Hong Kong Mahjong – play free against three computer players
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Quick answer
4-Player Mahjong is a free four-player tile game against three computer opponents that plays instantly in your browser on phones, tablets and computers, with no download, sign-up or ads. Complete a winning hand first: four sets and a pair, or a hand from the card in American Mahjong.
4-Player Mahjong at a glance
What it is
Four-player tile game against three computer opponents
This page
Hong Kong rules: 144 · Bonus tiles (score faan) · No · Yes · Four sets and a pair worth at least 3 faan
Goal
Complete a winning hand first: four sets and a pair, or a hand from the card in American Mahjong
Modes
Hong Kong (flowers, 3-faan minimum), Chinese Classic (no flowers, no minimum) and American (jokers, Charleston, an original hand card)
Controls
Tap or click tiles to discard; buttons for calls; keyboard arrows and Enter
Players
1 player against 3 computer players
Price
Free, no ads, no sign-up, no download
Works on
Phones, tablets and computers, in any modern browser
An exact hand from the card; Charleston before play
Hong Kong Mahjong in brief
Hong Kong (Cantonese) Mahjong is the most widely played four-player style. It uses 144 tiles: three suits of 1 to 9, four winds, three dragons, and eight flowers and seasons as bonus tiles. You win with four sets and a pair, and the hand is scored in faan. This table plays the common house rule that a hand needs at least 3 faan to win.
You sit at the bottom, East is the dealer, and play moves counter-clockwise: the player on your right goes after you, the player on your left before you. That is why you can only chow the discard of the player on your left.
Getting to 3 faan
Half flush (3). One suit plus winds and dragons. The most reliable route to the minimum.
All pungs (3). Four pungs or kongs and a pair. Calling pungs freely is fine for this hand.
Dragons and winds (1 each). A pung of any dragon, your seat wind or the round wind adds a faan.
Concealed and self-drawn (1 each). Winning without calling any sets, or drawing the winning tile yourself, both count.
Strategy tips
Decide early. If eight or more of your tiles are in one suit, go for the flush and discard the other suits.
Do not chow too much. Each chow opens your hand and loses the concealed faan; chows only pay off when they help a flush.
Keep valuable pairs. A pair of dragons or of your wind is one call away from a faan.
Defend late. When a player has three sets exposed, they are close: discard tiles that have already been discarded.
How to play Mahjong
1
Know the goal
Make four sets plus a pair. A set is a pung (three identical tiles), a kong (four) or a chow (three in a row in one suit).
2
Draw and discard
On your turn you draw a tile and discard one. Flowers and seasons are set aside automatically and replaced.
3
Call discards
Call Pung or Kong on anyone's discard, or Chow on the discard of the player on your left. A call for Mahjong beats every other call.
4
Win with 3 faan
Declare Mahjong when your hand is complete and scores at least 3 faan. Open Scoring to see what each pattern is worth.
The simplest four-player rules. No flowers and no minimum, so any four sets and a pair wins.
Frequently asked questions
What does the 3-faan minimum mean?
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A complete hand only wins if it scores at least 3 faan. A hand of mixed chows with nothing else is worth too little, so aim for something like a half flush (3), all pungs (3), or pungs of dragons and your winds.
Which hands score the most?
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In this game's table, a full flush in one suit is worth 7 faan, big three dragons 8 and all honours 10. Thirteen orphans and big four winds are limit hands at 13 faan.
How do flowers work?
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The eight flowers and seasons are bonus tiles. They are set aside when you draw them and replaced from the back of the wall. Your own flower or season scores 1 faan each, having none scores 1, and a full set of four scores 2.
Are seven pairs and robbing the kong allowed?
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Seven pairs is accepted here and worth 4 faan, although some Hong Kong tables do not allow it. Robbing the kong is not used in this game.
How are points paid?
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Faan become points that double as the faan rise (3 faan is 8 points). The player who discarded the winning tile pays double and the other two pay single; on a self-drawn win all three pay double.
Who deals next?
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The dealer stays on after winning or after a drawn hand. Otherwise the deal passes to the next player, and the round wind changes once every player has dealt.
Prefer to play alone?
Mahjong Solitaire uses the same tiles: match free pairs to clear the board, with six layouts and solvable deals.