What to expect

You sit in the East seat. East deals, so you start with 14 tiles and throw away the first tile. The computer plays the other three seats. Play moves to your right. If you want the others to move faster, tap Fast during the game.

On your turn, you take a tile from the wall and throw one away. To win, you need 4 sets and a pair. A set is a chow, a pung or a kong.

Chow: a run of 3 in one suit, like 3, 4, 5 of Bams.
Pung: 3 of the same tile.
Kong: 4 of the same tile. When you make one, you draw an extra tile.
Pair: 2 of the same tile.

Taking a thrown tile

When another player throws a tile you can use, we ask what you want to do. You can pung or kong a tile from any player. You can chow only a tile from the player on your left. If the tile finishes your hand, you can take it and win. Any set you make this way is shown face up.

Faan

Faan are points for special features of your hand. A hand needs at least 3 faan to win, unless you change it in the settings. Some ways to get faan: all your tiles from one suit plus winds and dragons (3 faan), all pungs (3 faan), a pung of dragons (1 faan), or winning with no sets shown, having taken no thrown tiles before your winning tile (1 faan). Tap Faan during the game to see the full list.

Flowers and seasons

These are bonus tiles. They are not part of your hand. When you get one, it is set aside and you draw another tile. Each one has a number from 1 to 4. Number 1 goes with East, so as East you score 1 faan for Flower 1 and Season 1.

Help

Help sets how much the coach helps you. Off means no help. Hints gives you a Hint button for when you are stuck. Tips shows the coach's move on every turn. Teach also shows how far your hand is from ready, explains new things as they happen, and checks with you before a risky move. Ready means you need just one more tile to win.

New to the game?

Start with the Hong Kong mahjong lessons. They teach the tiles, the sets and faan in short steps.