New to American Mahjong? Go from zero to confident at your first game night - lessons, a practice game, a hand analyzer, and a coach for every rules question.
Sit down at your first American Mahjong game with confidence. You got invited to game night. Or your grandmother wants to teach you. Or you've always been curious about that beautiful tile game you keep hearing about. Whatever brought you here, MAHJ takes you from your first tile to your first "Mahjong!"
This isn't a fragmented YouTube playlist or a wall of text. It's a complete, structured path built specifically for American Mahjong (NMJL® rules) — 18 step-by-step lessons, hands-on drills, and the tools you'll actually use at the table.
THE 18 LESSONS
• All 152 tiles
• How to read the official NMJL® card
• Setup, dealing, and the Charleston tile-trading ritual
• Calling, exposures, and the rules of the joker
• Hand strategy: picking your target, staying flexible, and when to commit
• Defense: reading exposures, the wall, and when to fold
• Scoring, payouts, and the misnamed-discard rule
• Table etiquette and the unwritten rules every player should know
Plus 3 advanced strategy lessons for when you're ready to go deeper.
TOOLS YOU'LL USE AT THE TABLE
• Printable Game Night Cheat Sheet — bring it to your first game
• Scoring Calculator — who pays whom and how much
• Hand Analyzer — which hand should you chase?
• Practice Game with bots — apply what you've learned
• Hands-on Drills — practice tile recognition, calling, defense, and more
• Searchable Glossary — every term, one tap away
• Daily Puzzle — keep your skills sharp between games
WHEN THE TABLE LOOKS DIFFERENT
Someone cancels? Only two of you tonight? The game still goes on. MAHJ covers:
• Three-Handed Mahjong — official NMJL rules and the popular ghost-player house rule
• Siamese Mahjong — two players, two hands each
THE MAHJ DIFFERENCE
Most online Mahjong content is fragmented and inconsistent. MAHJ is one carefully designed, complete path — beginner to confident player — built by people who play the game and care about teaching it well. Every rule has been reviewed against official NMJL® guidance. The cheat sheet, calculator, and glossary aren't just for on-screen reading — they're built for actual game-night use.
Download MAHJ and start with Lesson 1. Your first real game is closer than you think.
MAHJ is an independent educational tool. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the National Mah Jongg League® (NMJL®). To play official American Mahjong, you'll need the current year's NMJL card, available at nationalmahjongleague.org.
Great app for learning mahjong as a beginner! The lessons are clear and walk you through the game step by step without being overwhelming. I like that you can practice as you go which has helped me understand how everything works. Definitely a helpful way to get started!
Developer Response
Thank you so much, this is exactly what I was going for when building MAHJ! Mahjong can feel overwhelming at first, so knowing the step-by-step approach is landing well means a lot. Happy you're enjoying the practice along the way. Good luck at the table!
Beginner loving this!
Angeline Hartmann
Sara, your app is great and I’ve been recommending it to all my friends! For beginners, it’s nice to have quizzes and you lay things out so nicely. Is this only for apple users? My Samsung friends are looking for you!
Developer Response
Angeline, thank you so much - this made my day! So glad the quizzes and layout are clicking for you, and thank you for spreading the word to your friends!Right now MAHJ is iOS only, but the Android version is submitted to Google Play and waiting for approval, so your Samsung friends won't have to wait long!
Learn the basics
Craig's list user
I loved the lessons and shared with the person who taught me the game. She thought the lessons were solid and well explained. I can’t help but wonder if there are programming hiccups in the practice games. I have stumbled into a hiccup when the table wouldn’t let me pick up a tile to make a pong. As I write this, the target hand is 7 pairs. I have pairs in 7B,8B,7C,1D,7D,8C and 2 flowers. It won’t let me call Mahjong.
• Polished advanced lessons (Reading Opponents, Switching Hands, Strategic Mistakes, Three-Handed, Siamese Mahj)
• Search across all FAQ answers
• New Game Variants section — Three-Handed and Two-Player (Siamese) mahjong lessons
• Smoother LISTEN narration throughout
Version 2.5.0
The developer, Sara Muschkin, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
User Content
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
Seller
Sara Muschkin
Size
93 MB
Category
Education
Compatibility
Requires iOS 15.0 or later.
iPhone Requires iOS 15.0 or later.
iPad Requires iPadOS 15.0 or later.
iPod touch Requires iOS 15.0 or later.
Mac Requires macOS 12.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
