Hong Kong Mahjong rules and faan scoring

The complete rules Table Mahjong plays by, from the 144 tiles to the last point of the score. Every screenshot is the real game, and every scoring example was run through the game's own scorer, so the numbers here match what you see at the table.

The tiles

Hong Kong Mahjong (also called Cantonese Mahjong) uses 144 tiles.

Three suits: 108 tiles, four of each

• Characters (萬子), 1 to 9
• Bamboo (索子), 1 to 9
• Dots or Circles (筒子), 1 to 9

Honours: 28 tiles, four of each

• Winds (風牌): East 東, South 南, West 西, North 北
• Dragons (三元牌): Red 中, Green 發, White 白

Bonus tiles: 8 tiles, one of each

• Flowers (花): Plum, Orchid, Chrysanthemum, Bamboo
• Seasons (季): Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter

Seats, winds and the deal

Four players sit at East, South, West and North. East is the dealer, starts with 14 tiles and discards first; everyone else starts with 13. Turns go counter-clockwise, so the player before you sits on your left.

Your seat stays at the bottom of the screen. The camera never moves; the wind labels do. When the dealer wins or the hand is drawn, the same player deals again. When anyone else wins, the deal passes on and every seat wind moves by one. More on seating in how 4-player tables work.

A turn

1. Draw a tile from the wall, or take the last discard with a claim (below).
2. Win if that tile completes your hand and it meets the table's minimum faan.
3. Otherwise discard one tile face up. You can also declare a concealed Kong first if you hold all four of a tile.

If the wall runs out before anyone wins, the hand is a draw (流局) and no points change hands.

Chow, Pong and Kong

When someone discards, the other players get a chance to claim the tile. In Table Mahjong the buttons appear only when a claim is legal for you; in solo play the table waits for your choice, and multiplayer rooms give everyone a 30-second window.

• Pong (碰): you hold two of the discarded tile. Claim it to make three of a kind. Anyone except the discarder can Pong.
• Kong (槓): you hold three. Claim the fourth to make four of a kind, then draw a replacement tile. You can also Kong from your own hand (concealed) or add a drawn fourth tile to a Pong you already showed.
• Chow (吃): three in a row in one suit, such as 5-6-7 Bamboo. Only the next player in turn can Chow, which means you can only Chow a tile discarded by the player on your left.
• Win (食糊): anyone can claim a discard that completes their hand.

Priority: a win beats a Pong or Kong, which beats a Chow. If two players can win on the same discard, the one nearest after the discarder in turn order takes it (head bump, 截糊), whatever their faan.

Winning hands

A winning hand is four sets and one pair: 14 tiles, counting the tile you win on. Each set is a Chow, Pong or Kong, and each Kong counts as one set even though it has four tiles. You can win two ways:

• Self-draw (自摸): the winning tile comes from the wall. Worth 1 extra faan, and all three opponents pay.
• On a discard (食糊): you claim someone's discard to finish. The discarder pays for everyone.

If a hand can be read more than one way, the scorer uses the reading worth the most faan. Named Hong Kong hands, such as Small Three Dragons, are still four sets and a pair and are listed in the faan table below. Special shapes from other rule books, such as Seven Pairs or Thirteen Orphans, are not winning hands in Table Mahjong yet; they are coming soon.

Faan values

Faan (番) measure how valuable a winning hand is. These are Table Mahjong's defaults. They add together, and a host can change any value or switch a line off in Settings → Gameplay → Scoring rules.

Named hands

A named hand's value is its total for what it contains: the dragon or wind Pongs inside it are not counted again. Other lines, such as self-draw or one suit, still add.

Limit hands

A limit hand is worth the 13 faan limit on its own, and nothing else is added to it.

From faan to points

One share is 8 × 2^faan points, and faan stop counting for payment at 13. The winner always collects three shares:

• On a self-draw, each of the three opponents pays one share.
• On a discard win, the player who discarded pays all three shares alone.

There is no extra dealer payment. A drawn hand pays nothing. Session scores start at 0 and can go negative; points are only a score for the session, not money or a rating.

Worked scoring examples

Each hand below was scored with Table Mahjong's default values. No hand contains a wind Pong unless the example says so.

Minimum faan

Many Hong Kong tables will not accept a cheap win. A minimum faan is the number of faan a hand needs before you may call Mahjong. Hands below it are simply not winning hands at that table: you keep playing for a better one.

• Casual (the default): no minimum. Any four sets and a pair wins, even a chicken hand.
• HK 3 Faan: a hand must be worth at least 3 faan. This is a common house rule at Hong Kong family tables.
• Custom: tick "Require minimum faan to win" and pick any value from 0 to 13.

At a 3 faan table, example 1 (1 faan) cannot be declared, and example 2 only counts if it is self-drawn. When a winning tile turns up but your hand is short, the game tells you, for example "Winning tile, but only 2 faan — this game needs 3 to call Mahjong", and play continues. The "Your faan" counter in the header shows the faan you already hold and whether the table has a minimum, so you know what you still need. More on choosing a setting in how to choose a minimum faan.

Hands, rounds and matches

A hand is one deal. Choose a Single hand, an East-only match (the deal passes four times) or a full East, South, West and North match (at least 16 hands; dealer repeats make it longer). In solo play the same bots stay for the match and progress is saved on your device after each hand. In multiplayer the room keeps one server-owned score and seats can reconnect; between hands everyone readies up and the host starts the next one.

Questions