A new set comes out of the box, or a friend brings a holiday set to game night, and somebody asks, "Wait, is that a Bam?" The good news is that an American mahjong set has only eight kinds of tile, and each kind gives you a clue. This guide covers all eight, how many of each you should find, and how corner numbers and suit colors help you sort your rack.
How many tiles are in an American mahjong set?
American mahjong is played with 152 tiles. Most boxed sets hold a few more, often 160 or 166, because makers add blank tiles and sometimes spare jokers. Here is the count to check your set against.
| Tile | How many | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Dots | 36 | Numbers 1 to 9, four of each |
| Bams | 36 | Numbers 1 to 9, four of each |
| Craks | 36 | Numbers 1 to 9, four of each |
| Winds | 16 | North, East, West and South, four of each |
| Dragons | 12 | Red, Green and White (Soap), four of each |
| Flowers | 8 | All eight play as the same tile |
| Jokers | 8 | Wild tiles |
| Total in play | 152 |
In a 160-tile set, the other 8 tiles are extras, and the mix depends on the maker.
The three suits: Dots, Bams and Craks
Suit tiles are the numbered tiles: 108 of the 152.
- Dots show circles. Count the circles and you have the number: a 5 Dot has five circles.
- Bams (short for bamboo) show bamboo sticks. Learn the 1 Bam first. On traditional sets it is a bird, not a single stick, and themed sets often give it a picture of its own.
- Craks (short for characters) are the hard ones. A traditional Crak shows a Chinese numeral above the character for "ten thousand," so there is nothing to count. This is where a corner number helps most.
Winds
There are four winds: North, East, West and South, with four tiles of each. On sets made for American play, a wind tile usually carries its letter: N, E, W or S. Winds have no number and belong to no suit.
Dragons, and why one is called Soap
There are three dragons, with four tiles of each. Each dragon goes with one suit:
- The Red Dragon goes with Craks.
- The Green Dragon goes with Bams.
- The White Dragon goes with Dots.
On many traditional sets, the Red and Green Dragons are a red and a green Chinese character, not a picture of a dragon. The White Dragon is an empty frame, or sometimes a plain tile. Players say it looks like a bar of soap, which is where the nickname comes from.
Soap has a second job: it is the zero. When a hand on the card spells out the year, the 0 is a Soap. Used as a zero, it does not belong to any suit.
Flowers
A set has 8 flower tiles. They may show different flowers, the four seasons or small numbers. In American mahjong none of that matters, because all 8 play as the same tile. When the card asks for a flower, any of them will do.
Jokers: how many, and what they can do
American mahjong uses 8 jokers. A joker is wild, with limits worth learning early:
- A joker can stand in for any tile in a group of three or more matching tiles (a pung, kong, quint or sextet).
- A joker can never be a single tile or part of a pair.
- A joker may not be passed during the Charleston.
Blanks
Blanks are not part of the official rules of American mahjong. They are spares. If a tile goes missing, a blank can stand in for it until a replacement arrives. Some groups also play a house rule with blanks, so agree on that before the first hand.
One caution: on some traditional sets the White Dragon is a plain tile too. Check the tile list for your set, so you know which is which.
How corner numbers and suit colors help
A corner number is the small numeral printed in the corner of a suit tile. It tells you the number without counting circles or sticks, and it lets a new player read a Crak without learning Chinese numerals.
Suit color is the second clue. When every corner number in a suit is printed in one color, the color tells you the suit and the numeral tells you the number. On the Invitanda designs in our Tile Key the rule is the same:
- Blue corner number: Dots
- Green corner number: Bams
- Red corner number: Craks, which also keep the Chinese numeral
Each dragon sits in a frame of the color of its suit and is labeled SOAP, GREEN or RED. Each wind shows its letter. Flowers are labeled FLOWER, jokers are labeled JOKER, and blanks have no print.
A note about the card: the annual card also prints its hands in three colors. Those colors do not stand for particular suits. They only show how many different suits a hand uses, so green on the card does not mean Bams.
Reading a themed set: two examples
Themed sets trade circles and sticks for pictures, so the corner number and the label do the work.
In our Halloween set, ghosts are Dots, zombie hands are Bams and pumpkins are Craks. The 1 Bam is a potion bottle. Soap is a witch hat on spell books in a blue frame, and the joker is a haunted house.
In our Classic Christmas set, hanging ornaments are Dots, green stockings are Bams and red gift boxes are Craks. The 1 Bam is a robin in a Santa hat. Each wind is a large letter inside a pine wreath.
Every Invitanda set has 160 tiles: 36 Dots, 36 Bams, 36 Craks, 16 winds, 12 dragons and 8 flowers, plus jokers and blanks. The jokers and blanks depend on the design:
- Classic Christmas and Cocktail Party: 8 jokers and 8 blanks. The Classic Christmas jokers come in four designs, two of each.
- Most other designs: 10 jokers and 6 blanks. American play uses 8 jokers, so 2 are spares.
Melamine tiles come in three sizes, from 24 mm Mini to 36 mm Large; the Classic is 1.18 x 0.87 x 0.55 in (30 x 22 x 14 mm). Racks are not included. If your group plays with blanks, choose a colored back rather than Ivory White, so a face-up blank is not mistaken for a face-down tile.
Missing or chipped tile? Email us a photo within 3 days of delivery and we send a matching replacement free. Until it arrives, play a blank in its place.
You can see every tile in 8 designs, named, in The Tile Key. Print it, or keep it open by the table for your first few games.
Three questions to ask of any tile
- Is there a number? It is a suit tile, with one exception: some traditional flower tiles carry a small number too. On a suit tile, the picture or the color tells you Dots, Bams or Craks.
- Is there a single letter: N, E, W or S? It is a wind.
- Neither? It is a dragon, a flower, a joker or a blank. Read the label, or check the tile key for your set.
What a tile set does not include: the card
American mahjong is played from the annual card, which lists the winning hands and changes every year. The card is sold separately by its publisher. It does not come with our sets.
Hosting soon? Our free printables include a score sheet, 4 place cards and 2 table signs. You can download it after you sign up by email. Ready to choose a set? Browse all Invitanda sets.