Rule variations

Miscellaneous – Using five sets

Traditionally a regular winning hand consists of four sets of Chows/Pungs/Kongs and a pair, and accordingly the players are initially dealt 13 tiles (except of East, who receives 14 tiles). In Taiwan and Philippines Mah Jong is often played with one additional set. Accordingly, a winning hand consists of five sets of Chows/Pungs/Kongs and a pair, and each player is given 16 tiles (instead of 13) in the dealt hand (dealer naturally receiving one extra tile to start the game).

In Four Winds 2 the Taiwanese 16-Tile Mah Jong uses this rule, but you can apply it to any other rule by customizing the rules and using the option that enables playing with five sets (instead of the normal 4).

To enable a five-set (16-tile) version of Mah Jong:

Choose Preferences on the File menu.
From the Rule Presets list, choose a customized rule preset.
Choose General under the Rules section of the category tree.
Check the 5 sets box.

Note: Four Winds automatically disables (and zeroes) all patterns that cannot be used with the 16-tile version of Mah Jong (practically all special hands except the most common classical limit hands are disabled).