American Mahjong Tiles Explained, With Real Photos
A standard American mahjong set has 152 tiles. Once you know the seven families, every set makes sense, even a themed designer set where the classic pictures are swapped for ornaments, candles or sea creatures. Below, each family is shown on our Red Christmas set, photographed tray by tray.
The 152 tiles at a glance
| Family | What it is | How many |
|---|---|---|
| Craks (characters) | 1 to 9, four of each | 36 |
| Bams (bamboo) | 1 to 9, four of each | 36 |
| Dots (circles) | 1 to 9, four of each | 36 |
| Winds | North, East, West, South, four of each | 16 |
| Dragons | Red, Green and White ("Soap"), four of each | 12 |
| Flowers | All flowers count the same | 8 |
| Jokers | Stand in for tiles in groups of three or more | 8 |
| Total | 152 |
The three suits
Craks traditionally show a Chinese numeral with the character 萬. Bams show bamboo sticks, and the 1 Bam is traditionally a bird. Dots show circles. Each suit runs from 1 to 9, and there are four copies of every tile.
Craks on our Red set: a Christmas icon on every tile, a red number at the top left and a small red Chinese numeral (一 to 九) in a box at the bottom. The four red dragons are labeled CRAK.
Bams on our Red set are candles, numbered 1 to 9. On this set the 1 Bam is a single candle, not a bird. The green dragons are labeled BAM.
Dots on our Red set are ornaments. The white dragons are labeled SOAP.
Dragons: each one belongs to a suit
This is the part beginners mix up most. Each dragon "goes with" one suit, and hands on the card often combine a suit with its own dragon:
- Red dragon goes with Craks
- Green dragon goes with Bams
- White dragon (Soap) goes with Dots. Soap also stands for the number zero, for example in hands that spell out a year.
Winds, flowers and jokers
Winds are marked N, E, W and S. Flowers come in different pictures, but every flower counts as a flower: you never need a particular one. On our Red set the eight flowers are Christmas village scenes with no label, so it helps to sort them out once before your first game. Jokers are the most valuable tiles in the set; they have their own rules, explained in our joker guide.
Why does my set have 160 tiles?
Many sets add a few spare tiles on top of the standard 152. Every Tilory set has 160 tiles. Our Red Christmas and Under the Sea sets include 10 jokers and 6 blank tiles, and the Green set includes 10 jokers plus blank tiles. Standard play uses 152 tiles with 8 jokers, so set the extras aside unless your group has agreed a house rule for them. Blanks are handy as replacements if a tile ever goes missing.
Reading a themed designer set
Themed sets play exactly like classic ones. Look for the number, letter or label on each tile. Our Under the Sea set uses starfish for Dots, seahorses for Bams and craks with Chinese numerals, and it comes with a tile guide card.
Want to practice telling tiles apart? The interactive tile explorer lets you tap each tile for its name and count.
