Mahjong

Mahjong is a four-player game with origins in China. This game depends on your skill, intelligence, and strategy. The main aim of the game is to complete suits of threes from a total of thirteen or sixteen tiles. The player completing it first is the winner.

The game starts with each player receiving 13 or 16 tiles. On your turn, you can take a tile from the draw pile or the discard pile according to your need. After taking a tile, you have to discard one tile. The player to your right makes the next move. Normally, you announce the name of the discarded tile.

There are few Flower tiles too in the total tiles. These tiles are similar to Joker tiles. You can use them as a substitute to other tiles. However, there are variations in use of Flower tiles in place of Joker tiles. In some cases, Joker tiles can take up any tile while in some, it can take only the place of discarded tile.

The game rules are according to the patterns formed by the tiles. There are numerous accepted combinations. Each Flower tile receives one point. However, you cannot add to this score until you score eight points. The winner receives eight points from each player in addition to his personal score.

Presently, many do not view Mahjong as a gambling game. Often, there are many exhibition games and tournaments. Japan offers this game on the video arcades too.