How to play Taiwanese mahjong
Taiwanese mahjong (台灣麻將) is a four-player game played with 16-tile hands, three more than most other styles, so hands take longer to build. This guide covers the rules as they're played on this site.
The tiles
A set has 144 tiles: three suits (characters, bamboo and dots) numbered 1 to 9, four winds, three dragons, and eight bonus tiles (four flowers and four seasons). There are four copies of every suit, wind and dragon tile, and one of each bonus tile.
See every tile in the tile guideThe goal
Be the first to complete your hand. A winning hand has 17 tiles: five sets plus one pair, made from these:
- Chow (吃): three tiles in a row in the same suit, such as 3-4-5 of bamboo.
- Pung (碰): three identical tiles.
- Kong (槓): four identical tiles. It counts as one set, and you draw an extra tile to make up for it.
- Pair (眼): two identical tiles, which finish the hand.
Setting up
4 players sit at the table, one for each wind: East, South, West and North. The tiles are shuffled and each player is dealt 16. Any flowers or seasons in the deal are set aside and replaced. East plays first, then South, West and North in turn.
Your turn
Draw a tile from the wall, then discard one tile face up in the middle of the table.
Flowers and seasons are never kept in your hand. When you draw one, it's set aside face up and you draw a replacement from the back of the wall. This happens automatically.
Claiming discards
When someone discards, the other players have a few seconds (5 by default) to claim that tile:
- Chow (吃): only the next player may take the tile, to complete a run in a suit. Winds and dragons can't make a chow.
- Pung (碰): any player holding two of the same tile may take it to make three.
- Kong (槓): any player holding three of the same tile may take the fourth, then draws a replacement from the back of the wall.
- Win (胡): any player whose hand the tile completes may take it and win.
A claimed set is laid face up, and the claimer then discards. When several players want the same tile, a win beats a pung or kong, which beats a chow. If more than one player can win on it, the one next in turn after the discarder gets it (截胡). If you let a tile you could have won with go by, you can't win on that same tile from anyone until your next draw (過水).
Kongs from your own hand
On your turn, after drawing, you can declare a concealed kong (暗槓) if you hold all four of a tile, or add the fourth tile to a pung you've already laid down (加槓). Either way, you draw a replacement tile. Adding to a pung gives the other players a chance to rob the kong (搶槓): if that tile completes someone's hand, they can take it and win.
Winning
You win by self-draw (自摸) when a tile you draw completes your hand, or off a discard when another player throws the tile you need. Your hand is then shown to the whole table.
Bonus tiles can win on their own. Collecting all eight flowers and seasons wins at once (八仙過海). If you hold seven and another player holds the eighth, you also win and take that tile from them (七搶一).
When you declare a win the table checks the timing and that your hand is really complete, then scores it in tai (see Scoring below). Declare 胡 on an incomplete hand and it's a false win (詐胡): the hand ends, your hand is shown, and you pay every other seat.
Scoring
A winning hand earns tai (台) for its patterns. The winner collects the table's base (底) plus its per-tai points for every tai from each payer: the discarder alone, or all three other players on a self-draw. The host picks the stakes when setting up the table. Patterns that include another count only the bigger one (for example 大三元 replaces the dragon pungs, and 清一色 replaces 混一色).
| Pattern | Tai |
|---|---|
| 門清Concealed hand | 1 |
| 自摸Self-draw | 1 |
| 門清自摸Concealed self-draw | 3 |
| 全求人All melded | 2 |
| 海底撈月Last tile from the wall | 1 |
| 河底撈魚Last discard | 1 |
| 槓上開花Win on a kong draw | 1 |
| 搶槓Robbing the kong | 1 |
| 獨聽Single wait | 1 |
| 紅中Red dragon pung | 1 |
| 發財Green dragon pung | 1 |
| 白板White dragon pung | 1 |
| 圈風Prevailing wind pung | 1 |
| 門風Seat wind pung | 1 |
| 正花（花）Seat flower | 1 |
| 正花（季）Seat season | 1 |
| 花槓（花）Set of four flowers | 2 |
| 花槓（季）Set of four seasons | 2 |
| 平胡All chows | 2 |
| 碰碰胡All pungs | 4 |
| 三暗刻Three concealed pungs | 2 |
| 四暗刻Four concealed pungs | 5 |
| 五暗刻Five concealed pungs | 8 |
| 混一色Mixed one suit | 4 |
| 清一色Pure one suit | 8 |
| 字一色All honors | 16 |
| 小三元Small three dragons | 4 |
| 大三元Big three dragons | 8 |
| 小四喜Small four winds | 8 |
| 大四喜Big four winds | 16 |
| 八仙過海Eight flowers | 8 |
| 七搶一Seven rob one | 8 |
The dealer (莊家) adds 1 + 2 × their winning streak (連N拉N) tai to every payment to or from them.
A false win (詐胡) costs the declarer 8 tai plus the base, paid to each other seat.
Draw games
The last 16 tiles of the wall are never drawn. If nobody has won by the time only those are left, the hand ends in a draw (流局).
Keyboard, screen readers and color blindness
Press 1–9, 0, then Q W E R T Y U to select the tile under that key. Space plays the move, D draws, P passes, Enter twice declares 胡 and Esc clears the selection. Tab enters your hand once; Left, Right, Home and End move between tiles.
Turn on Screen reader mode in the account menu to hear the turn timer count down, have focus move to your hand when it is your turn to discard, and use the read-out keys: H reads your hand, M your melds and bonus tiles, L the last discard at each seat and N the tiles left in the wall. Other players' claims, kongs and wins are announced to every player.
Tile colors in the account menu swaps the tile inks for a red–green safe, blue–yellow safe or high-contrast palette.
Playing on this site
- Every turn has a 15-second clock, plus a 20-second time bank for the whole game. If both run out, the game draws and discards for you. The host can turn the turn timer off in the table settings.
- Bots can fill any empty seats, so you can start a game on your own. If you disconnect mid-game, a bot plays your seat until you reconnect.
- Invite friends with the table's six-digit room code, an invite link, or a QR code.