- Melded Kong
- One Voided Suit
- No Honors
- Edge Wait
- Closed Wait
- Single Wait
- Self-Drawn
- Flower Tiles
Beginner tips
- Keep your options open: hold several partial sets early instead of committing to one shape — it makes 8 points much easier.
- Learn a few common routes to 8: Mixed Straight or Mixed Triple Chow is 8 on its own; Half Flush, All Pungs and All Types need only a little more.
- Count before you claim: a chow or pung loses Concealed Hand and Fully Concealed Hand, so only claim when you can still reach 8.
- Watch the wait hint: waits under 8 points are flagged, and a different wait may score enough. Remember, flowers don’t count toward the 8.
New to Chinese Official Mahjong?
The beginner guide walks you through the tiles, winning hands, all 81 fan, the non-repeat principle and scoring, with tile pictures.
Read the beginner guideFAQ
How is Chinese Official Mahjong different from Taiwanese, Japanese or Hong Kong mahjong?
MCR uses 13-tile hands (Taiwanese uses 16), needs at least 8 points to win and has 81 scoring elements. There is no riichi or dora as in Japanese mahjong and no limit as in Hong Kong mahjong; there is no dealer bonus, and every win scores a base of 8 plus the fan.
Is it really free? Do I need to sign up?
Completely free, no sign-up. The game runs in your browser and saves progress on your device.
Does the computer cheat?
No. The computer only knows its own tiles and what is on the table, just like you. The wall is shuffled once at the start of each hand and never touched again.
Why can’t I win with a complete hand?
A hand worth fewer than 8 points cannot win, and flowers do not count toward the 8. Aim for common routes such as Mixed Straight, Half Flush, All Pungs, Mixed Shifted Chows or All Types. The wait hint shows the points for each wait.
What does “not counted” mean?
Some fan contain others, and a fan already implied by a bigger one is not counted again. For example, Full Flush does not also score No Honors or One Voided Suit, and Fully Concealed Hand replaces Self-Drawn and Concealed Hand. The results screen lists the fan that were excluded.
Can I play on my phone?
Yes — phone, tablet or computer. Turn your phone sideways for the biggest, easiest-to-tap tiles.