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2.1.2. Basic shapes

To win in Singapore Mahjong, you need to form a hand of 4 (面子) and a (将眼/眼睛). To build these efficiently, we want to identify synergistic tile patterns, known as "shapes", that can help us form our or .

Basic that form sequences

There are three basic that require one more tile to form a sequence. (In Japanese Mahjong, referred to as proto-runs, or 塔子)

Example
(两面/二面)
[3 Characters][4 Characters][2 Characters][5 Characters] (2 kinds, 8 tiles)
(中洞/坎张)
[3 Circles][5 Circles][4 Circles] (1 kind, 4 tiles)
(边独/边张)
[8 Bamboos][9 Bamboos][7 Bamboos] (1 kind, 4 tiles)

Observe that a can accept twice as many tiles as a or an !

vs.

Although they both accept 1 kind of tile, are generally better than . This is because a can evolve into a in 1 turn, while an requires 2 turns to do so.

EXAMPLE

A can turn into a in 1 turn:

[1 Character][3 Characters]
draw [4 Characters]
[3 Characters][4 Characters]

An requires 2 turns to turn into a :

[1 Character][2 Characters]
draw [4 Characters]
[2 Characters][4 Characters]
draw [5 Characters]
[4 Characters][5 Characters]
IDEA
In general, the efficiency of these are:
[3 Characters][4 Characters]two-sided
wait
>
[3 Circles][5 Circles]gutter wait
>
[8 Bamboos][9 Bamboos]edge wait
QUIZ

Which tile should you discard?

(Click to select a tile)

QUIZ

Which tile should you discard?

(Click to select a tile)

Takeaways:

  1. Prefer having in your hand in this order: (e.g., [5 Characters][6 Characters]) > (e.g., [6 Bamboos][8 Bamboos]) > (e.g., [1 Circle][2 Circles]).

References: