The game is played with 152 tiles, divided into different categories:

• Suit Tiles: BamOne of the three suit tiles used in American Mah Jongg.The Bam tiles are typically engraved with the bamboo sticks… More, CrakOne of the three suit tiles used in American Mah Jongg.The Crak tiles are typically engraved with the Chinese character… More, and DotOne of the three suit tiles used in American Mah Jongg. The Dot tiles are typically shown with the number of… More
• Wind Tiles: North WindOne of the four wind tiles. The North Wind tile is typically engraved with a “N” and the Chinese character for… More (N), East WindOne of the four wind tiles. The East Wind tile is typically engraved with a “E” and the Chinese character for… More (E), West WindOne of the four wind tiles. The West Wind tile is typically engraved with a “W” and the Chinese character for… More (W), South WindOne of the four wind tiles. The South Wind tile is typically engraved with a “S” and the Chinese character for… More (S)
• Dragon Tiles (D): Red DragonOne of three types of dragon tiles. The Red Dragon tile is typically engraved with a red symbol representing a red… More, Green DragonOne of three types of dragon tiles. The Green Dragon tile is typically engraved with a green symbol representing a green… More, and White DragonOne of three types of dragon tiles. The White Dragon tile is typically engraved with a rectangle outlining the edge of… More (also called “SoapOne of three types of dragon tiles. The White Dragon tile is typically engraved with a rectangle outlining the edge of… More”)
• Flower (F) Tiles: SuitlessAn American Mah Jongg tile that is not directly associated with one of the three suits (Bam, Crak, or Dot). Typically,… More, often numbered (but numbers don’t matter in gameplay)
• Joker Tiles: Wild tiles used in PungA grouping that consists of three identical tiles. Joker tiles are allowed and up to three Joker tiles can be used… More, KongA grouping that consists of four identical tiles. Joker tiles are allowed and up to four Joker tiles can be used… More, QuintA grouping that consists of five identical tiles. Joker tiles are allowed and up to five Joker tiles can be used… More, or SextetA grouping that consists of six identical tiles. Joker tiles are allowed and up to six Joker tiles can be used… More groupingsA collection of tiles that consist of identical tiles in different quantities and/or tiles arranged in an aesthetic manner. A winning… More

Suit Tiles

Each suit — BamOne of the three suit tiles used in American Mah Jongg.The Bam tiles are typically engraved with the bamboo sticks… More, CrakOne of the three suit tiles used in American Mah Jongg.The Crak tiles are typically engraved with the Chinese character… More, and DotOne of the three suit tiles used in American Mah Jongg. The Dot tiles are typically shown with the number of… More — contains tiles numbered 1 through 9.

• There are four of each number, meaning each suit has 36 tiles.
• With three suits, that makes a total of 108 suit tiles in the game.

Wind Tiles

There are four types of Wind tiles:

• North WindOne of the four wind tiles. The North Wind tile is typically engraved with a “N” and the Chinese character for… More (N), East WindOne of the four wind tiles. The East Wind tile is typically engraved with a “E” and the Chinese character for… More (E), West WindOne of the four wind tiles. The West Wind tile is typically engraved with a “W” and the Chinese character for… More (W), South WindOne of the four wind tiles. The South Wind tile is typically engraved with a “S” and the Chinese character for… More (S).
• Each Wind tile appears four times, for a total of 16 Wind tiles.

Dragon Tiles

There are three types of Dragon tiles:

• Red DragonOne of three types of dragon tiles. The Red Dragon tile is typically engraved with a red symbol representing a red… More (associated with CrakOne of the three suit tiles used in American Mah Jongg.The Crak tiles are typically engraved with the Chinese character… More)
• Green DragonOne of three types of dragon tiles. The Green Dragon tile is typically engraved with a green symbol representing a green… More (associated with BamOne of the three suit tiles used in American Mah Jongg.The Bam tiles are typically engraved with the bamboo sticks… More)
• White DragonOne of three types of dragon tiles. The White Dragon tile is typically engraved with a rectangle outlining the edge of… More (SoapOne of three types of dragon tiles. The White Dragon tile is typically engraved with a rectangle outlining the edge of… More) (associated with DotOne of the three suit tiles used in American Mah Jongg. The Dot tiles are typically shown with the number of… More)
  • Has a special role:
    • It can be used as a Zero (0) in some hands.
    • When used as a Zero (0), it is considered suitlessAn American Mah Jongg tile that is not directly associated with one of the three suits (Bam, Crak, or Dot). Typically,… More and cannot be used in a consecutive run.

Each Dragon tile appears four times, for a total of 12 Dragon tiles.

Flower Tiles

There are 8 Flower tiles, and they do not belong to a suit. If numbered, the numbers hold no significance in American Mah Jongg.

Joker Tiles

There are 8 Joker tiles, which act as wild tiles.

• JokersThe Joker tiles are typically engraved with the word “Joker” and a symbol indicating that this tile is special.Joker tiles… More can be used as substitutes for any natural tileAny tile in an American Mah Jongg set other than a Joker tile. An American Mah Jongg set of tiles contains… More in groupingsA collection of tiles that consist of identical tiles in different quantities and/or tiles arranged in an aesthetic manner. A winning… More of three or more identical tiles.
• However, they cannot be used in singles or pairs.

This tile breakdown is the foundation of the game—understanding how they work is key to mastering American Mah Jongg!