How to play

How to play Riichi Mahjong

Step-by-step Riichi Mahjong for a first table, including what the Tilehaus interface expects you to click.

Animated how-to for riichi mahjong: same tiles as mahjong — throw one away each turn, take a matching tile or pass, win with four groups and a pair. — Watch once — it loops. The words underneath are if you want them.

Good to know

Players start at 25,000 points in a standard four-player hanchan.
Declaring riichi costs 1,000 points, requires a closed hand, and freezes further concealed changes except the winning tile.
A hand must contain at least one yaku to win. Tilehaus currently treats riichi itself as a yaku and still requires a standard 4-meld-and-a-pair shape.

Before the first tile

Open the Riichi Mahjong table. Choose seat count 4. For a first game, enable bots so empty seats still draw and discard on time.

Keep your discards honest

Arrange discards in rows of six. Other players read your waits from those rows. Calling pong opens the hand and blocks riichi.

Deal-in risk

If a player has declared riichi, avoid dealing a tile that is not in your own safe discard row. Honor tiles already discarded by that player are often safer.

Questions

What does riichi mean?

Riichi (reach) is a declaration that your closed hand is one tile from winning. You place a 1,000-point stick and stop changing the hand.

Is riichi the same as Chinese mahjong?

No. Both use the 136-tile set, but riichi requires yaku, uses point sticks, and treats riichi, dora, and furiten as core rules.