6 articles · read in order

Rules Compared

American vs Hong Kong vs Japanese mahjong: side-by-side differences in tiles, hands, calling, scoring and strategy, and help choosing which style to learn.

1Rules Compared

American vs Hong Kong Mahjong

American and Hong Kong mahjong share tiles but little else: one uses a yearly card of hands, jokers and the Charleston; the other uses four sets and a pair, chows and faan scoring.

2 min read

2Rules Compared

American vs Japanese Riichi Mahjong

American Mah Jongg and Japanese riichi are perhaps the two most different popular styles: card hands and jokers on one side, yaku, riichi declarations and furiten on the other.

2 min read

3Rules Compared

Hong Kong vs Japanese Riichi Mahjong

Hong Kong and riichi mahjong share the four-sets-and-a-pair structure, but riichi adds the yaku requirement, furiten, riichi declarations and dora, while Hong Kong keeps flowers and faan.

2 min read

4Rules Compared

Which Mahjong Style Should You Learn?

The best style to learn is the one your friends, family or local club play. If you are starting fresh, here is how to choose between American, Hong Kong, Riichi and competition rules.

2 min read

5Rules Compared

Mahjong Scoring Systems Compared

Mahjong scoring ranges from fixed card values to faan doubling, han-and-fu calculations and lists of 81 patterns. Seeing them side by side explains why each style plays so differently.

2 min read

6Rules Compared

Switching Between Mahjong Styles: Common Pitfalls

Moving from one style to another trips up even experienced players. Here are the habits that cause the most mistakes — calling chows in American play, forgetting yaku in riichi, keeping flowers in the wrong game.

2 min read