Mahjong

What we think

Mahjong started at our own kitchen table: a mid-level starter set of tiles, a standing game night, a kids’ table set up alongside the real one. It turned into a weekly thing before we thought about writing about it.

Playing regularly made it easier to notice how much this has grown around us too: real increases in club searches and lessons nationally, my spouse’s own weekly group that’s become a standing part of her routine. We came to it in that order, the game first, then the community that built up around it, then the national trend data that showed it wasn’t just us.

What lives here follows from that. Buying a first set matters: tile material, what “complete” actually means, when the extras (bags, charms, a card) are worth it. Mahjong here also covers what happens around the table once it’s a regular habit: starting a group, joining one, what a first real session actually looks like.

This is what we actually bought, what we actually learned starting a table of our own, and what’s actually happening around us as more people take it up.