Mahjong is an ancient Chinese game believed to have originated in the 12th century. It has become an incredibly popular game in Canada, with mahjong-themed clubs popping up all over the country. The object of the game is to combine four suitable pieces or tiles in sets of two, three and four, and to score the most points.
The game can be played by up to four players. A set of mahjong tiles typically contain 136 pieces, divided into three categories: Suits, Honors and Bonus. Suits are divided into two types: Character and Bamboo. Character tiles (Characters, Bam, and Dots) are marked with Chinese characters, while Bamboo tiles (Chinese cash curls, Circles, and Flowers) are marked with Arabic numerals. Honors are composed of four Winds tiles (North, South, East, West) and three Dragons tiles (Red, Green, and White). Bonus tiles are blank tiles and special tiles that are used to give players points.
To play Mahjong, the tiles are placed in the middle of the table, and the players sit around. The tiles are shuffled and divided into four equal stacks, and each player draws an initial hand of 13 pieces. The two-player and four-player games are then begun by a dealer flipping a tile from the wall and the players then begin to build their hand. Each player must have the correct tiles to match the sets of the tiles to win a game.