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by Pauline Day (Author), Richard T. Weston (Author)
American Mahjong is a wonderful game if you can learn to play it. From a very basic Chinese game, came one of great skill & challenge, that is played across Europe as well as America. Unfortunately, Mahjong's popularity is waning and has become almost elitist. Its potential lost beneath notoriously difficult rules, and an unbalanced scoring system that defies logic. However, beneath the complexities, Mahjong is still a great game. Working alongside Pauline Day (Griggy) - a veteran player of some fifty years' experience, I stripped back the game to re-evaluate every hand. I simplified how they were described and scored. I checked multiple sets of rules and included only those that enhanced the gameplay. My aim was simple: To make American Mahjong accessible to all. To further assist, this edition is in large print (point size 14 and larger).Our first breakthrough was to select 44 of the most classic hands, build, and photograph each of them to form 'Hand Cards'. Immediately, we could see that the majority were scored unfairly. Why should a hand that is easy to collect score more than a difficult one? I developed a scoring formula that awards each hand a score based upon its mathematical difficulty. Printing Hands Cards with both the Mahjong and Fishing scores, made end-of-round scoring faster, easier and fairer. Two-player game scores were then added. Instruction manuals are often confusing at best and online guides, though numerous, include contradictions and overly complex explanations confusing even to veterans. One claimed that players needed to learn two-hundred hands. Griggy's Universal has taken a fresh approach: Hundreds of games were played using the new 'Hand Cards' and changes made where needed. The Cards were then reprinted and tested again to ensure the scoring formula worked. The cards were then sorted by type and difficulty before being spliced into the guide. Indexing and cross-referencing now became an option and Griggy's New Universal Mahjong was near completion. One of the most challenging aspects to Mahjong is choosing what hand to collect at the beginning of each round. Here, Griggy's Universal offers the beginner help: Hands requiring Circles, Bamboo, Characters as well as Wind & Dragon tiles are in sections, and additional guidance suggests individual hands based on what tiles you may have been dealt. Richard T Weston -Co-AuthorWe tried to learn the game from Robertson's 'The game of Mah Jong' - It was not easy. Now, as players of some thirty years, we know how difficult it is to teach the game to new players. More recently, we started playing using a Riichi variant (Mahjong) which improves on Robertson's but still rewards the lucky player more than it does the skilled. We studied your pre-release copy of Griggy's guide and conclude that it does have the potential to get new players engaged. We wish this guide was available when we were learning the game in the '80s. Us old-farts may dislike some of the rule changes but like that many are optional. We particularly like the thought that has gone into the penalties section. You should offer it to set manufacturers to include in the box? You may consider adding scoring for the three-player game? Y & Hong.Lu - WestminsterThank you for sending me Griggy's - what a catchy name Mahjongg is the spelling on my American box I agree with the simplification after some consideration. I am sure that new and veterans alike will appreciate the improved scoring system - we certainly loved it. Rounds are so much quicker now that the scores no longer need to be looked up or doubled multiple times - what a relief The scores do appear to reflect the difficulty of each hand, so this does make the game more skill-based. I liked the little snippets of game history too, as well as the candid playing tips along the way. Sue Griffiths - Llandudno
