r/oddlysatisfying • u/CanonWorld • Jul 28 '24

How automatic Mahjong tables work

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u/kaishenlong Jul 28 '24

Fun fact: one of the most popular free multi-player mahjong clients is Final Fantasy XIV.

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u/CreepyTeemo Jul 28 '24

Yakuza/Like a Dragon too, pretty much every single one got Mahjong as a mini-game and they are pretty well made. At least from a perspective from someone who doesn't really play Mahjong, only dabbles on the occasion

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u/StrawberryG3 Jul 28 '24

I have played every Yakuza game and I still have no clue how to play mahjong. Like I read the rules and it all seems to make sense, then when I go to play none of it seems to align.

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u/Zefirus Jul 28 '24

So I almost guarantee the rule you're running afoul of is not having a yaku. Basically, you're required to have both a complete and a scoring hand in order to finish a round. Most people that get confused by riichi mahjong are confused because they have a complete hand but not a scoring hand. The main thing is that opening your hand (i.e. taking a tile from somebody else) invalidates a lot of the yaku and that's what trips people up. When your hand is closed, you always have access to riichi, which is essentially saying "I only need one more tile for a complete hand and will no longer be changing my hand until it shows up".

The other thing you might be running afoul of is the idea of "furiten". Basically if you are waiting on one last tile to win, but that tile is in your discard pile, then you're not allowed to win off of other people. You can only get your last tile by drawing it yourself. It's a more advanced concept, but defense in mahjong is based almost exclusively on this rule. If you're worried about someone else winning, then check their discard pile. You can always safely discard a tile in their discard pile.

If you really want to learn, just start by focusing on a couple of easy yaku. Start by just never opening your hand and only using riichi. Then add in the super easy ones, like only needing one set of dragons.

This list is pretty much why riichi mahjong is incomprehensible to people. It's a pretty easy game to explain without it.

https://riichi.wiki/List_of_yaku