First game
Your First Game
From picking opponents to your first win: the table, how to discard, and what every button does.
On this page
Start a new game
Press "Play now" on the home page to open the menu. For your first game we suggest:
- AI level: Easy. These opponents only build their hands and never fold, so games move fast while you learn the flow.
- Length: East only. Just the four East rounds, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Keep the default rules and press "Start game".
Games save automatically. If you close the page, the menu shows your game in progress when you come back; press "Continue" to pick it up.
Read the table
You sit at the bottom of the screen. The three AI players sit left, top and right.
- Your hand: the bottom row, normally 13 tiles. On your turn you draw 1 more, shown on the far right.
- Discard ponds: the tiles each player has thrown, 6 to a row. What others have discarded is your best clue for defense.
- Center panel: the round (for example "East 1"), the honba counter, riichi sticks on the table, tiles left in the wall, the dora indicator, and every player's score and seat wind. The player marked "Dealer" is the dealer this hand.
- Melds: tiles taken with chi, pon or kan are laid face up beside the hand for everyone to see.
Draw one, discard one
On your turn the game draws a tile for you. All you do is pick a tile to discard:
- With a mouse: click a tile to discard it.
- On a phone or tablet: tap once to lift the tile, tap again to discard, so a slip of the finger does not cost you. To discard with a single tap, turn on "Discard with one tap" in Settings.
Your hand always goes back to 13 tiles. Draw, discard, and repeat until you hold four sets and a pair; then you can win. How tiles fit together is covered in Winning hands.
The beginner aids
A help line sits above your hand. You can switch each part on or off in Settings:
- Shanten: how many steps you are from tenpai. "2 shanten" means you need two more useful tiles before you are one tile from winning.
- Tenpai and waits: once you are one tile away, it lists the tiles that complete your hand and how many of each are still unseen.
- Furiten and No yaku: these warn you that you cannot win by ron right now, or that your hand has no yaku and cannot win at all. See Yaku and Furiten and defense.
- Hint: the tile the game suggests you discard. Follow it at first, then ask yourself why it picked that tile.
When the buttons appear
When you can do something, buttons pop up above your hand. Press "Skip" if you do not want to.
| Button | When it appears |
|---|---|
| Tsumo | The tile you drew completes your hand |
| Ron | A tile someone else discarded completes your hand |
| Riichi | Your hand is closed, you are in tenpai and you have at least 1,000 points |
| Chi, Pon, Kan | Someone's discard makes a set with tiles in your hand |
| Nine terminals (draw) | On your first draw you hold 9 or more different terminals and honors, and may abort the hand |
After pressing "Riichi", pick the tile to discard to complete the declaration. If there is more than one way to chi, you choose which set to make. The rules behind these actions are in How a turn works.
Two switches under the table
- Auto win: wins as soon as you can, without asking.
- No calls: stops asking whether you want to chi, pon or kan on other players' discards, so play flows much faster. Beginners can turn it on and focus on a closed hand and riichi.
After you declare riichi, the game discards each tile you draw for you (unless it wins).
How a hand ends
A hand ends when someone wins or the wall runs out (an exhaustive draw). The results show the yaku, han, fu and how each player's score changed. Press "Next hand" to continue.
After the last hand you see the final placings and points, and the menu records your stats.
Up nextThe Tiles →