Riichi Mahjong: Rules and How to Play
Riichi Mahjong is a tile game for four players. Draw and discard to complete sets and win points. Scoring is automatic. Free in your browser.
Objective
Riichi mahjong is the Japanese form of mahjong, played by four people. You draw and discard tiles to turn a 13-tile hand into a complete 14-tile hand — normally four sets and a pair — and every winning hand needs at least one yaku, a scoring pattern. Points pass between players with each win, and after the agreed number of hands the highest score wins.
Setup
- Four players use 136 tiles: three suits (characters/man, circles/pin, bamboo/sou) numbered 1 to 9, four winds and three dragons, four of each. Three of the fives are red by default, and each is worth an extra han.
- Fourteen tiles form the dead wall. It supplies replacement draws after a kan and holds the dora indicators; one indicator is turned face up at the start.
- One player is the dealer (East) and the others get their seat winds. Everyone takes 13 tiles and starts with 25,000 points by default; 30,000 is also available.
- The default length is a half game (hanchan): an East round and a South round. An East-only game and a single hand are also options.
How to play
- Starting with the dealer and going counter-clockwise, each player draws a tile and then discards one face up in front of them.
- Calls: chii takes the previous player's discard to complete a run; pon takes anyone's discard to make three of a kind; kan makes four of a kind. Pon and kan beat chii, and play continues from the caller. Calling opens your hand, and some yaku, including riichi and pinfu, need a closed hand.
- Riichi: with a closed hand one tile from winning (tenpai), at least 1,000 points and at least one more draw to come, you may declare riichi and put up a 1,000-point stick. From then on your hand is fixed and you discard each drawn tile unless it wins. Riichi is worth one han and adds the chance of ippatsu and ura-dora.
- Furiten: if one of your winning tiles is among your own discards, or you let a winning discard go by, you cannot win by ron until it clears — though you can still win on your own draw. The screen marks furiten and shows your waits.
Winning and scoring
- A complete hand is four sets and a pair (or seven pairs, or thirteen orphans) with at least one yaku. Winning on your own draw is tsumo and all three others pay; winning on a discard is ron and the discarder pays. More than one player can ron the same tile.
- A hand's value comes from han (yaku plus dora) and fu (points for sets, waits and how you won). Big hands are capped at fixed limits from mangan up to yakuman; the dealer is paid 1.5 times as much.
- If the wall runs out, tenpai players collect 3,000 points in total from those who are not. The dealer keeps the seat after winning or being tenpai at a draw, and a honba counter adds 300 points to the next win. Riichi sticks on the table go to the next winner.
- The game ends early if anyone drops below zero. If nobody reaches the starting score + 5,000 after South 4, play continues into the West round until someone does (through West at most). The default uma is +15/+5/−5/−15 pt.
- At a 25,000 start the winner receives +20 pt oka; at 30,000 oka is zero. Final points are (score − 30,000) / 1,000 + uma + oka + chips. Tied first place is resolved by initial dealer order. The extension and dealer-stop target remains starting points + 5,000.
For three players, choose Three-Player Mahjong
Play with 108 tiles and north extraction in its own game.
Common variants
- Open tanyao (kuitan) is on here; some tables require an all-simples hand to be closed.
- Red fives: choose three (one in each suit, the default) or none.
- Uma: choose none, 5-15 (the default), 10-20 or 10-30. Scores settle against 30,000. First place receives +20 pt oka with a 25,000 start, or zero with a 30,000 start.
- Minimum han: one han is standard, and a table can raise it.
- Chinese Official, Hong Kong and American mahjong share the idea of sets and pairs but have no riichi or dora.
Defaults on this site
| Item | Default on this site |
|---|---|
| Players | 4 players (set automatically by the party size) |
| Turn time limit | None by default (the host can set 30 or 60 seconds) |
| If someone drops mid-game | Reopening on the same device returns you to your seat. If you do not return, the CPU plays in your place. |
| Draws | In ranked play, a draw counts as halfway between a win and a loss for your rating. |
| Source of the rules | Based on the standard reference rules |
Rules supervised by Qdan, Inc. (based on the standard reference rules)
House rules
Defaults follow the standard reference rules. The party can change these.
| Name | Description | Default | Changeable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Game lengthGame lengthAn east-only game is the four east-round hands (the dealer goes around once); a half-game is eight hands over the east and south rounds (twice around). A half-game is the usual length, about 40–60 minutes. East-only is about half that, and a single hand is for practice. When the dealer wins or is ready at a draw, the same dealer continues, so there can be more hands. | Choose a single hand, an east-only game, or a full half-game. | Half-game | Yes |
| Time limitTime limitCounts during discards and call/ron decisions. Standard time resets for each decision; reserve resets at the start of each hand, with no recovery for quick play. At zero, the drawn tile is discarded or the call is passed. Disconnected and CPU seats are not timed. | Seconds of standard time + reserve. Reserve resets to the chosen value at the start of each hand. | 5＋20 seconds | Can be changed |
| Red fivesRed fivesWith three red fives, one five in each suit is red. Each red five in a winning hand adds one han. Red fives are bonuses, so a separate yaku is still required to win. | Use one red five in each suit, or none. | 3 | Yes |
| Open tanyaoOpen tanyaoCalling means taking another player’s discard to make a pon or chi. All simples (tanyao) is a hand with no terminals (1s and 9s) and no honor tiles. When on, you can win with all simples even after calling, which makes quick wins easier. When off, all simples only counts when your hand is fully concealed. | Allow winning on an all-simples hand even after calling. | On | Yes |
| Starting pointsStarting pointsAt a 25,000 start the winner receives +20 pt oka; at 30,000 oka is zero. Final points are (score − 30,000) / 1,000 + uma + oka + chips. Tied first place is resolved by initial dealer order. The extension and dealer-stop target remains starting points + 5,000. | Settle against 30,000. The winner receives four times the difference from the starting points as oka. The ending target is starting points + 5,000. | 25,000 | Can be changed |
| RulesRulesStandard lets you choose each setting. Tournament style fixes a half-game, three red fives, open tanyao and a one-han minimum. There are no abortive draws; only the nearest eligible player wins a simultaneous ron. Negative scores do not end play. There is no extension, dealer stop or nagashi mangan. Players start at 25,000 and settle against 30,000; placement points are +50/+10/−10/−30, including the winner’s oka. | Tournament style fixes a half-game, three red fives, open tanyao and one-han minimum, with no abortive draws, head bump, no bust, no extension or dealer stop, no nagashi mangan, and placement points +50/+10/−10/−30. | Standard | Yes |
| Minimum hanMinimum hanHan is the unit of hand value; each yaku adds a set number. Dora does not count here, so with no yaku you cannot win however many dora you have. 1 han is the usual rule: any single yaku is enough. 2 or 4 han means you need a bigger hand to win. | The fewest han (not counting dora) a hand needs to win. | 1 | Yes |
| UmaUma5-15 gives +15/+5/−5/−15 pt, in rank order. 10-20 and 10-30 follow the same pattern. Ties use initial dealer order. | Points added or deducted by rank, in addition to the score difference and oka. | 5-15 | Can be changed |
| ChipsChipsCount red fives in the winning hand and melds, ura-dora on a riichi win, and ippatsu. For each yakuman, add 10 from the discarder on ron or 5 from each other player on tsumo. Double and combined yakuman scale with their yakuman count. Ippatsu, red and ura chips also apply to yakuman. Counted yakuman adds no yakuman chips. Chips do not change the raw score. Net chips × the chosen value is added to final pt. | Value per chip (pt). Ippatsu, each ura-dora and red five: 1 chip. Each yakuman adds 10 on ron or 5 from each other player on tsumo. | None | Can be changed |
| Hands shown to spectatorsHands shown to spectatorsSeat the teacher as a spectator to reveal all hands, drawn tiles and waits. Select a player to enlarge their hand, then tap tiles to inspect the waits after each discard. Players still see only their own hand. | Spectators can see everyone’s hand | Off | Can be changed |
Terms
- Riichi
- A declaration made with a concealed, tenpai hand and at least 1,000 points. After it you discard whatever you draw.
- Pon
- Calling another player's discard to complete a set of three matching tiles.
- Kan
- A set of four matching tiles — made privately (concealed kan) or by calling (open or added kan).
- Dora
- A bonus tile worth one extra han each. It is the tile after whichever indicator is shown face up.
- Furiten
- The state of having passed up a winning tile. While it applies, you cannot call ron on your own, even on a different winning tile.
FAQ
What yaku are there?
The common ones — riichi, tanyao, pinfu, toitoi, honitsu, chinitsu and more — plus the rare yakuman hands such as thirteen orphans and big three dragons.
What is fu?
The base points a hand is built from, decided by its sets and wait. This site counts it for you, so you never need to add it up by hand.
What does riichi require?
A fully concealed hand that is tenpai, at least 1,000 points to spare, and at least one more draw left to come to you.
What is furiten?
Having passed up a tile you could have won on. While it applies you cannot call ron on your own, though you can still win by drawing the tile yourself.
What happens on a draw?
If the wall runs out with nobody winning, players who are tenpai collect points (3,000 total) from those who are not. If everyone or nobody is tenpai, no points change hands.
What are return points and oka?
At a 25,000 start the winner receives +20 pt oka; at 30,000 oka is zero. Final points are (score − 30,000) / 1,000 + uma + oka + chips. Tied first place is resolved by initial dealer order. The extension and dealer-stop target remains starting points + 5,000.
Play now with these rules
Last updated 2026-10-29 · Run by Qdan, Inc.