How to play Riichi mahjong

Riichi is the Japanese style of mahjong, and the one most mahjong AI is built for. It has more rules than most styles, but they all come back to one idea: a hand has to be worth something to win.

This guide covers what you need for your first game. When you want the full detail, Mahjong Live's Riichi rules and yaku guide go deeper.

The tiles

A Riichi set has 136 tiles: three numbered suits (characters, dots and bamboo, 1 to 9), plus seven honour tiles (four winds and three dragons), four copies of each. There are no flowers and no jokers. Many games swap some fives for red fives, which work as normal fives but add value to your hand.

How a turn works

Everyone holds 13 tiles. On your turn you draw a 14th, then either win or discard one. Discards go in a neat row in front of you, and that row matters later (see furiten, below).

The three winning shapes

• Four groups and a pair. A group is a sequence (three in a row in one suit, like 3-4-5 of dots) or a triplet (three identical tiles). This is almost every win.
• Seven pairs, all different.
• Thirteen orphans: one of every 1, 9 and honour tile, plus one duplicate.

Every win needs a yaku

This is the rule that makes Riichi different. A complete shape isn't enough: your hand also needs at least one yaku, a scoring pattern. Some of the easiest:

• Riichi: declare that your closed hand is one tile from winning (more below).
• Fully concealed self-draw (menzen tsumo): win on your own draw without having called any tiles.
• All simples (tanyao): no 1s, 9s or honours anywhere in the hand.
• Value triplet (yakuhai): a triplet of any dragon, your seat wind or the round wind.

Beginners' most common mistake is completing a hand with no yaku and finding they can't win with it. Before you call tiles, know which yaku you're aiming for.

Calling tiles

• Chi: take a discard to complete a sequence, only from the player just before you.
• Pon: take a discard to complete a triplet, from anyone.
• Kan: make a set of four identical tiles. You draw a replacement tile.

Calling opens your hand, and several yaku, riichi included, need a closed hand. Calling is fast but costs value.

Declaring riichi

When your closed hand is one tile from complete (you're in tenpai), you can declare riichi as you discard. You put up a 1,000-point stick, and from then on you can't change your hand: you discard every tile you draw unless it wins. In return, riichi is a yaku in itself, and it unlocks bonuses like hidden dora.

Furiten: the rule that catches everyone

You can't win on another player's discard (ron) if any tile that would complete your hand is already in your own discards. You can still win by drawing it yourself (tsumo). So check your own discard row before you count on a ron.

Dora

Before play starts, one tile is turned face up as an indicator. The next tile in sequence is the dora, and every dora in your winning hand adds value. Dora only add value; they don't count as a yaku.

Scoring and the match

A hand's value comes from han (from yaku and dora) and fu (from how the hand is built), which combine into points through a table. You don't need to memorise it to start; the free Riichi score calculator does it for you.

Players start with a pile of points (30,000 on Mahjong Live) and play an East round and a South round, a game called a hanchan. The dealer keeps the deal after a win. At the end, final placement decides the result.

Tips for your first games

• Keep your hand closed and aim for riichi. It's the simplest yaku and it's always available.
• All simples is your friend. Throw away 1s, 9s and honours early.
• Defend when someone declares riichi. Discard tiles they've already discarded; they're safe because of furiten.
• Play bots first. Riichi has a lot to remember, and bots don't mind waiting while you check a yaku list.

Play your first game

Riichi on Mahjong Live is free in your browser. It uses WRC-based rules with four red fives and full East–South matches, against AI opponents or friends. It shows the yaku, han, fu and payments after every win, which is the fastest way to learn scoring. For where else to play, see where to play Riichi mahjong online.