A seat at Auntie Ruth's table
How to play Hong Kong mahjong
Mahjong is easier to begin than it looks. Draw a tile, let one go, and build groups that belong together. Here's what you need for your first hand.
This guide describes the Hong Kong Old Style rules in Auntie Ruth's Mahjong. Mahjong tables have different house rules; these aren't rules for every version of mahjong, or for tile-matching solitaire.
1. Meet the mahjong tiles
A full set has 144 tiles. There are four copies of each suited and honor tile, plus eight individual bonus tiles.
- Bamboo, characters and circles are the three suits. Each runs from 1 to 9. Bamboo has sticks (and a bird on the 1); characters use written numerals; circles look like round coins.
- Winds are East, South, West and North. They are honors, not numbered suits.
- Dragons are red, green and white. They are honors too.
- Flowers and seasons are bonus tiles, four of each. They are set aside when drawn and replaced with another tile. They never belong in your sets or pair.
On the app's tiles, small corner labels help you read the numbers and wind letters while you learn the traditional faces.
2. Learn four useful words
- Chow: three in a row
- Three consecutive numbers in one suit, such as 3, 4 and 5 of circles. A run cannot mix suits. Winds and dragons never make chows.
- Pung: three the same
- Three identical tiles, such as three red dragons or three 7s of bamboo.
- Kong: four the same
- Four identical tiles. Declare the kong, then draw a replacement. A kong counts as one set, even though it contains four physical tiles.
- Pair: two the same
- Two identical tiles, such as two East winds. Your ordinary winning hand needs one pair.
“The same” means the same tile, not just the same number: a 5 of bamboo and a 5 of circles do not make a pair.
3. Draw one, discard one
Four players sit around the table. The dealer is East and starts with an extra tile. Everyone else starts with 13 ordinary tiles. Play goes counterclockwise.
On an ordinary turn, draw a tile from the wall, consider which tiles work together, then discard one face up. The dealer begins by discarding from their 14-tile hand. Claims and kongs change this rhythm, as explained below.
Keep pairs and neighbors that could become sets. A lone honor needs matching tiles; unlike a suited tile, it cannot grow into a run. When just one tile could complete your hand, you're ready—but you still need enough faan to win.
Flowers and seasons are exposed and replaced from the back of the wall. A kong also takes a replacement from the back. If the wall runs out without a win, the hand ends as a draw; the final discard still has its chance to be claimed.
4. Claim a tile someone else discards
Sometimes the tile you need comes from another player's discard rather than your next draw. A claimed set is placed face up.
- Chow: only from the player on your left, just before your turn. Their discard must complete a same-suit run with two tiles you hold.
- Pung: from any opponent, if you hold two matching tiles.
- Kong: from any opponent, if you hold three matching tiles. Declare it and draw a replacement.
- Mahjong: from any opponent, if the discard completes a legal winning hand with enough faan.
For example, you hold the 4 and 6 of circles. If the player on your left discards the 5 of circles, you may call chow. The same discard from the player opposite cannot be claimed for that chow—unless it completes your winning hand, in which case you call Mahjong instead.
When claims compete, Mahjong comes first, then pung or kong, then chow. After claiming a chow or pung, discard a tile; you do not take a normal draw first.
You can also declare a concealed kong from four identical tiles on a turn with a drawn tile, or add a matching drawn-turn tile to an exposed pung. Another player may win on the added tile: this is called robbing the kong.
5. Aim for four sets and a pair
The standard winning shape is four sets plus one pair. Each set can be a chow, pung or kong. Without kongs, that is 14 tiles: 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 2.
- 1–2–3 of bamboo — chow
- 4–5–6 of characters — chow
- 5–5–5 of circles — pung
- Red dragon, red dragon, red dragon — pung
- East, East — pair
This shows the shape; your scoring patterns and circumstances still determine whether it meets the minimum.
The winning tile may be one you draw yourself or one another player discards. A kong adds one extra physical tile to the usual count because it is still just one set.
Seven pairs is not a winning hand in this ruleset. There is one alternative shape: thirteen orphans, made from the 1 and 9 of every suit, every wind and every dragon, plus a duplicate of one of those tiles. Start with four sets and a pair while you're learning.
6. Faan: a complete hand needs value, too
Faan measures the value of the patterns in a winning hand. Auntie Ruth's full table requires at least 3 faan and has a 13-faan limit. A hand with the right shape but less than 3 faan cannot win. Bonus and situational faan count toward that minimum.
| Pattern | Faan |
|---|---|
| Self-drawn winning tile | 1 |
| Concealed hand (no exposed sets; concealed kongs allowed) | 1 |
| All chows, with a suited pair | 1 |
| A dragon pung or kong | 1 each |
| Your seat-wind pung or kong | 1 |
| All pungs (pungs and kongs, plus a pair) | 3 |
| One suit with honors | 3 |
| One suit, no honors | 6 |
| No flowers or seasons | 1 |
Many awards add together, but not every name stacks: one suit without honors earns 6 faan, not 6 plus the 3 for one suit with honors. A concealed, self-drawn hand of four chows and a suited pair can reach the 3-faan minimum.
Flowers and seasons can score too. Your own flower or season is worth 1 faan; collecting all four flowers or all four seasons earns 4 instead of that individual award. They still stay outside your winning hand.
Faan converts to points: at this table, 3 faan is 8 base points and 13 faan is 384. For a self-drawn win each opponent pays the base points; for a discard win the discarder pays three times the base points. The app handles the arithmetic and shows the scoring patterns.
7. Learn by playing, not by memorising
You don't have to remember every pattern before your first hand. The app's eight-step Learn to Play ladder begins with one bamboo set and a pair, then introduces full hands, the other suits, honors, calling, kongs and flowers, and faan.
The first Calling hand is guided. Rungs 5 and 6 accept complete hands without a faan minimum so you can concentrate on the new idea. Rung 7 introduces the usual 3-faan minimum; then the full table is yours.
Explore the eight learning steps, or visit support if you need a hand.
Rules checked against the app's Hong Kong rules, scoring data and Learn to Play lessons on 30 October 2026.