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                          Mahjang Companion FAQ
                      Viewable in Shift-JIS Format
                           For the NES/Famicom
                     Version 1.0 (Created 3/10/2010)
                             By Devin Morgan

     This file is Copyright (c)2010 Devin Morgan. All rights reserved.

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Table of Contents

1. What's New
2. Introduction
3. Controls
4. Overview
5. Credits
6. Copyright Notice

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-=  1. What's New -=
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Version 1.0 (3/10/10): The first version.

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-=  2. Introduction -=
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Mahjang Companion is another Sachen-released game for the Famicom, based on
the ancient game of Mahjong. This variation is based on the Japanese version,
using 13 tiles and a more traditional method of scoring points. It may seem
difficult at first, but it is actually a lot of fun playing this game once
you get the hang of the gameplay. It is worth checking out, if not for the
new experience.

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-=  3. Controls -=
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Control Pad: Move cursor

Start: Pause/resume game

Select: Switch options on title screen

A: Make selection

B: Call Mahjong (when allowed)

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-=  4. Overview -=
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========
Pre-Game
========

On the title screen, you will have a single option to start the game. You
will then go to a screen where you can pick from four different girls. Who
you pick does not necessarily matter, so it is a matter of preference. Once
you select a girl, you are ready to begin the game.


========
Gameplay
========

General Gameplay
----------------

In Japanese Mahjong, you play against the computer. You are each dealt 13
tiles that only you will get to see. Before the game begins, dice are thrown;
the player with the higher number will go first. On your turn, you will be
able to draw a tile (摸), giving you 14 tiles. You will then have to select a
tile to discard since you can only have 13 tiles at the end of each turn.
When you discard, the tile you discarded will be face up on the board, and
your opponent can steal it if it will complete a meld for them right away.
You can do the same with your opponent, but you only get to steal the most
recently discarded tile in that case. You can not steal a tile if you are
forming a pair; steals only work if you form other melds.

If it is your turn and you have another option available to you, you can use
the Control Pad (Left/Down/Right) to make your meld. What exactly you can do
depends on the tile you need and what meld can be formed as a result. Once
you make a meld by stealing your opponent's discarded tile, you will still
have to discard a tile to keep only 13 tiles. If you draw a tile and it can
be added to an existing Pong meld (three of the same tile, and then the drawn
tile is the fourth of the same, making a Kong), you can press Down on the
Control Pad to immediately add it to your meld. You will then draw another
tile from the middle wall before having to discard one.

Be careful; if you do not make a meld if given the option, you will lose the
chance to do so again! Then again, it is sometimes a good idea NOT to form
melds, so play wisely!

The game will end if all tiles have been drawn (each player has discarded 20
tiles), and neither side has made a Mahjong. That said, the big strategy here
is to watch your tiles closely and plan ahead to form the melds you need in
order to win the game. What a meld actually is, and how you would form one,
is detailed in the next section.

If you feel you have a Mahjong, you can call it immediately after drawing or
stealing your last tile by pressing B. The score will then be tallied at that
point, and then a new game will begin. You will not be alerted of possibly
having Mahjong, so you will need to pay attention and call it when ready!


Dead Wall and Bonus Tiles
-------------------------

In this version of Mahjong, there is a section of face-down tiles known as
the dead wall. It consists of two layers, each with six tiles. The third tile
on the top layer is face up, and that is the bonus, or Dora (ドラ) tile. That
tile is not actually the bonus tile, rather the indicator of what the bonus
one is. The Dora tile is actually the NEXT tile in the sequence; for instance
if Bamboo 5 is shown, that means Bamboo 6 is the Dora.


Types of Tiles
--------------

In Taiwan Mahjong, there are a total of 136 tiles. There are three suits:
Bamboos, Characters, and Dots. Each suit has nine tiles, valued from 1 to 9
as you will see by the symbols on each. There are also seven types of Honor
tiles, four of each (28 total), designated by special symbols. In standard
Mahjong games, there are more tiles, but in this variation they do not exist.

A good resource for seeing what the tiles actually look like can be found at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong


Making Melds
------------

The main objective in the game is to form melds from your tiles, ultimately
making a Mahjong to win. Melds are basically set pairings of tiles. If you
draw (or steal) a tile that you need to make a meld, those tiles will be
grouped together and can not be used to form other melds for the rest of the
game. In the event that the drawn/stolen tile can make two different melds,
you will be given the option (watch the cursor and press A to choose which).
There are four kinds of melds, and they are:

Chow: Three sequential tiles of the same suit in a row (1-2-3, 6-7-8, etc.)

Kong: Four of the same tile in the same suit (Character 3-3-3-3, etc.)

Pair: Two of the same tile in the same suit (Bamboo 9-9, 2 Red Honors, etc.)

Pung: Three of the same tile in the same suit (Bamboo 5-5-5, Dot 7-7-7, etc.)

In order to form a Mahjong and win the game, you must form melds with all 13
of your tiles. You can only have ONE Pair, and then any number of Chows,
Kongs, or Pungs with the other tiles. If the game ends and no Mahjong was
formed, the game is a draw. In this variant, if you only needed one more tile
to form a Mahjong, you have what is called Tenpai (テンパイ). If the opponent
does NOT have Tenpai (called No-Ten, ノーテン), then they give the player who
has Tenpai 1500 points as a penalty.

You will notice that sometimes one or more of the tiles in a formed meld will
be displayed face down. If you formed the meld by drawing a tile, it will be
face down (concealed). If you stole the tile from your opponent, it will be
face up (exposed) in the meld. This is just a way of distinguishing which is
which.


Strategy/Tips
-------------

You will want to look at your tiles at the start to determine what pairings
already exist, and what tiles you would need to make other melds. You don't
need to specifically group tiles into melds for them to count; in fact, that
only happens if you form a meld by drawing/stealing a tile, not from having
a natural meld. It is easiest to use the suited tiles, due to their greater
variety and options with them (making Chows or Pungs/Kongs). Generally, it is
a good idea to discard Honor tiles if you don't already have two of the same
one (for your one Pair).

It is beneficial to keep an eye on the discarded tiles by yourself and your
opponent, to see what tiles are remaining (and to determine what melds are
not going to be possible). If you are going for a Chow meld, and you have say
a Bamboo 5, 7 and 8, it would make more sense to discard the Bamboo 5 (that
way you can make a meld with 6 or 9 instead of only 6). That way you are not
limiting your options across the board, either!


Scoring
-------

At the end of a round, if a player has a Mahjong, their score will be tallied
based on the tiles they have in hand. Your score is shown in the bottom-right
area, and the two main components of the score are to the left of that. The
two main components are Han (right) and Fu (符 - left). Essentially, you get
your score by multiplying Fu by the exponential of (Han + 2). In other words:

   Score = Fu * 2^(Han + 2)

You will also see the last tile which led to your Mahjong, also referred to
as tsumo (ツモ). You will also see what the Dora (ドラ) tile(s) was/were.
Just below that, you will see the breakdown of Han points, or yaku, based on
the way your hand was set up when you called Mahjong. For a listing of the
types of yaku you can have, along with their Han values, this page will be
helpful (not all yaku hands are valid in this game though, but the more basic
ones will apply):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Mahjong_yaku

As a final note, if your score is increased, your opponent's is decreased,
and vice versa. Each player starts off with 25000 points, and it can sink
into negative values (for the computer at least; if you hit zero, the game is
over). In between hands, you will be shown your point tally in domino form.
Also, depending on your score at the end of certain games, you may see a
revealing image of the girl you selected at the start of the game.

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-=  5. Credits  -=
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odino: I borrowed some of his strategies in his other Mahjong game FAQs.

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-=  6. Copyright Notice -=
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This file is Copyright (c)2010 Devin Morgan. All rights reserved. Please view
the following URL to see the list of sites that are allowed to post my work:

http://www.freewebs.com/dbmfaqs/allowlist.html

This list is comprised of sites I know and trust well. If your site is not on
the aforementioned list, you are currently not allowed to post any of my
files on your site. Please respect my work and do not steal it or post it
without my permission. I only want my most recent work to be available and I
do not feel that can be achieved if others take from me without my knowledge
or permission.

If you are writing a FAQ for this game as well, and would like to use some
information, credit me for what you use. Please do not rip me off, as that is
blatant plagiarism and such will not be tolerated.

If you wish to contact me, do so at dbmfaqs(at)gmail(dot)com. Please only
contact me if there are corrections to be made to information that's
currently included. Thanks!

http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/recognition/3579.html

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