Mahjong Planet

Learn three-player Riichi from your first tile

Start with no Mahjong experience. This free three-player Riichi course explains the smaller tile set, winning shapes, yaku, calls, North extraction and scoring.

Work through 11 lessons, answer short knowledge checks, and finish with an interactive guided hand. Optional tile guides help you recognize the artwork.

These lessons teach the fixed Sanma rules used on Mahjong Planet. No account is needed for lessons. Your progress is saved in this browser and can sync when you sign in.

Your 11 beginner lessons

  1. Meet the three-player tiles

    Three seats, a smaller tile set, and no experience needed.

    108 tiles. No 2–8 characters, flowers or seasons.

  2. Four sets and a pair

    Recognize the shape before thinking about points.

    First build four sets and a pair. Then check that the hand has a yaku.

  3. Your seat and your turn

    Draw, check your hand, and discard one tile.

    Draw automatically, check for a win, then discard one.

  4. Give your hand a yaku

    A scoring pattern makes a complete shape eligible to win.

    Complete shape plus a yaku. Bonuses alone are not enough.

  5. Calls without chow

    Claim matching tiles while keeping a plan for a yaku.

    No chow calls. After pung, discard; after kong, take its replacement first.

  6. Extracting North

    Set aside a bonus and receive a replacement.

    Extract North: set it aside, draw its replacement, then decide. It is a bonus, not a yaku.

  7. Riichi: ready and committed

    Trade flexibility for a yaku.

    Riichi costs a 1,000-point deposit and locks a closed ready hand.

  8. Furiten and safer discards

    Know when a discard win is unavailable.

    Own-discard furiten affects all current waits. Furiten blocks ron, not tsumo.

  9. Bonuses and three-player payments

    Read han, fu and the two opponents’ shares.

    Yaku first, bonuses second. Tsumo has two actual payers; nobody pays for a fourth seat.

  10. Special shapes and your first game

    Recognize two exceptions and choose a comfortable practice.

    Seven pairs and Thirteen orphans are special closed shapes. Start with an untimed single hand.

  11. Your first Sanma guided hand

    Extract North, keep your waits, and claim a legal self-draw.

Learn at your pace. Every lesson is available from the start. No account is needed to read the lessons or try the guided hand.