Basics
The tiles
136 tiles total: three suits numbered 1–9 (four copies each), plus honor tiles.
Characters (万 / m)
Dots (筒 / p)
Bamboo (索 / s)
Winds
East, South, West, North. Each round has a prevailing wind, and each player has a seat wind — matching either gives a fan bonus.
Dragons
Red, Green, White. A triplet of any dragon is worth a fan on its own.
1m–9m, 1p–9p, 1s–9s, E/S/W/N, RD/GD/WD) will stay the same either way.Hand structure
A complete hand is 14 tiles grouped into four sets and one pair:
- 4 sets — each either a chow (run of 3 in one suit), a pong (triplet), or a kong (four of a kind)
- 1 pair (2 matching tiles)
Example of a complete hand:
Three chows/pongs shown here plus a pair of Red Dragons — 4 sets + 1 pair, 14 tiles.
Concealed vs. exposed
Tiles kept in your hand are concealed. Calling another player's discard to complete a pong or kong exposes that set face-up on the table — it's now exposed (melded) and can't be rearranged. Some special hands and fan bonuses require staying fully concealed, so calling isn't always the best move even when it's available.
Turn flow
- Draw a tile from the wall (or take a discard by calling pong/kong/win).
- Discard one tile, face-up, unless you've just won.
- Play passes counter-clockwise, except when a call (pong/kong/win) interrupts the order.
Winning
You win by completing your 14-tile hand shape in one of two ways:
- Self-drawn (自摸, zi mo) — the tile you draw from the wall completes your hand.
- Winning off a discard — another player discards the tile that completes your hand, and you call it before anyone else can act.
Most tables require a minimum fan count to declare a win — see Scoring.