Mahjong is a great game for keeping your brain active and an excellent excuse for getting together each week with a group of friends with lots of fun chatter between games.

You will be won over by the beauty of Mahjong before you ever play.  The tiles are miniature Chinese artworks decorated with emblems of bamboo, circles and characters.  The flower, wind and dragon tiles are even more elaborate and help you build hands with fabulous names like Heavenly Gates, Thirteen Orphans and Pearl Dragon.

Best parts of playing Mahjong include:

• The challenge of working out which game suits the hand you’ve been dealt
• Keep trying as many game options as possible
• Trying to get the best score you can
• Learn how to score Punging/Konging hands

Mahjong Tips for beginners:

• Get yourself a good Mah Jong book eg “The Mah Jong Player’s Companion” by Patricia A Thompson & Betty Maloney
• Learn how to do the set up and dealing
• Concentrate on one or two games of similar type per session for your first few times to enable you to learn the different tiles and get used to playing
• Try game plans out until you find a few that particularly suit you
• Always keep your book handy for checking

Mahjong is a rummy style draw and discard game that will let you meet and make friends around the world.  I have always found the desire to build a hand with a beautiful name over a simpler hand to be my downfall. See all our gorgeous mahjong sets…