Lesson 1 of 5
Filipino Mahjong Basics:
Tiles & How to Win
This lesson covers the core objective and the 16-tile set.
If you're new to the game, start with our complete guide to Filipino Mahjong.
The Goal of Filipino Mahjong
To win in Filipino Mahjong, you must be the first to arrange your hand into 5 melds and 1 pair.
1 Pair
5 Melds + 1 Pair
Melds
There are 3 kinds of melds you can form:
Chow
Three-tile straight of the same suit.
Pong
Three-of-a-kind (identical tiles).
Kang
Four-of-a-kind.
Suited Tiles
There are 3 suits with numbers 1 to 9 of each:
Balls
Sticks
Characters
Winning Hands
Let's put it all together, here's what a winning hand look like:
Flower Tiles
In Filipino Mahjong, all the other tiles—Winds, Dragons, Seasons, and Flowers—are all simplified to "Flowers":
These are not used for building melds and if they're in your hand, you always replace them.
Note: While other versions use Winds and Dragons to build sets, Filipino Mahjong treats them as bonus tiles that grant instant payouts and extra turns.
Full Tileset
There are 4 copies of every suited tile: