I had an opportunity to play Mah Jong last night with my wife and a couple of friends.
I've got a fairly nice Mah Jong set that a friend brought from China when he visited a few weeks ago.
In all honesty, I'd expected (based on everything I'd been reading) that the game would be a lot more like Rummy. In fact, a fair number of people sneered at me when I mentioned that I had a copy. "It's just like Rummy, only with tiles," they'd explain.
Actually, it isn't. There are some similarities - both are set-building games where you can utilize discards from other players. But the differences outweigh them. For example, players never get skipped in Rummy. All sets are worth points in Rummy - and all hands are scored in Rummy.
Yes, you could theoretically play Mah Jong with cards, but it'd lack ... a lot. It's a very tactile game, from building the Wall to breaking it to actual play.
We used the rules from this book. The book, by the way, is 1/3 rules, 1/3 variants, 1/3 strategy guide.
We had a great time, and will be playing again. In fact, we've scheduled a regular Mah Jong day, because it was so fun.
I need to play it a bit more before I can explain the game here, so I'll be bringing it with me to my regular Wednesday gathering. Hopefully, I'll be able to drum up some interest.
Wherein Eric discusses Games, the Game Industry, Gamer Culture and anything else which catches his eye.
Mah Jong was a very popular game in the British Empire, and was especially played by women.
ReplyDeleteWhy so? The explanation is quite simple, actually: the other game available was the Bridge, and it was forbidden to talk during a game of Bridge...
As you might have noticed, women have a tendency to talk... a lot... so they found Mah Jong was more to their liking.
;-)
It was popular in the US in the 1920's, as well. It's had a number of resurgences of popularity - I can easily see why, as it's an entertaining game. It does interest me that in the US (and apparently the British Empire as well), it's a social game rather than a gambling game.
ReplyDeleteYou didn't *really* play Mah Jong if the game wasn't interrupted by a shootout between chinese gangsters. At least that's what I've learned from watching hong kong movies...
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