How are the Mahjong games played???

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Now that MAME has about 30 romsets out on these "Mahjong" games I'd like to know how they are played. I first thought that it was to eliminate matching pairs of tiles from a pile that is stacked on a table. Now these games look like a Gin Rummy setup but I can't grasp how it works.

On the "peepshow" game I haven't seen any peep shows yet, but I did get a 24,000 point round one time, and I don't know how I did it...

-- Donut (glenwpc@home.net), October 22, 2000

Answers

1'M h3LL@ 3L1+3, g1V3 m3 d@ h3N+@1 d00DZ!!!!

I started picking up on Mahjong before the release of m37b8, there's still a few things I don't understand but at least I know enough to win every now and then :P

Check this site, it will help a lot:

http://members.nbci.com/ngmoonannex/mahjong.html

-- BBH (lordbbh@aol.com), October 22, 2000.


crap, accidentally hit Submit. Anyway, that site should explain most of what you need to know - the basic goal is to get a winning hand through four sets of either three of a kinds or "straights", and then one pair. You HAVE to have one pair of something to win, after that you can make any combination of three of a kinds, or sequences.

Be sure to study up on the Chinese kanji's, you'll have to know which number corresponds to which one... it might help to write them down on a "cheat sheet" that you keep nearby to play. (that's what I did for a while) As far as I can tell, only one game uses numbers instead of Chinese symbols, Mahjong no Chinmoku Hentai (a military-themed game where the commanding officers are cute girls, of course)

One thing I don't understand is the Pon-Chi-Kong thing, sometimes after using one of those to take a tile it doesn't want to let me win when I swear I've got a winning hand... anyone got more explanation on this?

Also, I have no idea which hands are worth more points... obviously it seems like making three of a kind with the Wind tiles helps out, but I've gotten some big-scoring hands without that before.

Some games let you buy "power-ups" which do various things like let you replace tiles with new random ones at the beginning of play (some games let you do this automatically by default), or get a random "last chance" if you just needed one tile to win (again, some games do this automatically), one game even switches hands with the other player if they declare "Ready"! If you can't read Japanese though, it's a matter of trial and error figuring out what each one does :P

If you have any more questions, just post... and by the way, everyone has GOT to try Mahjong THE LADY HUNTER! If ANYONE knows what the plot of this game is exactly, please let me know! :) (seems to like a Batman ripoff is recovering/stealing? jewels from women... I dunno)

-HentaiBBH

-- BBH (lordbbh@aol.com), October 22, 2000.


Thanks BBH for getting me that site address. I'm starting to understand it. While reading the page on how to play, I see that Pung/Pon is declared when you need a tile to finish 3 of a kind and the opponent discards it. Chow/Chi is when you need a tile to finish a sequence. Kong/Kan is when you need a tile for 4 of a kind, and declare Out when you're ready to finish your 14 tiles to win.

-- Donut (glenwpc@home.net), October 22, 2000.

Yeah, I know what they do, it's just that after I do it the game gets really picky about when you can win. Like if I call Pon to complete a three of a kind, afterwards I swear that I have that three of a kind, three other 3 of a kinds/sequences and a pair, which should let me win... but it doesn't. You'll see if you do that too much. :)

Good luck,

-BBH

-- BBH (lordbbh@aol.com), October 22, 2000.


BBH, if you take a tile to complete a winning hand , you mustn't call Pon but you have to call Mahjong !

-- phil (plamat@club-internet.fr), October 24, 2000.


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