Mahjong V Guide - Version 1.00 - 9 January 2015 - by Barticle at hotmail.com ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ __ __ | || || || | | || | | || || || || || || | \ \ / / | 1 || 5 || 0 || 0 | | D || S | | S || P || I || R || I || T || S | \ \/ / |___||___||___||___| |___||___| |___||___||___||___||___||___||___| \__/ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ /________/|/________/|/________/|/________/|/________/|/________/|/________/| | _ _ || ___ || _ _ || _____ || ___ || _ _ || _____ || | | \ / | || / _ \ || | | | | || (_ _) || / _ \ || | \ | | || | ___) || | | V | || | |_| | || | |_| | || | | || | | | | || | \| | || | | || | | | || | _ | || | _ | || | | || | | | | || | | || | | _ || | | |V| | || | | | | || | | | | || _| | || | |_| | || | |\ | || | |_| | || | |_| |_| || |_| |_| || |_| |_| || (___/ || \___/ || |_| \_| || |_____| || |_________||_________||_________||_________||_________||_________||_________|/ 01 INTRODUCTION 06 CHALLENGE 11 RULE OPTIONS 02 FEATURE LIST 07 LEAGUE MATCH 11a Three/Four-Player Mode 03 MAIN MENU 08 WAITS QUIZ 11b Two-Player Mode 04 GAMEPLAY 09 RULES EXPLANATION 12 CONTACT 05 FREE PLAY 10 DOWNLOAD PLAY 13 THANKS .------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------. | Section 01 | INTRODUCTION s01 | '------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------' This is a guide to the 2009 Japanese Nintendo game "1500 DS Spirits Mahjong V" published by Tasuke. It follows two other mahjong titles in the 1500 DS Spirits budget range - Vol. 1 Mahjong and Vol. 9 Two-Player Mahjong. My guides for both of those games are also available on this site. The box cover art is very similar to that for "1500 DS Spirits Shogi V" (a game of Japanese chess) so make sure you get the right one! The cover of the mahjong game features a green mahjong tile with five red dots. As usual I've used both Japanese and English mahjong terminology throughout this guide, generally with the Japanese term first and the common English equivalent afterwards in brackets. Following ninety years of tradition in English-language mahjong texts I refer to the three types of set as Chow (a "run" or sequence of three consecutive tiles in the same suit), Pung (a "triplet" of three identical tiles) and Kong (a "quad" of four identical tiles). To limit the length of this document I've decided to omit full details of the rules and equipment of mahjong on the assumption that anyone buying this game will probably already be familiar with them. If you are new to the game, or you play a version other than the modern Japanese "Riichi" rules that appear in this game, then you might like to read my complete guide to the terminology and rules of Japanese mahjong. It's available as a 78-page, illustrated, hyperlinked PDF and can be accessed from the United States Pro Mahjong League download page. http://www.uspml.com/site/downloads.htm (Barticle's Japanese Mahjong Guide) As with any Japanese mahjong game, you'll need to be able to read the Japanese kanji characters for the numbers 1 to 9 and the four winds (compass directions) plus the katakana words Chii, Pon, Kan, Riichi, Tsumo and Ron. If you want to discuss Japanese mahjong then join the international community of enthusiasts on Reach Mahjong's English forums. Hope to see you there. :) http://www.reachmahjong.com/en/forum To jump to any section of this document use your browser's Find function (with Ctrl+F on a PC or Cmd+F on a Mac probably) and search for the letter S followed by the two-digit section number, for example "s04" to find Section 04. This guide is designed to be viewed using a monospaced (non-proportional or fixed-width) font, preferably Courier New. Some sections of the document will display incorrectly if you are using a proportional font like Times New Roman. .------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------. | Section 02 | FEATURE LIST s02 | '------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------' Since it can be difficult to find any detailed information in English about the content of a foreign game I like to include a quick description of the gameplay features when I write a guide for a Japanese game - so here it is! o Free Play and League Match modes o Challenge mode with thirty separate missions (see Section 06) o Waits Quiz mode(see Section 08) o local Download Play for two to four players but no online play o modern Japanese mahjong rules including Riichi, Dora and tiered limits o eighteen rule options including some very uncommon Yaku (see Section 11) o two/three/four-player options o optional Yakuman mode (see Section 11) o no Dora, Tenpai, Tsumo or Furiten alerts o no wait or Tsumogiri indicators o no statistical log, rankings or volume options o budget price o Japanese language only Although it's lacking the Scoring Quiz mode from 1500 DS Spirits Vol. 1 and the Story (survival) mode and cheat menu from Vol. 9, this title has more features overall than the previous two 1500 DS Spirits mahjong games. .------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------. | Section 03 | MAIN MENU s03 | '------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------' Load up the cartridge and you'll get some funny-looking cartoon characters who expect you to pick one of two options. The one on the left is for Single Play (i.e. the single-player modes) while that on the right is for Download Play (see Section 10). As you might expect, you can make your selection by either tapping on the screen or by picking an option with the d-pad and pressing A to confirm. 1) Single Play 2) Download Play (You can also tap the yellow bar below or press X to toggle between Normal mode (yellow text) and Silhouette mode (blue text). In Silhouette mode all the game characters will be depicted as solid blocks of colour - blue for boys and pink for girls. This seems an odd option to include; I can only assume it's something to do with religions that forbid the depiction of graven images...?) I'll be focusing on the single-player game in this guide so select the weird chick thing on the left* and you'll get the Mode Select menu with three options presented to you on the touchscreen as follows: 1) Free Play (see Section 05) 2) Challenge (see Section 06) 3) League Match (see Section 07) 4) Waits Quiz (see Section 08) 5) Rules Explanation (see Section 09) (On this screen and pretty much every menu screen throughout the game you can press B to skip back to the previous one.) That's all there is to it... there are no config options or player stats but the game will at least save your rule settings for Free Play mode, your progress in Challenge and League Match modes and your high score in Waits Quiz mode. *The chick-type creature is named Tasuke - the name of the company that made the 1500 DS Spirits range. .------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------. | Section 04 | GAMEPLAY s04 | '------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------' This section describes the screen layouts and controls in all playable modes. In Free Play mode and Challenge mode you can play two-player, three-player and four-player matches. You'll notice that the game looks quite different during a two-player match - this is because the assets for 2P were copied from 1500 DS Spirits Vol. 9 Two-Player Mahjong while the graphics for 4P and 3P were copied from 1500 DS Spirits Vol. 1 Mahjong. The game plays a little differently with only two or three players and there are also minor differences in the rule options available in 2P (see Section 11b). Two-Player Mode ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Since there are only two seat-winds in two-player mode it takes only two hands for a full rotation and consequently a round consists of only two hands instead of the usual four, although extra hands (Renchan) can still be added. Since there are only two players there is no need to differentiate between a Ron or Tsumo win when reckoning payments - the opponent always pays. Obviously there is no Double Ron and certainly no Triple Ron! If a hand ends in an exhaustive draw (when the supply of tiles is exhausted) the No-ten Bappu payments are still made but the total is 1,000 pts instead of the usual 3,000 pts. If only one of the players has a Tenpai (ready) hand in a draw then they receive 1,000 pts from the other. Your opponent will be displayed in the top half of the top screen. At the bottom of the top screen are the names, seat-winds and scores of both players - you are always on the left and, because this is two-player mahjong, the seat-winds will only ever be east and south. Press the button or tap the screen to roll the dice and the game will determine the initial seat-winds for the first hand of play. This procedure is simplified by the two-player format - if the sum of the dice roll is odd you start the game as east and if it's even you start as south. The three blue boxes at the top of the touchscreen show respectively the hand count (e.g. East 1 or South 2), the number of Honba counters and Riichi stakes on the table and the number of tiles available to be drawn in the current hand. Remember there are only two players so you will get around half of those tiles. (The number of tiles available can be set in the rule options - see Section 11.) In the top-right corner of the touchscreen are the five stacks of tiles from the Wanpai (dead wall) that serve as indicators for the Dora bonus tiles. Initially only the standard Dora indicator is shown but indicators for any Kan Dora (see Section 11 again) can also be displayed here. Your hand of tiles is shown at the bottom of the touchscreen (with a gloved hand functioning as a cursor to highlight your currently selected tile) and your discarded tiles will be displayed on the empty table area on the touchscreen. Similarly your opponent's hand is on the top screen (but you can only see open sets) and their discards are shown below them. Three/Four-Player Modes ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Four-player mode is the standard form of Japanese mahjong and is played here without any notable rule variations. In three-player mode there are three seat-winds (east, south and west) and each round consists of three hands (plus any continuances). The north wind is counted as a value tile so it can be used to make a scoring Yakuhai set. The No-ten Bappu payments sum to 2,000 pts so if there are two Tenpai players they receive 1,000 pts each from the third and if there is one Tenpai player they get 2,000. The square in the middle of the top screen shows the current seat-winds for all players and your two or three opponents will lay their discards around it. You should note that these are laid in rows of seven, not the traditional six. On the touchscreen the box at the top-left shows the hand count. The three boxes below show the number of tiles remaining, your score and the Honba count and the number of Riichi stakes on the table. After the starting hands have been taken there will be 49 tiles available in 3P mahjong instead of the usual 69. The bar at the top of the screen just confirms which player is taking their turn and the box in the top right shows all visible tiles (Dora indicators) in the dead wall. Your hand is shown at the bottom of the screen, with the gloved hand cursor of 2P mode replaced by an inverted red cone. Controls ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ You can select a tile with d-pad left/right then pressing A to discard it or with the touchscreen, tapping a tile once to select it and again to discard it. You can also use the A button to accept menu commands. You can press the X button (or tap the corresponding prompt at the bottom of the touchscreen) to open the pop-up command menu. This menu will display automatically when you can perform any of the following actions on an opponent's most recently discarded tile: - Chii (take tile to make a Chow set) - Pon (take tile to make a Pung set) - Kan (take tile to make a Kong set) - Ron (take tile to declare a win) However you need to open it manually for the following actions: - Kan (declare a Kong set using your own tile/s) - Riichi (make a ready bet) - Tsumo (declare a win using your most recently drawn tile) When declaring Riichi you will need to select which tile to discard unless there is only one possibility in which case the game will automatically discard it. After reaching, any non-winning tiles are also discarded automatically although of course the game will stop to give you the opportunity to claim a Tsumo win or declare a concealed Kong using a drawn tile. The pop-up menu commands will always be given in katakana script as follows. The top option will always be Cancel. ----- __|__ _____ CHII | - call Chow / __|__o \ | / PON / | \ / - call Pung .' / _|___ \ | | / KAN | | / - call Kong / | / - declare a Kong using a self-drawn tile | | ----- | | ____ __|__ RIICHI / | - declare Riichi / / .-----. \ | | / RON | | / - declare Ron win |_____| / \\ / ------- / | TSUMO / --+-- - declare Tsumo win / |__ \/ \ | | | /\/ _|__ / --+--. | | KYANSERU /\ | _) / | | | / - literally "cancel" \ | / '-- \| |/ / | ---- " ----. | | ----- /| __|__ / \/ | | ____ __|__ INAZUMA RIICHI | | /\ \ / | - declare "lightning" Riichi | / / \ / / You press the B button to exit or reject the command menu and in 3P and 4P mode you can press Y to toggle a display showing your opponents' scores. You can also press the Start button to pause the game. This will show the button functions on the top screen and the following options on the touchscreen: .------------------------.------------------------.------------------------. | Free Play mode | Challenge mode | League Match mode | :------------------------+------------------------+------------------------: | 1) Help | 1) Help | 1) Help | | | | | | 2) Return to Game | 2) Return to Game | 2) Return to Game | | | | | | 3) Rules Selection | 3) Title Screen | 3) Title Screen | | | | | | 4) Character Selection | 4) Mission Selection | | | | | | | 5) Title Screen | | | '------------------------'------------------------'------------------------' The Help option displays the in-game rules info (see Section 09). The third, fourth and fifth options on each menu will end the current match. If you exit a game during League Match mode you receive no penalty. When a player declares a win the game will switch to the score screens. The changes to the players' scores are shown on the top screen. The touchscreen then displays (from top to bottom) the hand with the winning tile on the right, all active Dora bonus tile/s (the actual Dora now, not the indicators) and the Yaku (scoring elements) that were present. Below that on the left will be either the Fu (minipoints) and Han (doubles) or the limit applied (e.g. Mangan, Haneman, etc) and on the right the flat value of the hand (not including any additions for Riichi sticks or Honba). .------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------. | Section 05 | FREE PLAY s05 | '------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------' The first option (blue) on the main menu takes you to the Free Play mode where you can play a match with custom rules against computer-controlled characters. There are three stages before play commences: o Firstly you pick a two, three or four-player match o Secondly you select the characters (the first one is your character) There are eighteen characters in total. When selecting your opponent/s the game will show their skill levels on the top screen. Initially sixteen characters can be selected. The other two (both Level 10) can be unlocked by completing all three leagues in League Match mode. o Thirdly you can set the rules for the match (see Section 11) Use the d-pad up/down to select a rule and right/left to modify it, use the shoulder buttons R/L to cycle through the four pages and A to confirm your selection. If you're happy to play with the current settings just press A. At the end of a match you're shown the following five blue buttons: 1) Play again with same settings 2) Rule Selection 3) Character Selection 4) Mode Selection 5) Title Screen .------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------. | Section 06 | CHALLENGE s06 | '------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------' The second option (red) on the main menu takes you to the Challenge mode (a.k.a. "The Mahjang II Mission" which makes it the sequel to The Mahjang Mission which was the name of the Challenge mode in 1500 DS Spirits Vol. 1 Mahjong). The menu here has the following five options (initially Pro Class is locked). (Level 1) Inexperienced Class (Level 2) Intermediate Class (Level 3) Advanced Class (Level 4) Expert Class (Level 5) Pro Class Each of the five classes consists of six separate mahjong challenges which each require you to win one match with a fixed rule-set against one, two or three opponents and usually with one additional requirement or condition. Every mission is outlined below using a basic numbering scheme, for example 3.2 is the second mission in the Advanced Class (Level 3). Rectangular red stamps indicate missions and classes that you've cleared. You are always represented as a mysterious veiled figure holding a fan! After each mission you get three blue buttons as follows: 1) Mission Selection 2) Mode Selection 3) Return to Title Screen Several of the Free Play rule options (see Section 11) are initially unavailable but they can be unlocked by completing missions in Challenge mode. This is how they unlocked for me (completing the missions in numerical order). YMMV. mission 1.2 clear - unlocked red fives for two-player mission 1.3 clear - unlocked red fives for three-player mission 1.5 clear - unlocked red fives for four-player mission 1.6 clear - unlocked tile count for two-player mission 2.2 clear - unlocked mat colour for three-player mission 2.3 clear - unlocked mat colour for four-player mission 2.5 clear - unlocked Chii for two-player mission 2.6 clear - unlocked Inazuma Riichi for three-player mission 3.2 clear - unlocked Inazuma Riichi for four-player mission 3.3 clear - unlocked Yakuman Mode for two-player mission 3.5 clear - unlocked Yakuman Mode for three-player mission 3.6 clear - unlocked Yakuman Mode for four-player Expert Class clear - unlocked Pro Class for Challenge mode .------------------------------------------------------------------------------. | (Level 1) Inexperienced Class Challenge mode | '------------------------------------------------------------------------------' o Mission 1.1 Objective: Win a two-round two-player match o Mission 1.2 Objective: Win a one-round three-player match o Mission 1.3 Objective: Win a one-round four-player match o Mission 1.4 Objective: Win a two-round two-player match starting from 20,000 pts You opponent starts with 40,000 pts and you start with 20,000 pts. The two-player format makes this challenge easier - you only need to earn just over 10,000 points because every point you win will be deducted from your one opponent's total. o Mission 1.5 Objective: Win a two-round three-player match using Ron wins only Your attempt will end if you claim a Tsumo win (on a self-drawn tile) so you will need to earn your points from Ron wins (and No-ten Bappu in draws). If your hand is Tenpai (ready) and you draw a winning tile and then discard it you will be Furiten and unable to win by Ron so you should either rearrange your hand to give a different wait or just stay Tenpai for a draw. If you draw a potential winning tile after declaring Riichi you will be unable to win since you cannot take the Tsumo win, you're forced to discard the tile making you Furiten and then you cannot win by Ron but because you reached you cannot change your wait either. o Mission 1.6 Objective: Win a one-round four-player match with at least 35,000 pts All four players start with 25,000 pts so you need to earn 10k points during the round and finish top. .------------------------------------------------------------------------------. | (Level 2) Intermediate Class Challenge mode | '------------------------------------------------------------------------------' o Mission 2.1 Objective: Win a two-round two-player match using Ron wins only This time you have only one opponent to takes wins off so you have a higher chance of drawing winning tiles yourself which you cannot use. o Mission 2.2 Objective: Win a two-round three-player match using Tsumo wins only This is the opposite situation - you should reject any Ron offers and focus on getting Tsumo wins from self-drawn tiles. Building a hand with a two or three sided wait will greatly improve your chances of getting Tsumo wins. Remember the game doesn't give you prompts for Tsumo (unless you've reached) so watch carefully to see when you are Tenpai (ready) and when you draw a winning tile. Rejecting a Ron win will make you temporarily Furiten but since that only serves to block other Ron wins it's not an issue. If you can keep your hand closed then you will always get the additional Yaku Menzen Tsumo (Concealed Self-Draw) worth one extra Han (double). You can also earn points by having a Tenpai hand in a draw. In the 3P rules you'll get 2,000 pts No-ten Bappu if both your opponents are No-ten (unready). (On my first attempt I got a sweet closed flush as dealer on my first hand which gave me a great head-start but then "Mr. MA" came back with a Dora seven closed flush for a Yakuman! :o Unfortunately this busted the other player.) o Mission 2.3 Objective: Win a one-round four-player match starting from 13,000 pts Your three opponents each begin with 29,000 pts and you start with 13,000 pts (the starting scores sum to 100k pts). o Mission 2.4 Objective: Win a two-round two-player match without ever using Tsumo (?) With the two-player format you'll probably miss several wins so it's important to get a Tenpai (ready) hand to either avoid losing points or to take 1,000 pts off your opponent. Over a series of several draws the Honba count will increase and the first player to declare a win will get a nice little bonus. However if you're already leading as east in the first round you might prefer to go No-ten (unready) in a draw to finish the match sooner. o Mission 2.5 Objective: Win a one-round three-player match winning only on open hands Every winning hand must contain at least one open set made by calling Chii, Pon or Kan on an opponent's discarded tile. If you declare a win with a closed hand the mission will abort! Kuitan is Ari so you can use Tanyao (All Simples) in an open hand and using this or Yakuhai (Pung of dragons, round-wind or seat-wind) is the easiest way to give you a guaranteed Yaku (scoring element). With suitable tiles you can also attempt San Shoku (Mixed Triple Chow), Honitsu (Half-Flush) or Toi-Toi (All Pungs). The Dora bonus tile can be used to add value. You will not be able to use Riichi, Pinfu, Menzen Tsumo (Concealed Self-Draw), Iipeikou (Pure Double Chow) and Chii Toitsu (Seven Pairs) as these all require a closed hand. o Mission 2.6 Objective: Win a one-round four-player match without using Riichi You cannot use Riichi to add a Yaku (scoring element) to a hand that has none and you won't have the benefit of potential Ippatsu ("one-shot") and Ura Dora. .------------------------------------------------------------------------------. | (Level 3) Advanced Class Challenge mode | '------------------------------------------------------------------------------' o Mission 3.1 Objective: Win a two-round two-player match by at least 10,000 pts In addition to winning the match you'll also need to ensure that you take at least 5,000 pts from your opponent. I beat this one with a fortuitous Haitei (Last-Tile Tsumo) win on a hand with Honitsu (Half-Flush), Yakuhai, Dora Dora. o Mission 3.2 Objective: Win a one-round three-player match without using Riichi o Mission 3.3 Objective: Win a two-round four-player match with one opponent below 10k pts You'll need to play the match until the end unless you manage to bust someone. o Mission 3.4 Objective: Win a two-round two-player match without using Riichi o Mission 3.5 Objective: Win a one-round three-player match starting from 13,000 pts Your two opponents both begin with 43,500 pts and you start with 13,000 pts (the starting scores sum to 100k pts). In three-player mode a one-round match can last for as few as three hands so you'll probably need to get a few continuances during your one dealership. You should try to make several big hands by any means necessary. o Mission 3.6 Objective: Win a two-round four-player match and bust one opponent If you're in 1st place after winning the final hand as east the game will apply the Agari Yame rule and ask if you wish to end the match. Press B to continue the game and try to extend your dealership until someone is busted. .------------------------------------------------------------------------------. | (Level 4) Expert Class Challenge mode | '------------------------------------------------------------------------------' o Mission 4.1 Objective: Win a two-round two-player match using Tsumo wins only o Mission 4.2 Objective: Win a two-round three-player match by at least 10,000 pts o Mission 4.3 Objective: Win a one-round four-player match winning only on open hands o Mission 4.4 Objective: Win a two-round two-player match with at least 50,000 pts Both players start with 30,000 pts so you need to earn 20k. o Mission 4.5 Objective: Win a two-round three-player match with one opponent below 10k pts o Mission 4.6 Objective: Win a two-round four-player match with your Toimen in 4th place Your Toimen is the player seated directly opposite you (Mr. MA). If you can target him with some direct hit (Ron) wins that will help, also when you get a Tsumo win as west he will have to pay more than the other players. Sometimes the other two players will snatch a few early wins which can help grind down your Toimen but usually you'll lose points too so you'll need to win some decent hands yourself in order to secure 1st place. If you can get a couple of big wins near the start this will put you into a secure position where you can try to focus more on your target. If you can build valid hands without relying on Riichi this will let you pass wins off the other two players without making yourself permanently Furiten and keeping the potential to score direct hits on your Toimen. .------------------------------------------------------------------------------. | (Level 5) Pro Class Challenge mode | '------------------------------------------------------------------------------' o Mission 5.1 Objective: Win a two-round two-player match and bust your opponent o Mission 5.2 Objective: Win a two-round three-player match with at least 60,000 pts o Mission 5.3 Objective: Win a two-round four-player match where your Toimen wins no hands The player seated opposite you this time is Dan Michael. You can fold whenever he reaches to avoid dealing into his hand but there's not much you can do to prevent him getting either Ron wins off the other two players or Tsumo wins except for pushing for quick cheap wins yourself. o Mission 5.4 Objective: Win a two-round two-player match after starting 60,000 pts down You opponent starts with 60,000 pts and you start with 0 pts. Due to Dobon (the bankruptcy rule), if you lose any points at the start - even just 1,000 pts from No-ten Bappu - you'll be busted and the match will end. o Mission 5.5 Objective: Win a two-round three-player match after starting with 0 pts You opponents start with 50,000 pts each and you start with 0 pts. o Mission 5.6 Objective: Win a two-round four-player match after starting with 0 pts Two opponents start with 44,000 pts each, the other starts with 12,000 pts and you start with 0 pts. Puri-Chan (the funny pink character) will be seated opposite you and she's the one who has only 12,000 pts. This adds to the complexity of this challenge as the Dobon (bankruptcy) rule is applied so the match will end instantly if one player drops below zero points. You'll need to take enough points off your other two opponents to give you the win without busting Puri-Chan. Direct hits (Ron wins) should be used where possible to bleed points off JACK and Kenji. .------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------. | Section 07 | LEAGUE MATCH s07 | '------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------' The third option (green) on the main menu takes you to the League Match mode where six players (A to F) compete over six stages (1 to 6). In each stage four of the six competitors play a two-round match and the other two get a bye (each person will participate in four stages in total). After successfully completing one league you'll be promoted up to the next one. When you first start the mode you're required to select one character which you will use throughout. You will always be designated as player A in each league. The league menu shows the six stages and the match and total scores for each player (with negative scores displayed in red); you can also press Y to toggle to a view that shows the six players ranked in order of their current scores - your position is indicated with pale orange highlighting. Press A to play the next match in the series, press X to reset your progress (A to confirm) or press B to return to the main menu. Unless you reset your data you can always come back to the current stage at a later date. The league score that each player receives after a match is approximately equal to their points profit/loss from the match (in thousands) based on the starting scores of 25,000 pts, so for example if you scored 33,000 pts you would receive +8 league points but if you scored only 18,000 pts you would get -7 points. The league rankings are determined by each player's cumulative league points. After completing a league you get two options on blue buttons: 1) Advance to next league 2) Save and return to title screen You start in the Amateur League and can progress up to the Semi-Pro League and finally the Pro League. Winning Pro League unlocks the characters Puri-Chan and QUEEN who can then be selected in Free Play, League Match and Waits Quiz modes. .------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------. | Section 08 | WAITS QUIZ s08 | '------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------' The fourth option (orange) on the main menu takes you to the Waits Quiz mode where you must identify winning tiles against a time-limit. First you're required to select a character from the usual roster. The quiz consists of twenty stages. In each one you're shown a Tenpai (ready) hand on the top screen and you have to determine which tiles would complete it. All questions are multiple choice - four possible answers (tiles) are shown on the touchscreen and you can pick one using the face buttons (or by tapping twice on the touchscreen). Press the A button to proceed to the next question. The coloured bar at the top of the touchscreen is a countdown timer which gives you about ten seconds to answer each question. Correct answers will be rewarded with up to 600 points, with slower responses earning fewer points. At the end of the test the game tells you how many questions you answered correctly, your personal best total score and your score from your last run. .------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------. | Section 09 | RULES EXPLANATION s09 | '------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------' The final option (yellow) on the main menu takes you to the Rules Explanation. This is a tutorial on the scoring rules and Yaku (scoring elements) of Japanese mahjong. It's not playable - it's just pages of text with illustrations and tables of figures. Use the L and R buttons to skip between sections of the guide and d-pad up/down to page through each section. These pages can also be accessed by picking the top option (Help) off the pause menu during mahjong play. The game will calculate scores for you (and the Scoring Quiz from Volume 1 is absent this time) so you don't need to learn about scoring. However if you want to understand scoring rules check out my mahjong PDF guide (see Section 01). .------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------. | Section 10 | DOWNLOAD PLAY s10 | '------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------' Mahjong V lets you play with two, three or four friends locally using just the one cartridge (plus one DS each!) thanks to the miracle of Download Play. I've not had the opportunity to try it but I assume it works the "normal" way. Pick the green option on the right side of the title screen and then press A to continue. On the next screen select the game format you require. 1) Four-Player Mahjong (green) 2) Two-Player Mahjong (orange) 3) Three-Player Mahjong (yellow) You'll become the host* for the local game and your buddies should now be able to connect to your DS using the Download Play option from the main menu of their own consoles. They'll need to have wireless comms enabled too. Your touchscreen will show how many of the four available seats are filled. The dirty brown box shows your DS username at the top and the other players below. When you can see everyone I guess you press A to continue and away you go... *Interestingly on Japanese DS games the host is referred to as the Oya (parent) and the other players are Ko (children) - the same terms are used in Japanese mahjong to denote the dealer and non-dealers. .------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------. | Section 11 | RULE OPTIONS s11 | '------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------' The game has various rule options which can be configured in Free Play mode. The rule settings are always fixed in Challenge and League Match modes. The rules are spread over four pages. Use the shoulder buttons L/R to navigate between pages and the d-pad to select and amend options. Press A to accept. Many of the options here use the following two words to indicate if it's used. __|___ | _ _|___ |/ \ ARI / |/ \ | | describes a rule that's applied (on) \_/ _/ ' / __/__ _ | / | | NASHI / _|_ | describes a rule that's not applied (off) / (_| |__. .-------------.----------------------------------------------------------------. | Section 11a | Three/Four-Player Mode s11a | '-------------'----------------------------------------------------------------' The following sixteen options are applied in three and four-player modes. 1.1 Name: Starting Scores Options: 25,000 / 27,000 / 30,000 / 50,000 / 80,000 / 100,000 points Info: This is simply the number of points that each player holds at the start of the match. An Oka (winner's bonus) is not paid with any of these options. 1.2 Name: Kuitan (open Tanyao) Options: Ari (on) / Nashi (off) Info: When Kuitan is Ari the game allows the scoring element Tanyao (All Simples) on an open hand. 1.3 Name: Pinzumo (Pinfu Tsumo) Options: Ari (on) / Nashi (off) Info: When Pinfu Tsumo is Ari you can claim the scoring element Pinfu on a Tsumo (self-draw) win. Pinfu is defined as a "no points" hand, with no Fu (minipoints) other than the basic 20 or 30 for going out. A Tsumo win is normally worth an extra two Fu but with this rule you waive the two Fu and take the extra Han (double) for Pinfu instead. 1.4 Name: Ippatsu Options: Ari (on) / Nashi (off) Info: This simply turns on/off the Ippatsu ("one-shot") scoring element. ________________________________________________________________________________ 2.1 Name: Dobon (bankruptcy) Options: Ari (on) / Nashi (off) Info: When Dobon is Ari the game ends if someone's score drops below zero. 2.2 Name: Ura Dora Options: Ari (on) / Nashi (off) Info: The Ura Dora indicator is the tile under the standard Omote Dora indicator and is applied when someone wins with Riichi. 2.3 Name: Kan Dora Options: Ari (on) / Nashi (off) Info: An indicator tile for a Kan Dora is revealed on the top row of the Wanpai (dead wall) each time someone declares a Kong (quad) set. If both the Ura Dora and Kan Dora options are Ari then the game will also apply Kan Ura Dora using indicators on the bottom row of the dead wall under any active Kan Dora indicators. 2.4 Name: Aka Dora (red fives) Options: Ari (on) / Nashi (off) Info: When this option is in use the game will replace one 5 tile in each of the suits with a red version. Each red 5 tile in a winning hand gives one additional Han (double) just like a normal Dora tile. (This option is unlocked by completing missions in Challenge mode.) ________________________________________________________________________________ 3.1 Name: Agari Yame Options: Ari (on) / Nashi (off) Info: When Agari Yame is Ari, if the dealer (east) wins the final hand of the match and is leading on points then they have the option to end the game early rather than risk losing in the Renchan (continuance) that would usually be played after a dealer win. When you find yourself in this position a question will appear on the screen. Pick the left option (A) to answer Hai (yes) and the match will end with you as the winner. Yay! In two-player mode Agari Yame is applied automatically - the match will always end if east is leading and wins the final hand. 3.2 Name: Renchan Conditions Options: Tenpai (two kanji) / No-ten (three kanji) Info: A Renchan is a continuance - an extra hand played without the seat- winds moving so the dealer "stays on". In this game a continuance always occurs if either the dealer wins a hand or if the hand ends in an exhaustive draw in which the dealer has a Tenpai (ready) hand. With the No-ten option selected the dealer will also stay on even if they have an unready hand in a draw. 3.3 Name: Game Type Options: Tonnansen (two rounds) / Tonpuusen (one round) Info: A Tonnansen (literally "east-south match") has two rounds. A Tonpuusen (literally "east wind match") has one round. 3.4 Name: Mat Colour Options: Type A (green) / Type B (red) / Type C (blue) Info: This option lets you change the colour of the table surface. (This option is unlocked by completing missions in Challenge mode.) ________________________________________________________________________________ 4.1 Name: Tile Back Colour Options: A Type (light grey) / B Type (bamboo) / C Type (dark grey) Info: This option lets you change the colour of the tile backs. 4.2 Name: Inazuma Riichi Options: Nashi (off) / Ari (on) Info: With this rule enabled, when you have the option to declare Riichi you will receive the additional option for Inazuma Riichi! It seems that you can only use Inazuma Riichi ("Lightning" Riichi) once per match and it guarantees that you win on your next draw after reaching (if one of your winning tiles is available) and therefore you get the two extra Yaku - Ippatsu ("one-shot") and Menzen Tsumo (Concealed Self-Draw). You get a little lighting animation too. Declaring Inazuma Riichi costs 1,000 pts just like standard Riichi and it doesn't seem to have any effect on your score aside from the two extra Han (doubles) for Ippatsu and Tsumo. (This option is unlocked by completing missions in Challenge mode.) 4.3 Name: Yakuman Mode Options: Off / On Info: When this setting is applied the game will give you starting hands that are very close to completing a Yakuman (top limit hand) - but your opponents will also receive the same benefit! For example you might get two Pungs and two pairs or three Pungs and one pair for potential Suu Ankou (Four Concealed Pungs), or twelve honour tiles for Tsuuiisou (All Honours) possibly stacked with Shou Suu Shii (Little Four Winds) or Dai San Gen (Big Three Dragons), or twelve pure green tiles for Ryuuiisou (All Green), etc. Matches often end quite quickly in Yakuman Mode! If you have a closed Tenpai (ready) hand you can use Inazuma Riichi (see above) to receive a winning tile on your next turn however if you have a multiple-sided wait (for example with a flush hand for Chuuren) the game will not always give you the tile you need to complete the Yakuman. (This option is unlocked by completing missions in Challenge mode.) Although not named separately, the game does allow Double Yakuman such as Suu Ankou Tanki Machi (Four Concealed Pungs with pair wait). 4.4 Name: Local Yaku Options: Off / On Info: This option can be used to add the following rare optional scoring elements to the rules: o Chii Toitsu Tsuuiisou (Seven Pairs All Honours) [Double Yakuman] This is literally a combination of Chii Toitsu (Seven Pairs) and Tsuuiisou (All Honours) - two each of every wind and dragon. I think this is the most beautiful and perfect of all possible hands in Japanese mahjong. Usually it scores as a single Yakuman. o Shou San Shii (Little Three Winds) [2 Han] This is a hand with two wind Pungs and one wind pair. It's like Shou Suu Shii (Little Four Winds) with one less Pung. You can also claim Yakuhai where applicable. o Dai San Shii (Big Three Winds) [3 Han] This is a hand with three wind Pungs. It's like Dai Suu Shii (Big Four Winds) with one less Pung. You can also claim Yakuhai where applicable. o Guusuu Renkou (Consecutive Even Pungs) [2 Han] This is a hand with 222 444 666 888 Pungs in any suits. You can also claim Toi-Toi (All Pungs) for 2 Han. o Chin Guusuu Renkou (Pure Consecutive Even Pungs) [3 Han] This is a hand with 222 444 666 888 Pungs in one suit. You can also claim Toi-Toi (All Pungs) for 2 Han. This is readily combined with Honitsu (Half-Flush) for 3/2 Han or Chinitsu (Full Flush) for 6/5 Han. o Kisuu Renkou (Consecutive Odd Pungs) [2 Han] This is a hand with four Pungs and one pair using all of the odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 (e.g. 111 333 555 77 999) in any suits. You can also claim Toi-Toi (All Pungs) for 2 Han. o Chin Kisuu Renkou (Pure Consecutive Odd Pungs) [3 Han] This is a hand with four Pungs and one pair using all of the odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 (e.g. 111 333 555 77 999) in one suit. You can also claim Toi-Toi (All Pungs) for 2 Han and Chinitsu (Full Flush) for 6/5 Han. o Dora Hou (Dora win) [1 Han] One bonus double is awarded when you declare a win using a Dora bonus tile as the winning tile. This is in addition to the usual one Han added by the Dora itself. o Dai Sharin (Big Wheels) [Yakuman] This is a hand with 22334455667788 in the Pinzu (Dots) suit. Dai Sharin is commonly added as an optional Yaku in video-games; all the others listed here are far more exotic! o Dai Chikurin (Big Bamboo Forest) [Yakuman] This is a hand with 22334455667788 in the Souzu (Bams) suit. o Dai Suurin (Big Neighbouring Numbers) [Yakuman] This is a hand with 22334455667788 in the Manzu (Craks) suit. o Kouitten (Crimson Speck) [Yakuman] This is a hand containing only the Souzu (Bams) tiles with pure green markings (2, 3, 4, 6 and 8) and Chun (red dragon). It's essentially the same as Ryuuiisou (All Green) but with the red dragon instead of the usual Hatsu (green dragon). .-------------.----------------------------------------------------------------. | Section 11b | Two-Player Mode s11b | '-------------'----------------------------------------------------------------' The following fourteen options are applied in two-player mode. Details of most of these rule options are given above. 1.1 Name: Starting Scores 1.2 Name: Nakitan (this is just Kuitan by a different name) 1.3 Name: Pinzumo 1.4 Name: Ippatsu ________________________________________________________________________________ 2.1 Name: Dobon 2.2 Name: Ura Dora 2.3 Name: Kan Dora 2.4 Name: Aka Dora (This option is unlocked by completing missions in Challenge mode.) ________________________________________________________________________________ 3.1 Name: Renchan Conditions 3.2 Name: Game Type 3.3 Name: Chii (calling Chow) Options: Nashi (off) / Ari (on) Info: In conventional four-player Japanese mahjong you can call Chii to take a tile discarded by your Kamicha (the player seated on your left side) to complete an open Chow set. Of course in two-player mahjong you have only one opponent so you have the potential to Chii any discards. Since the Chii option is so much more powerful here this setting allows you to disable it. (This option is unlocked by completing missions in Challenge mode.) 3.4 Name: Tile Count Options: 36 / 40 / 48 Info: In a normal four-player game a total of 69 tiles are available to be
           drawn from the live wall (after the players have taken their starting
           hands). This is too many to be shared between two players so this
           option allows you to specify a smaller number of tiles to be drawn.

           In four-player mahjong you will typically draw around 17-18 tiles in
           any given hand so picking the 36 option here will give you a similar
           number but remember that 2P rules give you far fewer opportunities to
           win by Ron because you have only one opponent instead of three!

           You also get fewer chances to call tiles so it's that much harder to
           complete open sets/hands.

           (This option is unlocked by completing missions in Challenge mode.)
________________________________________________________________________________

4.1  Name: Yakuman Mode

           (This option is unlocked by completing missions in Challenge mode.)

4.2  Name: Local Yaku


.------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------.
| Section 12 | CONTACT                                                     s12 |
'------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------'

I welcome all feedback on this guide and any contributions you'd like to make.
I'm also happy to receive questions about this or any other mahjong game, or
about the rules and terminology of Japanese mahjong.

You can email me at barticle at hotmail.com - obviously changing the "at" to an
@ and removing the spaces. It would be helpful if you include the word "mahjong"
in the subject line and tell me which game you're playing.


.------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------.
| Section 13 | THANKS                                                      s13 |
'------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------'

I would like to thank the following:-

o japan-excite (eBay ID) for another smooth transaction

o Tangorin.com and Tuttle (as always) for great language resources

o Headphone Commute, Yagya, Germind and Bing & Ruth for super sounds

I will be happy to give credit and thanks to anyone who makes a contribution.
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'---------/  /-/  //  __   //  /-----/  /---/  //  /---/  /--/  _____/---------.
         /  / /  //  / /  //  /     /  /   /  //  /   /  /  /  /         GUIDE |
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1500 DS Spirits Mahjong V Guide
Copyright 2015 James R. Barton
Initial version 1.00 completed 9 January 2015

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