In the traditional game of Mahjong, players compete to create hands of matching or related tiles. Most games are played with four players, but up to five or six players are also possible. The players draw tiles to draw from a pool of 144 tiles, which are usually split into three categories: suit tiles, honor tiles, and bonus tiles. Players can also use tiles ādiscardedā by other players to create their hands.
Suit tiles are the most common, and are split into three sections. The characters section consists of the Chinese characters for 1-9. The circles section comprises the Chinese characters for 1-9 with circles aside them. Lastly, the bamboos section consists of the Chinese characters for 1-9 with bamboos beside them.
Honor tiles are split into two sections: winds and dragons. Wind tiles have the symbols for east, south, west and north. Dragon tiles have a red dragon, green dragon, and white dragon.
Bonus tiles are divided into two sections: flowers and seasons. Flower tiles show the Chinese characters for plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, and bamboo. Season tiles consist of the characters for spring, summer, autumn, and winter.