During our New Years' time off, we pulled out our recently purchased Mah Jiang game and taught ourselves how to play. Juliana, Joseph, Maria, and I had a go at it and found it very enjoyable. Mah Jiang is a bit of a widespread obsession in China. There are Mah Jiang parlors and clubs and In good weather, you see foursomes playing Mah Jiang in parks, alleyways, and along sidewalks in the city. The Chinese also play for money, though the kids and I did not get this sophisticated. One Chinese associate told me that her aunt makes a modest living playing Mah Jiang full time for money. I was surprised when a colleague in the U.S. asked me to send him two Mah Jiang sets for his wife and her friend who had joined a Mah Jiang club in Decatur.
Mah Jiang is much like Gin Rummy, but with domino-like tiles rather than playing cards. There are four suits of tiles and the objective is to make sets or "kongs" or 3, 4, or 5 matching tiles. There are also wildcard tiles and nuances of player order and scoring.
As a game, on a scale of one to ten, with one being "Chutes and Ladders" and ten being "Texas Hold 'Em", I give Mah Jiang a four.
Mah Jiang is much like Gin Rummy, but with domino-like tiles rather than playing cards. There are four suits of tiles and the objective is to make sets or "kongs" or 3, 4, or 5 matching tiles. There are also wildcard tiles and nuances of player order and scoring.
As a game, on a scale of one to ten, with one being "Chutes and Ladders" and ten being "Texas Hold 'Em", I give Mah Jiang a four.
1 comment:
Texas Hold Em is the top end of your scale with a 10?
Just so you know, we do enjoy reading your posts.
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