Mahjong (which is also referred to as Mah Jongg, Mah-Jongg, Maahj or Mahj) is a popular tiles-based game, which originated in China in the 19th century. Over the years, many variations and styles of Mahjong have emerged, as the game’s popularity spread across the globe. In China alone, there are somewhere in the region of 30 versions of the game.
It’s typically played by 4 players, who receive, discard and exchange tiles, with the aim of being the first to collect 14 tiles of a certain combination (a “Mahjong hand”). Mahjong is fast-paced, exciting, requiring skill and a pinch of luck! It has many similarities to the card game Rummy.
By the way, you may come across online tile-matching solitaire-like games that call themselves “Mahjong” and, though they do use the Mahjong tiles, they aren’t really Mahjong at all. In this article, we’ll focus on the traditional game and its variants.