Just Cards

Hong Kong Mahjong

Your goal

• Build four groups and a pair. A group is three consecutive numbers in one suit, three identical tiles, or a declared group of four identical tiles. Winds and dragons cannot make sequences.
• Your hand must also earn at least 3 faan (scoring points). The app offers a win only when both shape and value qualify. Thirteen orphans is a special winning hand; seven pairs is not enabled.

Your tiles and turns

• This preset uses 136 tiles: four copies of each numbered tile, wind and dragon. No flowers or jokers. The dealer starts with 14 tiles; everyone else gets 13.
• On your turn, draw from the wall, then select a tile to discard. The dealer starts by discarding. Turn order follows the seats East, South, West, North. Guided mode explains each available action.

Claiming a discard

• Everyone gets time to respond. Choose a legal claim or Pass. Only the next player may claim a sequence (chow). Anyone may claim three matching tiles (pung), four matching tiles (kong), or a winning tile.
• A win beats a matching group, which beats a sequence. If multiple people can win, the nearest player after the discarder wins this hand. The order in which phones respond never decides.
• Claimed groups stay on the table. After a sequence or triplet, discard without drawing. You cannot immediately discard an equivalent tile to exchange that claimed group.

Four matching tiles

• A declared quad counts as one group, and you draw a replacement from the back of the wall. You may declare four tiles from your hand or add a fourth tile to your exposed triplet after drawing.
• Other players may win using a tile that extends a triplet, before your replacement draw. A concealed quad can only be robbed for thirteen orphans. All declared quad faces are visible, but their concealed status is retained for scoring.

Building a valuable hand

• Dragon triplets and your seat/round wind triplets earn 1 faan each. All sequences, a fully concealed hand, self draw, a quad replacement, robbing a quad and drawing the last wall tile each earn 1. Declared concealed quads do not qualify for the concealed-hand bonus in this preset.
• All triplets and one suit with honors earn 3 faan each; one suit without honors earns 7. Small dragons adds 3 plus the dragon triplets; big dragons adds 5 plus the three dragon triplets. Only terminals and honors adds 1 to an all-triplets hand.
• All honors, all terminals, small/big winds, four concealed triplets (no quads; discard may complete only the pair), four quads, thirteen orphans, nine gates, heavenly/earthly hands, and winning after consecutive quad replacements reach the 10-faan limit. Nine gates on a discard requires the original nine-way wait. Bonuses stack, capped at 10.

Scoring and finishing

• Payments use Hong Kong classical scoring. For 3–10 faan, each opponent pays 16, 32, 48, 64, 96, 128, 192 or 256 on a self draw. A discarder alone pays twice the listed amount.
• Liability: feeding the fourth declared group or third dragon group makes that player pay all three shares if the recipient later self-draws. A newer liability replaces the older one. Discard wins are still paid only by the final discarder.
• An empty wall ends the hand as a draw after the last discard responses. The dealer stays after winning; otherwise the dealer moves, including after a draw.
• After 4 full wind rotations, the highest total wins. Keep seats fixed; use private recovery links when replacing a player. Physical scorekeeping uses the same scorer and payment rules.