Mahjong

[feedback]

mahjong.julianbradfield.org/

Link to a free mahjong program. Only one I could find that let you play against computer opponents and didn't cost money. Not the best program in the world, but it was free. I didn't look too hard so I'm not sure if there are any other free programs out there.

[Pikachu]

Couple of clarifications that I generally overlook, but for the sake of interest, I'll put here:

1. After rolling the dice, the positions are counted counter-clockwise, the tile divide is counted from left to right, and tiles are taken from the left of the divide. We did clockwise last time we played. This is generally "fine" as long as the directions are consistent, but given the Asian penchant for counter clockwise and going left, we can keep this in mind for the future.

2. Omfg there are tons of scoring variations. The most prevalent one is the Hong Kong scoring system, which is what I was taught (and explains why I don't come into contact with a ton of other ones ). The system on the game link Jon provided is probably the "Classic Chinese" system introduced this guy named Babcock in 1920... apparently Abercrombie & Fitch got missionaries in China to buy hella Mahjong sets so they could introduce the game in the U.S., and this guy published a book with these rules set in. This set of rules gets more play in the West.

3. No international standard of scoring truly exists. Oi.

Some other variant rules looked meh, and others looked interesting. Japanese versions have stipulations for WTF moments and to declare a game a draw.

The only detailed link Wikipedia has for a scoring system is under HK/Cantonese rules:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_Mahjong_scoring_rules