Playing Mahjong on Tenhou.net
I’ve thought about writing a bit about Mahjong, and to be specific: playing on tenhou.net… AND HERE IT FINALLY IS!
First off: if you don’t know what kind of a game REAL Mahjong is (and I’m not talking about that puzzle-like game that used to come with Windows…) check out an anime called Akagi, which is basically about playing Mahjong for money and amazing gambling antics. Also, if you don’t know the rules of Mahjong, check out this page first before trying to play. Mahjong is pretty rules-heavy, but it’s also a very deep, tactical and rewarding game. If you are tired with the usual casual games like Candy Crush Saga or Angry Birds, give Mahjong a go. Playing it on Tenhou.net is pretty fast (there are timelimits per turn), and I’d say a normal game takes 15-30 minutes, depending on the players and rules.
Okay, you ready to mess with the japanese and throw away the wrong tiles from your hand? Excellent! Here, check out my easy guide with pictures on how to play on Tenhou.net. First off, go to http://tenhou.net/0/. The zero indicates lobby “0”, and there are lobbies all the way up to 9999 (if I remember correctly). You will find THE MOST PLAYERS in lobby 0, so that is always your best bet on getting into a game.
This is the first screen you see, and you should press on the small blue link to get into the actual game. Don’t bother with the ads.
Well what do you know, you need to enter a name. After choosing an appropriate one for you choosing, press OK to enter into lobby 0.
And here is the view of the actual lobby. All those small buttons are your way into the game, they all have small variances in rules. But I would say that try them all out, because the best way to learn this game is by playing it. OK, and see the numbers? Like 2:48? Those mean that in that particular game mode there are currently 48 people playing, and two people waiting for a game to start. So if you click the button on the left of it, you will be the third one and you guys would need one more player to start the game. Easy, right?
This is what an actual game looks like. You can see your points, the round wind, your seat wind and the round number in the middle of the table. Currently the round wind is East, and my seat wind is West. You pick up tiles automatically and you have 4+10 seconds of time to discard one of your own tiles (or the one you just drew if you don’t want it). Everything goes pretty much smooth and easy as the AI controls the boring part of the game and you can concentrate on your hand. Sometimes the option to steal a tile from another player arises; two options appear. You can either continue without stealing (the button under the white arrow), or you can take the tile by pressing the associated tiles (under the pink arrow).
And again, the best way to learn the game is to play it! Try to learn a few hands that you think are easy to remember from the Han-value chart. The easiest way to get a 1-Han is to keep your hand closed (a.k.a no stealing from others), so I would recommend that to all new players. Also a good,fast hand is to get three (or four) dragon tiles of the same color (red, whole-white or green), or three of your SEAT wind tiles or ROUND wind tiles. If you manage that, you can just rush to the end without basically caring if you get three-in-a-rows or sets of three.
What? You are still reading this and not playing? Go play a game right now! I will give you few last tips that come to my mind:
Dragon tiles are easy way to win for you… but also for them. Be wary of discarding a single dragon in mid/late game phase. If you don’t see any dragons on their discard piles, chances are they are waiting for YOUR tile to win!
Don’t “fight” against what you have. Hey, if you have just a regular hand, you can’t turn it suddenly into a limit hand and that’s okay too! Keep that baby as closed as North-Korea, use riichi when you are close to finish, and try to have a few dora (bonus-Han) tiles in your hand if possible. Who knows, it might reward you!
HAVE FUN! If you don’t enjoy the tension or playing the game, just quit it. Not everyone has to enjoy every game in the world!
Losing just means winning on another day. Play like crazy, and chances are you will be really good on Tenhou.net after a while!
If you actually become good, or hell, win a hand with my advice, I will be proud of you :3
yousharknotpass
2087
vaporwave
theartofmadeline
