Riichi, Hong Kong and Chinese Mahjong: Rules Compared

The tiles are identical. The scoring systems, the win conditions and the tempo could not be more different - which is why mahjong rewards choosing a school.

Chinese Classical Mahjong

The oldest widely played form uses four melds and a pair, with a scoring table of named hands. It introduced many of the pattern-based hands that other variants inherited, including all-pungs, pure one-suit and the thirteen orphans.

Chinese Classical is forgiving for beginners because simply completing four melds and a pair is enough to win; the scoring table only determines how much.

Hong Kong Mahjong

Hong Kong style adds the concept of a minimum score. You cannot win on any hand – it must reach a threshold, usually three faan, which forces players to build recognisable patterns rather than scrambling to any fourteen tiles.

It removes flowers and seasons from the hand and treats them as bonus points, and it is the most commonly played form in Cantonese communities and in most online lobbies with a 'Hong Kong' mode.

Japanese Riichi Mahjong

Riichi is the most competitive variant. A concealed hand that is one tile away from winning may declare riichi by paying a thousand points and placing a bet – announcing to the table that you are close, and earning bonus points if you win.

Riichi adds defensive play as a first-class skill: folding a hand safely, reading discards and avoiding dealing into an opponent's win are all integral. There is also a dora system where randomly revealed tiles become bonus scoring indicators, which adds an element of shifting value to each hand.

Frequently asked questions