how do you win at majhong?

[xxMisfitzxx]

i dont understand it even with the rules explained i dont know what im looking for or what im doing in the slightest

[DooG Is Eternal]

Same situation for me for shogi lol. No clue, not going to bother.

[xxMisfitzxx]

ehh i dont understand shogi but i want to get the cp XD

[DooG Is Eternal]

i heard from my friend that ai in shogi is scripted, so you can look up on youtube on how to move the pieces lol, not too sure about that though.

didnt play any of those games in real life before, its hard to learn the rules in game :D

[Cloudst]

Mahjong is pretty complicated but I followed this guide to help me out

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps4/816306-yakuza-0/faqs/74451/mahjong

[Silanda]

Learn to play. That being said, I'm not convinced that the game is playing completely fair.

Mahjong's actually pretty simple. The scoring system's more complicated, but you don't need to fully understand that to play.

Here's a guide: http://mahjonginmame.com/howto.htm

That refers to two player mahjong, but the basics still apply.

[xxMisfitzxx]

ty for the response everyone ill probably practise it when i wake up for now its my bed time ill research more when i wake up

[hleyomac]

i think im gonna let my grandma plays the mahjong part

[Nish-Ki]

Yo, that Japanese Chess tho, it's got some messed up rules and mechanics. Like a front row pieces can digi-volve into better pieces when they reach a certain point. You can Resurrect dead pieces, reverse time played...
dafuq D:

[Laivasse]

I'm addicted hard to the mahjong. Yakuza 0 is the first time I've ever really learnt the rules, apart from once when somebody failed to explain them to me years ago, but basically I am at a level where every page of the in-game tutorial was new info to me. I'm still uncertain about a lot of stuff but I'll put what I've learned so far from the game here. As long as you can spot the differences between the tiles I think everyone should give it a shot, cos it's fun as hell.

Admittedly I start from an advantage because I read kanji characters, but I think most people can probably do it. The scribbly suit, particularly the 5 and 9, are probably the difficult ones for newbies as they all utilise kanji, as well as the wind tiles where South and East may be tricky to distinguish.

Numbers[i.pinimg.com]. Memorise these for the scribbly suit, it's not very hard. The 5 & 9 are a bit hard to see in game, just look for the little hook on the end of the 9.
East = 東
South＝南
North = 北
West = 西
If you don't have much trouble distinguishing between the tiles, then don't worry about that bit.

BASIC IDEA:

The main goal is to make a hand, like poker, but out of 14 tiles instead of cards. There are three 'suits' (squiggles, circles and bamboo) numbered 1 to 9 in the deck and each suit has 4 of each tile. There are also 4 winds and 3 coloured dragons - these also have 4 of each. So basically it's like playing with 4 decks of cards.

You match 3 identical tiles or you get 3 numbers in a row to form a 'set'. You need 4 sets and a pair (exceptions mentioned later) to complete your hand. You cannot mix suits within a 3-tile set! Each individual set has to be squiggles/circles/bamboo/winds/dragons ONLY. You CAN mix suits within a 14 tile hand.

Also, tiles cannot double up to be used in more than one set! That is, if you're using a tile in a straight, you can't use any of those tiles in a match-3 without needing to rebuild the straight. You need the additional tiles.

Remember that 4 sets of 3 tiles doesn't add up to 14. The final 2 tiles need to be a pair. You win by assembling a hand AS FAST AS POSSIBLE, although you MAY want to wait in order to increase the value of your hand. Which brings me to...

WINNING A HAND:

IMPORTANT: In order to complete a hand and win, your hand needs to be worth at least 1 'yaku' (whatever that means - I have no idea). But basically it's the attributes that add value to the hand. A FULLY CONCEALED HAND (no discards taken) IS ALWAYS WORTH ENOUGH TO WIN.

The easiest ways to get a winning hand (conealed or not) are: A match 3 of dragons, or of the wind character (N, S, E or W) that matches your seat at the table, or of the wind mentioned in the middle of the table.

The exposed tile in the centre ('dora') also adds value to a hand in the way described in the in-game 'Rules', although I'm NOT sure if it's possible to win just from corresponding your sets to the dora. It might just be for adding value to an already winning hand.

You can complete a match 3 from other players' discarded tiles (pon/pung). You can complete a straight ONLY from the tiles discarded by the player to your left (chi/chow or whatever), unless the tile will complete your entire hand, in which case you can pick it up from anyone (ron) (not 100% sure on this one).

TAKING DISCARDED TILES:

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT TAKING OTHER PLAYERS' DISCARDS:
Doing this exposes the set; YOU NO LONGER HAVE A CONCEALED HAND!
Completing a set with a discarded tile 'exposes' that set. Therefore your hand no longer has value from the 'concealed' aspect and you need something else for that hand to win! The easiest is match 3 dragons or winds, etc. mentioned above. Having a 3 dragon match is always a winning hand. That's why the AI often 'Pons' the dragons early on - they don't need to be concealed after they have them.

Check the 'Hands' in-game for more ways you can make a hand winnable; if your tiles start to resemble any of these winning hands, then consider biting the bullet and using some discards, going exposed. The inherent extra value in a concealed hand means most of the game is about waiting to draw the right tile yourself, not immediately seizing discards from other players.

There are some winning hands that don't require match-3 or straights, such as '7 pairs' or '13 Orphans'. 7 pairs is way easier to get than 13 orphans, although it's still a bit hard. I've got it twice. Start mashing X to check for Riichi (see just below) if you end up with 6 pairs somehow.

WIN BUTTON(S):

Rung (ron? idk) is what it's called to win from a discard. Tsumo is when you win from a tile you drew yourself. Pick those options if you see them, to win. I guess the game doesn't automate it because it leaves open the option of waiting for a better hand, although I don't have a clue when to do this, nor the brass balls required.

Another way to win is Riichi. This is an option when you're still fully concealed and you're 1 tile away from winning. The game calculates this for you but won't automatically show you! Mash X if your hand starts to look really good and you think you're about to win. If you're 1 tile from winning, X will pop up the Riichi option along with what tiles would win it for you, and even tell you how many are still available, undiscarded on the board. This info may change depending on what tile you discard next! Pick the option with most winning tiles available (unless there's some rare mind game going on with an opponent stockpiling a certain tile; not sure if making a read against the maths is ever viable).

Think that's everything.

MISC:

Couple other small things:

Straights don't go on longer than 3 tiles! This was a mental block I had for some reason when I first came to the game. Even the winning hand of a 'full straight' is technically 3 sets of 1-3, 4-6 and 7-9. SO: 5-9, let's say, isn't technically worth anything more than 5-7 - BUT it could function as a 5-7, 6-8 or a 7-9 and leave you some useful tiles in remainder. If you have a 5-9, then you can complete 2 straights by picking up a 4 (4-6 and 7-9) or ANOTHER 7 (5-7 and 7-9). I still find it pretty hard to keep in mind what sets I have, but just do what I do and get close then look for Riichi.

Kan/Kong/whatever is a way to match 4. It doesn't really do anything except expose another 'dora' modifier in the centre. You can call a concealed Kan - so you get a new dora and don't lose your 'concealed' status - if you drew all the 4 tiles yourself. Hit X to look for this option. You don't stay concealed if you make it from a discard. Kan just works like a match 3; I think you even draw an extra tile if necessary so your hand goes to 15 total.

If you win from a discard, you take the points from the player whose discard it was. If you win from a tile you drew yourself, all players give you points, although there's some weird calculations I don't understand involving who the dealer is.

I don't really know how the points allocation works when it ends in a draw.

Hope this helps some more people get into it. Might repost it as a thread of its own. Since I came to mahjong as a complete beginner and approached it all through the Yakuza 0 interface, maybe my observations are more easy to digest for other players than an online guide. Sorry to any chain smoking mahjong vets if I got stuff wrong.

[Epero]

After spending whole day with Telephone club, dancing and karaoke to go forward in my 100% completion I have now realizted, that problay I will never have 100%.
I don´t understand mahjong and really I am not interested to playing it. It is same stupid thing as winning board games in Assassin´s Creed III. Why? In such type of game give me challenges of shooting, fight, stealth, OK, some stupid minigames like karaoke. But why this?
It makes it impossible to be completionist. I don´t understand Haneman, or Ippatsu, even if I look in guide. I will have to learn all basics of the game to understood some advanced moves. Why?

Please, remove it from 100% when you will be releasing fix for mini cars race game crushing bug.

[Laivasse]

Originally posted by Epero:

I don´t understand Haneman, or Ippatsu, even if I look in guide.

Those terms are just for describing certain bonus conditions and points tallies. Whoever's got them has already won. The game just tallies it all up for you, so don't worry about it. I certainly don't know wtf haneman is exactly, except it means the player won with a pretty decent hand.

Ippatsu just means a player won straight after calling Riichi. It's (almost entirely) luck. Consider checking out just the basic stuff you need to know - riichi, pon, chi, staying concealed, the fact that 3 matched dragons are enough to win, etc. and leaving aside all the fluff.

It's pretty fun once you get a handle on it.

[xxMisfitzxx]

ok so after 3 hours of fustration i have come to the realization that this game is completely and utterly rng based i cant win a hand to save my life

[DooG Is Eternal]

since when is gambling not rng lol... even if you know the rules of blackjack u still needs luck

[xxMisfitzxx]

ya but every freaking hand for the last 3 hours
?

[SlicedAndDiced]

Dude majong is poker with tiles and extra rules. If my drunk idiot uncle can be good at you can be too. Its gambling thats the whole point. But unlike poker, in majong you can manipulate your rng better since you can count tiles. Just learn it if you want, you dont have to play to beat the game.

Its not really an issue. I understand the fruastration. its like asking america to love soccer but american football is a thing. most the world has poker and chess alot of asian countries have shogi and majong.