If you have not already listened to the podcast of this category, this is the final results, so this will spoil the course of the discussion on that podcast! Be warned!
You may have gotten the sense from listening to us over the course of 2021, but we have really come to love Riichi Mahjong. One of the biggest hurdles getting into the game is the concept of yaku- that there are special hands you need to make if you want to win. Like, fundamentally you need to arrange your 14 tiles into 4 sets of 3, either 3 of a kind or a straight, and 1 pair. There are exceptions to this, but that’s the most basic idea. And yet, you can do that… and be not allowed to win. Because of yaku. Freakin yaku!
But actually, once you get into it… yaku are sick. Yaku are what make the game fun. And these are our favorite yaku from our 2021 of mahjong.
The Winner
Chiitoitsu
Going for chiitoitsu is like that old joke about being a social drinker- “someone says ‘I’ll have a drink’ and I say ‘and so shall I!'” Only for chiitoitsu, it’s discarding tiles. If you see someone discard a tile, and it’s in your hand but not already in a pair? Gone. Toss it. Dead to you. It’s pure probability, going for the most likely draws regardless of anything else. And that makes it darned simple to go for.
There are lots of upsides to this. The simplicity of the plan. How hard it is for opponents to read what you’re up to. The ways it can easily turn into other yaku if it starts to feel unlikely. There is a downside in that it’s hard to know when to abandon a chiitoitsu, when to switch to something else. But still, it’s a great yaku that’s fun, simple, and rewarding. What else do you want?
The Runners-Up
Sanshoku Doujun
Ever since we’ve recorded this pod, I’ve found myself going for sanshoku doujun more and more. It’s quite simple- have the same straight (let’s say 7 8 9 as an example) in every suit. What I like about it is, sanshoku can make order out of a chaotic hand. To be frank, three of a kinds are better than straights in mahjong. So when you have straights, you can feel like your hand is in bad shape. But with sanshoku, you see a path to it being a strong hand.
Sanshoku doujun also combines nicely with some other yaku, letting you stack up the points. When a hand looks like crap, consider sanshoku. It might just save you.
The Groose is Loose
Just looking at these words I can hear the stupid horns of Groose’s Theme from Skyward Sword. You see, playing anything with Nick is an exercise in absurdity. Nothing can just be as it is. Nick will add new layers of nonsense, fake rules, declaring you’ve lost for doing basic parts of the game. And of course psychological warfare via his soundboard. i love him he’s a wonderful friend
This is how The Groose is Loose was born. Nick got a four of a kind of the 1 of Bamboo, and declared that now, no matter what happened, he had won. And damn it all, I went along with the bit. Because it’s fun to shape a game’s stiff rules to your whims. Because games are here to serve people, not people to serve games. So kinda who cares about The Groose is Loose. The real winner is, making house rules and learning to have your own fun.
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Mahjong is so good. I truly truly love it. Do you want to learn? Hit me up. No seriously, I’m @sixdettmar on Twitter. I want to spread the love of this game. It’s fantastic.
though i reserve the right to decline if it turns out a lot of people do this and i’m swamped, i hope you understand
One category down for the day, one to go! Next we’ve got Backlog Star, featuring all the old games we loved in 2021!
A big thank you to daanboii (@daanboii on Twitter) for our Game of the Year art!
