Mahjong starts with one good hand.
Four players. A hand of tiles. Draw one, choose one to discard, and work towards a winning combination. Start with the shape, then learn the rules of your table.
First: this is four-player Mahjong
Mahjong Planet is a place to play the multiplayer tile game. You build your own hand while three other players build theirs. It is different from Mahjong solitaire, where you remove matching pairs from a layout.
You can learn with our free Riichi lessons without signing in. A free account is needed for online tables, including games with friends. Sichuan also has a local computer-practice mode without an account.
Four groups and a pair
A common winning hand contains 14 tiles: four groups of three, plus two identical tiles. A group can be three identical tiles or a run of three consecutive numbers in one suit. There are special hands and kong rules to learn later.
Run: 2-3-4 characters
Run: 3-4-5 circles
Run: 6-7-8 bamboo
Three identical tiles
Pair
The rhythm: draw, decide, discard
Usually, you hold 13 tiles between turns. On your turn, draw a tile to reach 14, then discard one unless you can claim a legal win. Your discarded tiles stay visible on the table.
Keep connected tiles together as you learn. A 4 and 5 in the same suit can become a run with either a 3 or a 6. An isolated tile has fewer immediate connections.
Sometimes a player can use another player's discard to complete a group or win. These calls change the normal turn sequence. The available calls depend on the variant.
A complete shape is not always a legal win
In Riichi, your hand also needs a yaku: a scoring pattern or condition. Bonus tiles called dora add value but cannot supply the required yaku. Declaring riichi is one route for a closed, ready hand; it is not required for every win.
Our Hong Kong Old Style tables require at least three faan. In Sichuan, you must first clear your declared missing suit. Follow the rules of the variant you chose rather than mixing requirements from different games.
Make your first goal a single legal win
Start with the Riichi lessons and guided teaching hand. Turn on tile guides if the symbols are unfamiliar. Then choose an untimed computer game so you can read your options.
After a Riichi game, open its review and study one discard. You do not need to understand every statistic at once. Compare the tile you played with the suggested tile, then look at what each choice keeps in your hand.