Questions from the Table
Short answers to what new players ask most, each with a path into the full guide. Every answer describes how this parlor's referee actually plays it.
Starting a Game
Do I need an account to play?
No. Enter a display name and deal — there is nothing to download and nothing to pay. The name stays in this browser so your record and your seat at a shared table find you again.
How does a game begin?
Choose your opponents' strength, the coaching level, and the pace of the table, then deal. Each player receives thirteen tiles, the dealer (East) takes a fourteenth, and the rest becomes the wall. The Charleston starts at once.
Who am I playing against?
Three house bots. They play on public information only — the discard pool and the exposures, never your rack — and come in four strengths, from Beginner, which leaves room to learn, to Expert. A learning table keeps the bots from ever declaring Mahjong, so the hand runs until you win or the wall runs out.
Can I slow the table down?
Yes. Table pace sets how long the bots think and how long the claim window stays open: eight seconds at Relaxed, five at Normal, three at Fast. At a solo table a discard your rack could actually claim stays open longer — eight seconds at Normal. Choose the pace when you deal.
The Charleston
What is the Charleston?
The exchange of tiles before the first draw. Everyone passes three unwanted tiles at once: right, then across, then left. After that first round the dealer decides whether the table dances a second round — left, across, right — and finally you and the player opposite may trade a courtesy pass.
What is a blind pass?
An option on the very last pass of the second Charleston, to the right. Instead of choosing three of your own tiles you may pass zero, one, or two and make up the difference, unseen, from the tiles about to arrive from your left — useful when every tile in your hand is earning its keep.
How does the courtesy pass work?
Once the Charlestons end, you and the player across each offer up to three tiles. The table trades the smaller of the two offers, so neither of you can be made to give more than you wanted; offering zero skips it entirely.
Can I pass a joker in the Charleston?
No — the referee refuses any pass containing a joker, and you would never want to anyway. Passes must be exactly three tiles, except on the blind pass.
Who decides on the second Charleston?
The dealer, East, after the first three passes. At a shared table where East's seat is played by a bot, the host answers for the table.
Suggested Hands
What is a suggested hand?
The coach's reading of your rack against the card: the lines you are closest to completing, ranked, with the tiles each still needs. It updates after every draw, claim, and pass — and it never sees the wall or anyone else's rack.
What do the coaching levels do?
Off shows just the tiles. Nudges only flags a dead hand, a joker you could swap, or a Mahjong you can declare. Full adds keep-scores on every tile, numbered discard picks, and the suggested hands. When you host a table, your level is the cap for every seat.
Can I choose my own target line?
Yes. Pin any line in the strategy panel and the coach counts toward that line instead, naming the tiles you still need. Unpin it whenever you want the ranked suggestions back.
Should I always follow the suggestion?
Treat it as a strong second opinion. It weighs your rack against the card and the tiles left in play; it cannot know which line the player across is chasing. Read the reasons behind a pick and you will soon be disagreeing with it for the right reasons.
Claiming a Discard
When can I claim a discard?
Only the newest discard, only while the claim window is open, and only to complete a pung, kong, or quint from tiles already in your hand — or to declare Mahjong. Once the next player draws, the tile belongs to the pool for good.
Why can't I claim this tile?
The usual reasons: you don't hold enough matching tiles for the group (jokers in hand count); you threw it yourself; it would only make a pair; it is a flower, which never forms an exposed group; or it is a joker, which is dead the moment it hits the table.
Two players want the same discard — who gets it?
A Mahjong call beats every other call. Between claims for a pung, kong, or quint: at a solo table the seat nearest in turn order after the discarder wins; at a shared table, where every human calls inside the same window, the first call recorded wins. The referee resolves it; there is nothing to argue.
What happens after I claim?
The group is laid face-up on your rack and locked for the rest of the hand, play jumps to you, and you discard one tile without drawing. The turn then continues from your seat.
Can I claim if I'm playing a concealed line?
Not without giving the line up. A concealed line allows no claimed exposures at all: every tile must come from the deal, the Charleston, or the wall. Claim anything and that line is gone.
Joker Swaps
How do I swap a joker?
On your turn, once you have drawn, pick the natural tile in your hand that a joker is standing in for in any exposed group — a rival's or your own — and choose Swap Joker. Your tile takes the joker's place, the joker joins your rack, and you still discard to end the turn.
Can a joker stand in for a pair?
No. Jokers work only inside groups of three or more — pungs, kongs, and quints. Pairs, single tiles, and any line built from singles and pairs must be assembled from the real tiles.
What happens if I discard a joker?
It becomes a dead tile: nobody may claim it and nobody may swap for it. The table won't stop you, but it costs you a wild tile for nothing.
Can a swap finish my hand?
Yes. If the redeemed joker completes your line, the referee ends the hand in your favour on the spot — and because the final tile didn't come from a discard, it counts as self-drawn and every seat pays double.
Declaring Mahjong
How do I declare Mahjong?
Mostly, you don't: the referee checks your rack against the card after every draw and joker swap, and the moment your fourteen tiles match one line exactly the hand ends in your favour. The one call you make yourself is on a discard — when the newest throw completes your hand, call Mahjong inside the claim window.
Can I call Mahjong by mistake?
No. The Mahjong call only lights up when the newest discard really completes your hand — the referee has already matched it line for line — and a winning draw or joker swap ends the hand by itself. There is no false call at this table, so no penalty and no dead hand for one.
What is a dead hand?
One that can no longer match any line — the tiles it needs are all gone, or a locked exposure fits nothing on the card. At Nudges or Full the coach tells you. You keep playing, but the goal shifts to defense: throw safe tiles and don't pay double.
What happens when the wall runs out?
The hand is a wall game: no winner, nothing changes hands, and nothing reaches the honours board. You can deal the next hand of the night straight away.
Scoring & Settlement
How much is a winning hand worth?
The value printed beside its line on the card. Win without a single joker — on a line where jokers were allowed — and that value doubles before anyone pays.
Who pays whom?
All three rivals pay the winner. Whoever threw the winning tile pays double the value and the other two pay it once; if the winner drew the final tile — from the wall or by finishing on a joker swap — every seat pays double. A 25-point line thrown to the winner collects 100; drawn by the winner, 150; drawn and jokerless, 300.
What lands on the honours board?
The winner's total collection — the value after any doubling, summed across the three payers — not the printed number. It is posted the moment the hand ends.
How does a night's ledger work?
Hands dealt in a row at the same table form a night. Each settlement is added to the running ledger, so the standings after four hands show who actually left the table ahead. The ledger page keeps every night played from this browser.
Can I play with my own card?
Yes. Choose “My own card” when you set up a solo table or room. Play runs as usual and the bots follow the house card, but the house never reads your rack: when your hand matches a line on your card you tap Declare and enter its printed value. Solo tables take your word; at a shared table the other players see your rack and confirm or dispute within a short window. Declared hands count in the night’s ledger, marked self-declared, and stay off the honours board and house record. Coaching and suggested hands are off, since they read the house card. Your card itself is never uploaded or stored.
Rooms & Friends
How do I play with friends?
Host a table and share its join code or link — the link also shows as a QR code. Friends take the open seats, any seat still empty gets a bot, and you deal when everyone is in. Phones play from the browser; nothing to install.
What can the host do?
Deal each hand, set the turn and Charleston clocks, list the table publicly so anyone can join, mute a seat in chat, and open or close chat for spectators. If East's seat is played by a bot, the host also decides on the second Charleston.
What if someone drops out mid-hand?
Their seat waits. After about two minutes of silence the table can hand the seat to a bot so the hand continues; the chair stays reserved and the player takes it back the moment they return. If the host is the one missing, hosting passes to the next seated player.
Can friends watch without playing?
Yes. Share the watch link and they see the table live — racks hidden until the hand ends — and can chat if the host allows it. Finished hands can also be replayed move by move.
Are there turn timers?
Only if the host sets them. When a clock runs out the seat's move is made for it, the way a bot would play — a pass in the Charleston, a discard on a turn — so one distracted player never freezes the table.
Offline Play
Can I play without a connection?
Yes. A practice table runs entirely in your browser — same rules, same bots, same coach — and the app keeps working offline once it has loaded. Shared tables and the honours board need a connection.
Can I install it on my phone?
Yes. Add playjong to your home screen from the browser menu and it opens like an app, full-screen, with practice tables available offline.
Can I save a table and finish it later?
Solo and practice tables can be saved to a .playjong.json file from the table menu and loaded again from the lobby, on this device or another. Their move history lets you rewind, too. Shared tables can't be saved or rewound.
Do offline games count on the honours board?
No. The board and the ledger list tables played on the server. Practice results live in this browser's record on the Stats page, and you can carry that record to another device as a file or a QR code.
Common Mistakes
Why did the table refuse my Charleston pass?
Either it wasn't exactly three tiles or it included a joker. Only the blind pass — the last pass of the second Charleston — may be fewer than three.
Why can't I draw a tile?
Three usual reasons: it isn't your turn yet; a claim window is still open on the last discard; or you have already drawn and hold fourteen — the table wants a discard from you.
I claimed a group and now nothing fits — what happened?
The exposed group is locked, so any line that doesn't contain it — and every concealed line — is now out of reach. Before calling, check that the group sits on the line you're chasing.
Why did nothing happen when I tried to swap a joker?
A swap needs three things at once: it's your turn and you have drawn, an exposed group on the table is using a joker, and you hold the real tile that joker stands in for. Discarded jokers can't be swapped for — they're dead.