Board games
How to play Riichi Mahjong
Complete fourteen tiles,
then call "Ron!"
Draw a tile, discard a tile, and build four sets and a pair from your thirteen: Japan's well-loved riichi mahjong. The table works out the yaku and the score for you. Play with four, with three, or a hand against the CPU.
No sign-up, nothing to install. Enter a name and you're at the table. No opponent? Play the CPU right away.
- Count
- 3–4 players
- Play time
- 20–30 min (East only)
- Ages
- 10+
- Equipment
- 136 tiles (108 for three players)
What is Riichi Mahjong?
The game uses number tiles in three suits (characters, circles and bamboo) and the honour tiles East, South, West, North, White, Green and Red. Everyone starts with thirteen tiles; on your turn you draw one from the wall and discard one. Four sets of three (three of a kind, or a run of three in one suit) plus a pair make a winning hand, and you need at least one yaku to win. Winning on your own draw is tsumo; winning on someone's discard is ron. The score comes from yaku and fu, and the table does the counting.
Playing Riichi Mahjong at Kirakuken
- Four or three players, East-only or East-South, starting points, uma, red fives and open tanyao in the table's Details
- Kirakuken's own origami tiles, with four animal faces on the winds
- Win with a yakuman and the winner leaps onto the table
- You can choose how strong the CPU plays
Rules of Riichi Mahjong
These rules always apply at our tables.
- Start
- the dealer has fourteen tiles, everyone else thirteen. From the dealer round, each player draws one tile from the wall and discards one.
- Winning
- four sets of three and one pair (or seven pairs, or Kokushi musou). You need at least one yaku.
- Calling
- with someone's discard you can Pon (three of a kind), Chii (a run of three, only from the player on your left) or Kan (four of a kind). Once you call, the closed-hand yaku are gone.
- Riichi
- when your closed hand is one tile from winning, you can put up 1,000 points and declare riichi. After that you keep your hand and discard each tile you draw.
- Dora
- a tile set by turning over one tile from the wall. Each one in your hand adds one han (it is not a yaku, so dora alone cannot win).
- Furiten
- if you are waiting on a tile you have discarded yourself, you cannot win by Ron (you can still win by Tsumo).
- Draw
- when the wall runs out, the hand is drawn. Players one tile from winning receive points from those who are not. If the dealer was one tile away, the dealer stays.
- End
- an East-only game lasts the four East hands; an East-South game goes on through South. If anyone drops below 0 points, the game ends there.
Mahjong yaku list
To win you need at least one yaku. The han of your yaku are added up and, with fu, decide the score (the table does the sums). Yaku marked “closed only” are lost once you call a tile.
| Category | How to make it | Han |
|---|---|---|
| 1 han | ||
| Riichi | With a closed hand one tile from winning, put up 1,000 points and declare riichi | 1 han (closed only) |
| Ippatsu | Win within one go-round of your riichi, with no calls in between | 1 han (closed only) |
| Menzen tsumo | Win on a tile you draw yourself, with a closed hand | 1 han (closed only) |
| Tanyao | No 1s, 9s or honour tiles at all (open only at tables that allow open Tanyao) | 1 han |
| Pinfu | All four sets are runs, the pair is not a yakuhai tile, and you wait on either end of a run | 1 han (closed only) |
| Iipeikou | Two identical runs (two 1-2-3 Man, for example) | 1 han (closed only) |
| Yakuhai | Three of a kind in white, green or red dragon, the round wind or your seat wind. One han per set | 1 han |
| Rinshan kaihou | Win on the replacement tile drawn after a Kan | 1 han |
| Chankan | Win on the tile someone adds to a Pon to make a Kan | 1 han |
| Haitei raoyue | Win on the last tile of the wall | 1 han |
| Houtei raoyui | Win on the very last discard | 1 han |
| 2 han | ||
| Double riichi | Declare riichi on your very first discard, before anyone calls | 2 han (closed only) |
| Sanshoku doujun | The same run in Man, Pin and Sou | 2 han (1 if open) |
| Ittsu | 1-2-3, 4-5-6 and 7-8-9 in one suit | 2 han (1 if open) |
| Chanta | Every set and the pair include a 1, a 9 or an honour tile | 2 han (1 if open) |
| Chiitoitsu | Seven different pairs | 2 han (closed only) |
| Toitoi | All four sets are three of a kind | 2 han |
| Sanankou | Three sets of three of a kind made without calling | 2 han |
| Sanshoku doukou | Three of a kind in the same number in Man, Pin and Sou | 2 han |
| Sankantsu | Three Kans | 2 han |
| Shousangen | Two of the three dragons as three of a kind, the third as the pair | 2 han |
| Honroutou | Only 1s, 9s and honour tiles | 2 han |
| 3 and 6 han | ||
| Ryanpeikou | Two Iipeikou | 3 han (closed only) |
| Junchan | Every set and the pair include a 1 or a 9 (no honour tiles) | 3 han (2 if open) |
| Honitsu | Number tiles of one suit, plus honour tiles | 3 han (2 if open) |
| Chinitsu | Number tiles of one suit only | 6 han (5 if open) |
| Yakuman | ||
| Kokushi musou | One each of the thirteen 1s, 9s and honours, plus one more of any of them | Yakuman |
| Suuankou | Four sets of three of a kind made without calling | Yakuman |
| Daisangen | All three dragons as three of a kind | Yakuman |
| Shousuushii | Three of the four winds as three of a kind, the fourth as the pair | Yakuman |
| Daisuushii | All four winds as three of a kind | Double yakuman |
| Tsuuiisou | Honour tiles only | Yakuman |
| Ryuuiisou | Only Sou 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 and the green dragon | Yakuman |
| Chinroutou | Only 1s and 9s | Yakuman |
| Suukantsu | Four Kans | Yakuman |
| Chuuren poutou | 1-1-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-9-9 in one suit, plus one more of that suit | Yakuman |
| Tenhou | The dealer wins with the fourteen tiles dealt | Yakuman |
| Chiihou | A non-dealer wins on their first draw | Yakuman |
Kokushi musou on a thirteen-sided wait, Suuankou on a single wait, and Junsei chuuren poutou are also double yakuman.
If your yaku plus dora reach thirteen han or more, it counts as yakuman. Dora are not yaku, so dora alone cannot win.
Nagashi mangan: if the hand is drawn and all your discards are 1s, 9s and honours, none of them called, you score a mangan (can be turned off in the table's “Details”).
Optional rules
You choose these when opening a table.
- Three-player
- 108 tiles, without the 2 to 8 of Man. North tiles are set aside as dora, and there is no Chii.
- In the table's “Details” you can choose East-only or East-South, starting points, uma, what happens when two players call Ron (first in turn order, or both win), red fives, open Tanyao, and ending when someone goes below zero.
FAQ
- How many players can play Riichi Mahjong?
- 3-4 players. If you're short of players, the host can add CPU players, so you can start a table on your own.
- What age is Riichi Mahjong suitable for?
- We suggest 10+. There's no age check, so treat it as a guide.
- Does it cost anything?
- Nothing at all. No account and no app to install: enter a name and you're straight in.
- How long does a game take?
- About 20–30 min (East only).
- Can I play on a smartphone?
- Yes. It runs in the browser, so the same URL opens on iPhone and Android alike.
- How do I invite friends?
- Open a table and press "Invite link" to get its URL. Anyone you send it to comes straight to your table.
Done reading? Take a seat.
Last updated: 2026-11-03