i was wondering if there's some freely available (or shareware) games for windows... and i'm not talking about solitaries, but the real thing. also i wonder how playable are the various mahjong games for psx/ps2/saturn etc etc.... for someone that doesn't speak japanese... any suggestion is welcome. karsten
If you have a Sony Clie or a Palm running 5.0 or later, then I would recommend this as it plays Riichi mahjong and has lots of options and plays in English. Does translate San to Three in winning hands but apart from that a good single player game (no multiplayer options though), great way to play and learn Riichi mahjong. http://www.amy.hi-ho.ne.jp/ishihata/maujong/clie/english/ As for console games, most Japanese games will be playable to various degrees it's just that setting options and knowing what you have got to win (or not win as the case may be) can be difficult unless you know what each of the options do. I personally play Mahjong Fight Club on the Playstation 3 as it has the ability to play online against the people you see playing it in the smoke filled arcades on the game of the same name (you even get a special IC card so you can play between the PS3 and the arcade), although you do have pay to play the game online. There is an offline mode too and you can play by mouse too.
Buy one then, there is a Sony PEG-SJ22 on Ebay for $35 at the moment that'll run this game. Click here As for windows, there is this... http://www.4windsmj.com/intro.htm Again will cost about 30 Euros, but has online support and is in Engish and you can play all versions including Riichi (Japanese).
the palm is in the states anyway thanks for the links... and i was wondering, what about psp? any mahjong games on it? really thanks for the help so far. this strange games is starting to catch on me
I would recommend Mahjong Fight Club on the PSP, although I am playing Idol Suchie Pai 3 Remix as it's cute and plays a fun arcade game of Mahjong. Both Japanese but playable if you can read some Japanese (and understand Mahjong).
Vista has a mahjongg game that comes with it. I particularly like the mahjongg game that comes with GNOME though.
Are the rules of Japanese MJ games the same as Chinese Guangdong MJ? According to what I know, I think there are different MJ versions even in China, there is Shanghai, Taiwan and other versions.
There are many different versions, they differ in what hands can be deemed winable, how the hands score, who pays for the hand if you win, what tiles are special, what extra tiles there may be. As well as other rules. Riichi Mahjong is probably the most played by Chinese rules are used in most championship games. Most asian countries have their own rules as does America and some european countries. I prefer Riihci mahjong as it's more fun.
