
Riichi Mahjong Strategy Books - beefhash
https://dainachiba.github.io/RiichiBooks/
======
the-tomster
Riichi definitely hits a sweet spot in the game design space. Just the right
amount of complexity, always something to think about in game, but still fun
to play fairly casually. There are many clever little risk/reward tradeoffs
built into the rules, and lots of interesting small asymmetries and feedback
loops.

MahjongSoul was recently translated to English ([https://mahjongsoul.game.yo-
star.com/](https://mahjongsoul.game.yo-star.com/)). The heavy anime-girl
theming can be a bit unfortunate but it's an excellent implementation of the
game and allows you to play matches against bots to learn the game.

Tenhou is the more classic and staid online implementation, and there are
browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox to translate it to english.
([http://tenhou.net/](http://tenhou.net/))

~~~
meruru
Is this correct? I don't have a pair:
[https://files.catbox.moe/p651pq.png](https://files.catbox.moe/p651pq.png)

~~~
Hamuko
1 & 1 bamboo pair. 1, 2, 3 bamboo straight.

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meruru
Oh I see, the bird is a bamboo. Thanks!

~~~
Hamuko
Yeah, bird's a bamboo. The only "non-suit" tiles are the three dragon tiles
and the four wind tiles.

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aasasd
I occasionally get vaguely intrigued by the sight of a mahjong game in a
movie. And occasionally embark on a not-too-thorough search for a computer-
powered AI-endowed approximation of the experience to entertain myself without
burdening other humans. Which search ends in encountering a number of
solitaire applications, but not a four-player version.

Meanwhile, I could play hearts, bridge or even something local such as durak,
since the 90s.

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umanwizard
Yakuza Kiwami 2 (an incredibly fun open-world RPG chock full of things to do)
has a Mahjong minigame that you could just sit and play for hours against AI
even if you don't care about anything else in the game.

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aasasd
A bit too expensive and hardware-hungry for a mahjong game.

> _42 GB available space_

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umanwizard
Well, as I said, it contains a lot of stuff other than Mahjong ;)

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snvzz
A wonderful game that's mostly unknown in the west.

People often confuse it with the solitaire game that uses the same or similar
pieces.

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Yizahi
Huh, that was unexpected here :)

If anyone is interested to play a bit against bots you can try here:
[http://www.gamedesign.jp/flash/mahjong/mahjong_e.html](http://www.gamedesign.jp/flash/mahjong/mahjong_e.html)
Tenhou is better but it has a timer.

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dnlrn
In the west, Riichi Mahjong seems to be the most well-known form of Mahjong.
After living in China, I started to notice that the most popular form of
Mahjong here is called "Sichuan Bloody Rules". It is completely different from
other forms of Mahjong:

1\. The game doesn't end after the first person finishes

2\. Many tiles like flowers and wind directions are removed from the game

3\. At the start of the game you have to decide one color which you ban from
your hand. Your final hand isn't allowed to have a tile of this color inside.

4\. You are not allowed to 吃 chi from players

5\. There is a pretty complex scoring system

I have the impression that this form of Mahjong is the most unique one. The
rules are very different than most other forms of Mahjong, including Riichi
Mahjong, and make for really interesting games. So if you're interested in
Mahjong feel free to try it out.

~~~
lae
I think your sample might be a bit skewed. In the west, I find people
typically associate "mahjong" with mahjong solitaire.

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olalonde
Anyone knows how well the strategies would translate to Guangdong mahjong?

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Hamuko
My strategy is to RIICHI EVERY TIME.

Works all of the time, some of the time.

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Anon1096
As a beginner going for Riichi every time isn't terrible, especially when you
can't yet read discards or evaluate how close others are to Ron. And it is
certainly exciting.

~~~
Hamuko
Doesn't help that Tenhou makes the Riichi button enticing as hell, as
illustrated by this classic comic:
[https://img.fireden.net/a/image/1446/00/1446006365604.png](https://img.fireden.net/a/image/1446/00/1446006365604.png)

