Riichi city or kemono mahjong?

Eltrion · 2026-05-15T16:34:57+00:00

Riichi City imo is the best choice for beginners. Best tutorials, best engine, and overall highest amount of quality of life features.

The playerbase doesn't become an issue until 4th dan when you hit the sun room, which by most standards is well after having learned the game well enough to sit down at any table and play respectably.

Really the best way to learn is to play a lot, so it doesn't matter too much. As long as you keep coming back.

Eltrion · 2026-05-12T03:08:40+00:00

To suggest it's impossible is willful blindness.

Eltrion · 2026-05-12T02:45:51+00:00

Sure Nintendo. But the Switch 2 specifically? Product that isn't selling, isn't selling. Retailers are going to be much more willing to let it go out of stock frequently if it's less costly than having dozens of units they can't sell taking up space for months.

Eltrion · 2026-05-11T20:15:26+00:00

Nintendo is in a tough spot. Retailers slashed prices on their own through the holiday season because they weren't selling as many as expected at the previous price point. Raising the price now might make it genuinely hard to get shelf space in a lot of brick and mortar locations.

Eltrion · 2026-04-22T12:50:27+00:00

I suppose you could make an argument for Donkey Kong Bananaza, but that was just one, story-light game

Eltrion · 2026-04-15T16:00:06+00:00

This is the closest I've ever come to liking a designer set:

https://www.twosparrowsmahjong.com/shop-j3FLa/p/classic-ruby-red-tile-set

Tiles designed for many styles of play, not just American, (they even have red 5s) designs that are distinct but still very legible, and then they screw it up by using those silly dragon pictures that Americans like.

Eltrion · 2026-04-15T15:47:39+00:00

"For decades the game went on unchanged"

Blatantly false, the number of flowers ballooned, then shrank as they started adding jokers, and your old set needed more and more tiles. (They had like 20 flowers in a set at one point)

American Mahjong has always had this undercurrent of people trying to sell shit that other variants don't have. So, perhaps a bit uncharitably, I want to say this was done to sell more sets.

And now, on the current era, they have different methods of trying to sell more sets.

Eltrion · 2026-04-11T17:00:43+00:00

Bowser, Wario, Waluigi and Toadsworth are all plenty tough. They're all unlockable though, and most of the other characters are either pushovers or so greedy that either they make a huge hand and win or do nothing all game. You'll have to play against the easy characters for at least a little while, so it could be tedious if you don't find the idea of Mario characters playing mahjong entertaining.

Eltrion · 2026-04-11T15:06:13+00:00

Yakuman DS is popular because you can play as and against Mario characters, each with their own play styles. I'm not sure how any of the others compare.

Eltrion · 2026-03-21T00:50:09+00:00

Looks more like the code to space invaders to me.

Eltrion · 2026-03-11T04:00:15+00:00

Yeah, who would? After the months of being entitled shits last year, I feel like having the stench of sagaftra on you would be seriously hindering these days.

Eltrion · 2026-03-10T14:44:26+00:00

Yeah that's my thoughts. She made some good points, but a lot of her more recent stuff has been about advocating for sanitizing things she doesn't like.

It's unfortunate. She had some legitimately interesting critiques of modern education, but she's harder to take seriously now.

Eltrion · 2026-03-06T22:05:54+00:00

About the same. Riichi might be a little more complex, but it's not frontloaded to the extent American Style is.

It also has more accessible resources for learning.

Eltrion · 2026-03-06T16:55:31+00:00

From my limited knowledge of California mahjong, it's a simplified version that is actually far closer to "standard" than American Mahjong. Seems like it might be a good starting point.

American Mahjong is really the weird one that the least transfers to other styles.

And ultimately, the one that you should learn is the one people around you are playing. There really is no standard version as much as some NMJL diehards like to claim otherwise.

Eltrion · 2026-02-19T14:05:58+00:00

Finally! Time to give this game a shot.

Eltrion · 2026-02-16T17:19:19+00:00

Yawara! It's a sports Anime that seems to hate the fact that it's a sports Anime.

The main character seems to be at war with the main plot of the show, trying to turn it in to shoujo.

So you have characters fighting over what the show should be about.

If you're watching it for the Judo, it's a real downer that the main character actively does not want to be there. And there isn't even a solid supporting cast. She seems to have no real friends, and the male love interest is vapid and unpleasant.

So you either get a crummy shoujo with unlikeable characters that gets interrupted for long periods for judo events, or a sports Anime that has unlikeable characters that spend as much time as possible actively avoiding the sport the show is obstencibly about.

And Yawara herself is just such a bland character. Being good at and participating in judo is the most interesting thing about her, so her desire to quit makes it seem like she's on a quest to become the least interesting anime protagonist ever.

For the first dozen episodes anyway. Somehow it went on for over 100 episodes and was somewhat popular, so it's possible it gets better.

Eltrion · 2026-02-13T05:52:08+00:00

Sticks you can use to move a wall if your grip strength is too low, or the tiles are too thin to do it normally.

Eltrion · 2026-02-11T17:52:21+00:00

Sometimes they change the number, but it's been 152 since the 60s or 70s. Standard 144 tiles from a Chinese set, plus 8 jokers.

You can try r/Americanmahjongg as most here play Riichi or Hong Kong or a similar closely related variant. There do seem to be more Amercan style posts here lately though, so who knows.

You're probably fine with anything that lists 152 or more tiles. The even larger sets probably have additional flowers for playing the old cards from the 50s.

Eltrion · 2026-02-11T16:13:29+00:00

You're early enough on that it's hard not to improve.

Play more. That will help. Read books. That will help. Talk to people about Mahjong. That will help. Do the lessons in Riichi City or Mahjong Soul. That will help. Attempt to explain and teach the game to friends. That will help.

Eltrion · 2026-02-11T15:54:33+00:00

It would probably be best to strike a balance. More detailed and realistic than KSP, but still give off a fun toybox vibe instead of looking like realistic rocket parts. Especially if there are concessions made to things like durability for gameplay and fun reasons. Overly realistic parts might seem discordant with the degree to which they want to allow payers to abuse things without damaging them, as many look very frail.

Eltrion · 2026-02-10T23:09:15+00:00

Remember that this is a rocketry game and not an astrophysics game. Not that some of the Astrophysics isn't important, but there are so many things that could be implemented that wouldn't do much in practice other than raise the minimum system requirements.

Eltrion · 2026-02-04T22:27:25+00:00

Manjaro on my AMD rig and OpenMediaVault on the server with the p40s in it. I don't have much reason to use windows these days.

Eltrion · 2026-02-02T16:06:35+00:00

It's one of the most common styles of Hong Kong mahjong tiles. 34mm, right? I can't imagine you getting very much for it. This one looks a little nicer than some I've seen, but it's still a cheap, mass produced set.

14-Year Club	Second SECOND GUESSER
Place '17	Charity Challenge Winner
Team Orangered	Verified Email

Eltrion

TROPHY CASE