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                           Taiwan Mahjong FAQ
                      Viewable in Shift-JIS Format
                           For the NES/Famicom
                      Version 1.0 (Created 3/8/2010)
                             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 (3/8/10): The first version.

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-=  2. Introduction -=
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Taiwan Mahjong is a variation of the ancient Mahjong tile game. It is a
matching game of sorts, where the objective is to make certain melds (or
pairings) of the different picture tiles to form a Mahjong. At first glance,
it will seem like a really complex game (I thought so too) but it really is
quite simple and fun once you get the hang of it. I had a lot of fun learning
and playing this variant of the original game, and I think you will too if
you give it a shot!

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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 two options to choose from. They are:

Beginner (初級)
Advanced (高級)

In Beginner mode, there is no time limit for making a selection. After you
draw a tile, you will be prompted that a meld can be made (more on those
below). In Advanced mode, you have 10 seconds to make a selection each turn,
and you are NOT prompted when you can make a meld.


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

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

In Taiwan Mahjong, you play against the computer. You are each dealt 16 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 17 tiles. You will then have to select a tile
to discard since you can only have 16 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 16 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!


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://www.mahjongtime.com/mahjong-taiwanese-rules.html


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 16
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, and no points will be lost/gained.

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!

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

http://www.mahjongtime.com/mahjong-taiwanese-rules.html: For helping to
                                                        understand this game
                                                        a lot beter.

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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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