Haphazardly stapled to the Notice Board is a tall poster depicting some small ceramic tiles and a doodled serpent anthro. Scrawled underneath, a rambling advertisement.
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Hey! Wanna learn a fun, complex Poker-esque game? Then head on over to Umber Point, stroll up Pinnacle Ave, and stop by the Green Dragon Mahjong Parlor! You can get to Umber by way of Station 2’s Grey Line to Theia, then just hop on the Red Trolley and you’ll see it. The city’s entrance is a handy, registerable teleport spot for convenient revisiting.
What is Riichi Mahjong?
It’s a little like Poker, dialed up to eleven. Four players, each vying to be the first to complete a hand of fourteen tiles grouped in threes and a matching pair. There’s tile-stealing, deception, luck, a variety of winning hands with different values, even a boast when you’re one away from winning that scores you more points! I got the basics written up over in the parlor, and a cheat sheet for all the hands you can make.
Sounds daunting?
Well, there’s no better way to grasp it than by sitting down with someone to help you through. I’ve proven I can coach someone to a good base level of play, and am willing to extend that offer to anyone interested! Just mail Synes Zurnst and we can set somethin’ up. I got a real good free website (it’s even on Steam and mobile!) for this, it’s got CPU for friendlies games and a whole bunch of quality of life goodness.
This game rocks, its complexity keeps it lively and interesting way more than any other parlor game I’ve come across, and I wanna share that fun around!
Disclaimer!
There’s no real gambling going on, just for-fun matches. Wagered favours are on a purely, mutually consensual basis.
The parlor’s also handy for shady deals and the like, being part of Umber Point. Though, do respect if folks wanna stop in, and drag things to a spare game room if they’d rather not be party to something heated going on.
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Suggested viewing on the side:
Whichever way you can find it, I highly recommend giving Akagi a peek. If you like Phoenix Wright style masterstrokes and mental breakdowns, this is a fairly short, 26-episode drama revolving around a young teen showing up seasoned criminals as an even harder, colder gambler at Mahjong. It also makes an effort to explain what’s going on in the game, to some extent!
And if you enjoy that, the manga draws out the final few hours’ showdown for something like 380 chapters and ten years of publication, in the most mindboggling dramatic drawing out of minute detail I’ve ever seen. It’s a hoot.