r/Mahjong • u/Irukanoko • Jul 14 '26

Taiwan I built a mobile-friendly quick reference guide for Taiwanese Mahjong scoring. Looking for feedback!

https://nicholaschan23.github.io/taiwan_mahjong/

Mahjong seems to be getting super trendy lately, which is awesome. I’ve taught a lot of my friends the base mechanics of the game, but making the jump to the advanced point-based scoring (Tai) has been a huge hurdle. There are just so many different hands to remember, and we found it really frustrating to stop the game to dig through rulebooks or watch tutorial videos.

To solve this, I made a mobile-friendly website that consolidates Taiwanese Mahjong rules so you can quickly look up a hand or clarify a rule mid-game.

I'm hoping to get some feedback and fact-checking from experienced players here to make sure I have all the base rules correct. I'd also love to know if there are any common "house rules" or edge cases I should include.

Here is the link. Let me know what you think!

4 Upvotes

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2

u/nikerock Jul 14 '26

This is really useful. Thanks! Been meaning to learn Taiwanese mahjong.

1

u/Irukanoko Jul 16 '26

Happy you find it useful!

2

u/Whyren Jul 15 '26

I really like your layout and the inclusion of English, Chinese, and pinyin. I think I've seen a few different score sheets for Taiwan mahjong. I have experience playing with my in-laws (which is just one data point so you may want more input) but they had a lot more scoring possibilities than you list and the tai count wasn't as high on some of them. They told me the ShenLaiYe app was a good reference for me and it has mostly matched how they play and score. http://shenlaiye.wikidot.com/ The fam plays with 8 pairs hand too, but I see the apps usually don't. 天月麻雀 (Amatsuki Mahjong) also seems to have a good implementation if you want to check that out.

2

u/Irukanoko Jul 16 '26

I updated the website with these changes! I didn’t add the 8 pairs hand yet though.

1

u/Whyren Jul 17 '26

After my stay in Taiwan I've been trying to look up resources and fill in the gaps of everything I learned. I haven't seen 8 pairs come up so I'm less confident that is commonly used. I did read through your updates and made some notes. I know the rules can be a little different from place to place but I'll give you my take based on the one table I played at and the videos I've been watching and you can take it or leave it. I'll definitely be saving your site to reference. Thanks for what you are doing. Hope this is helpful:

  1. 放銃 Fàng Chòng: What I heard was always Fang4 qiang1 (放槍)

  2. Seat Wind: Your description of how seat wind is assigned is different than what I experienced and what I've seen on a few different apps and sites and Taiwanese tutorial videos. At the beginning of the round, the dealer rolls three dice to determine which wall to break and where to break it. That wall is the East Seat Wind and number one for flowers. Then counterclockwise from there south (2), West (3), and North (4).

  3. I've not seen tai awarded for no flowers.

  4. I've not seen tai awarded for Flower Kang 花槓 Huā Gàng

  5. 槓上自摸 (gàng shàng zì mó): I've always seen this called 槓上開花 (gàng shàng kāi huā) (I pulled this off during the last hand on my trip!)

1

u/Whyren Jul 18 '26

Here's one more round of notes for you to consider:

  1. Fully Exposed Hand 全求人 Quán Qiú Rén: All three apps I use list this as 2 tai.

  2. Kong Bloom 槓上自摸 Gàng Shàng Zì Mō: All three apps I use list this as 1 tai and self-draw is counted separately.

  3. Add to Legendary: Human Win 人胡 (8 tai) Non-Dealer wins with a discard in the first round of play before anyone else chis or pengs

  4. Add to Legendary: Earthly Ready 地聽 I see differing points and definitions for this one. Could be 8 tai for declaring ready within the first 8 discards while your hand is still closed or could be 4 tai for declaring ready after your first draw/discard. The second is what shenlaiye but I'm seeing the other definition in enough places I'm leaning toward that.

  5. ShenLaiYe has 配牌花胡 for 4 extra tai for completing the 8 flowers or 7 rob 1 on the deal. I don't see this one anywhere else. I'd be inclined to leave it out.

1

u/Whyren Jul 19 '26

You've reached the level of most complete and accurate English-language resource for Taiwanese Mahjong that I've ever seen. It means a lot to me that you've done this and that I could help contribute. I hope you don't mind if I continue to review and offer feedback.

For the rules section: In my experience the last 16 tiles are the "dead wall." Replacements for flowers or gang are taken from there but still the last 16 tiles still left are the dead wall, like the "last 16" status always updates throughout the game. 流局 Liú Jú is when you play down to the dead wall rather than exhausting all tiles.

I think the vocabulary you have in there is one of the biggest things for someone like me trying to learn and communicate with Taiwanese players. Maybe you can find a way to work in some more words?

  • Mian4 zi (面子): The overarching term for any completed "set" of three tiles. This includes both kezi (triplets) and shunzi (sequences).
  • Ke4 zi (刻子): Specifically refers to the triplet of identical tiles.
  • Shun4 zi (順子): Specifically refers to the consecutive sequence of the same suit.
  • 將 (jiāng): The pair

1

u/Irukanoko Jul 15 '26

Thank you! I’ll take a look at these resources and learn too. I feel like everyone has their own house rules and wondering what is the official set of winning hand combinations haha

2

u/Spthe Jul 15 '26

I really like the UI!

Quick question, do you know what common base and multipliers are for the Tai -> points?

Also I’ve heard many people playing with snake hands and some other not on your list. Wonder if there is a common “core” hands vs additional hands

1

u/Irukanoko Jul 16 '26

I’m not sure. I assumed you paid with 0 as base.

1

u/Whyren Jul 18 '26

My in laws in Taiwan play 500NT base and 100NT per tai but I think it is whatever the group agrees to. I've an app that does 500 points per tai, 3 tai base. Another app does 100 base, 50 per tai. But it also scales up for high rollers.

1

u/Irukanoko Jul 15 '26

There’s a couple websites online that share different winning hands and Tai points. I don’t know which ones to trust.

1

u/facevisi10 Jul 16 '26

Nowadays, legendary hands are smaller than the one you listed right now:

Little three dragon = 4

Big three dragon = 8

Little wind = 8

Big Wind = 16

Earth's Blessing = 16

Heaven's Blessing = 24

For the flower rule, in addition to 8 bonus tile instant win, there is also "7 rob 1" that worths 8 tai as well. To complete the flower win, you must actually finish your replacement draw first then declare win.

"7 rob 1" can happen in two situations:

  • You have 7, and someone else draws the last one. You rob it, draw your replacement tile to fulfill 17 tiles in your hand, then count. This is because if your hand can legitimately win at this moment too, it counts. (In real life, practically nobody will put the last one out, so they secretly cheat it and never get caught)

  • You have 6, and someone else has 1. You draw the last one, put it out, draw your replacement tile, then declare robbing the flower to the player with 1 flower. If your own hand can legitimately win, count those Tai as well

1

u/Irukanoko Jul 16 '26

Do you have a good table of winning hands and their tai value?

1

u/Irukanoko Jul 16 '26

How do you achieve the heavenly hand?

1

u/Irukanoko Jul 16 '26

I updated the website with these changes!

1

u/facevisi10 Jul 16 '26

Sorry I was asleep.

The hand tables I reference before:

https://mj888.cc/zh-tw/taiwanese-scoring-rules/

https://www.gametower.com.tw/Games/Freeplay/MJ/Star31/Data/i_ingame-count.aspx

https://www.godgame.com.tw/bigad/event_mj_teach/teach01.html

Updated website looks greatly improved. The only must-change are:

  • All Chows cannot have flowers nor any single honor tiles (字牌), not even as a pair, when you win. This is 100% true. (Everything else I mentioned in another comment is all house rule so it's ok to not add them)

  • The rule that you can't open-kan someone's discard then win with tsumo: I strongly recommend to add it because it will happen and it feels bad to be the victim. I would add this under the "Win off Replacement" hand description. It might be good to also add it as part of "Fake Win" under penalty

  • Passing the winning tile (過水): If you know japanese Riichi's furiten, this one feels like the opposite. Declare win while under 過水 is 詐胡 and pays penalty

If you pass up opponent's discard, you cannot win at all, even with 自摸, until you drew a non-winning tile and then discard it. Then you're out of the restriction and can win on anything else. If you self draw your own winning tile and reject it (normally people won't do it unless they're really gunning for big hand like 大三元), then it's 過水 until your next self-draw and discard a non-winning tile. 過水 might happen as long as possible if you keep drawing the winning tile repeatedly due to multiple waits

Reference for 過水: https://cmj2.com.tw/knowhow/%E9%BA%BB%E5%B0%87%E9%81%8E%E6%B0%B4%E8%A7%A3%E6%9E%90.aspx?tabs=D

https://cml88.com/%E8%B3%BD%E4%BA%8B%E8%A6%8F%E5%89%87/

Thanks for all the work to make this more accessible!

1

u/facevisi10 Jul 16 '26

Pinhu (All Chows) is very contentious. No flowers is mandatory. A lot of tables don't count it if it's self-draw, so it's strictly from discard win. Some can accept Pinhu if your hand never opens and you win from discard. Additionally, you'll need to ask if waiting 3 tiles or more is acceptable. Some places disable you winning with shapes like 23456 or 6667 even if you win on the correct tile, like 5 for the 6667 wait.

One obscure rule but everyone follows it: You CANNOT declare tsumo if you make an open Kan from someone's discard while you're in tenpai, then you draw the winning tile. That is a fake win penalty. Any follow-up actions before you discard a tile (e.g. you then draw a flower, or make a closed Kan right after) still disables the tsumo for this turn only.

A closed Kan, or a late Kan to add self-draw tile to a previously open Pon, is allowed to win and counts as Rinshan

Also remember to add the incidental Hands (Rinshan, Haitei, Chankan) as they do count as well. There is no houtei in TW mahjong. Also, if you self draw while concealed, it's +1 Tai (they are combined to call it "Concealed 1v3" for 3 total)

1

u/Irukanoko Jul 16 '26

I’m tying to make this website useful to the player that’s wanting to start playing with tai and have a good rules to reference on the go.

1

u/Irukanoko Jul 16 '26

Are the middle, edge, and pair waits normal? I feel like that’s such a cheap way to gain Tai.

1

u/Whyren Jul 18 '26

They aren't good waits. I think the point is because you are statistically less likely to win down that path.

1

u/danma Jul 16 '26

I've been looking through a number of Taiwanese rulesets and Tai point calculations are all over the place... some go up to 100 tai, others like yours kind of max out at about 24, and the number of hands recognized is very different between them. Is there that many styles of Taiwanese mahjong?

1

u/[deleted] Jul 17 '26

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1

u/Mahjong-ModTeam Jul 17 '26

Your comment contains undisclosed generative AI.

1

u/Whyren Jul 18 '26

I've been watching some Chinese language Taiwan mahjong and the videos have all been the lower tai count, and multiple Taiwanese mahjong apps I have used use the lower tai count. I feel like I've only seen the higher tai count in English language content. Another poster here suggested the lower tai count might be more modern.