Reachmahjong.com

I currently own a 8 gb iPod touch 4th Generation. And to my surprise, the App store contains many great games which I highly recommend. On top of being fun, they are relatively cheap as well as little as free and $1.00 USD.

I also want to thank Barticle for being one of my inspirations into thinking outside the box. I have decided to venture off into translating many of these games from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan to the best of my knowledge.

Some games are in English (good grammar and spelling included). Some are translated and have horrible Engrish. Some offer the ability to switch between the written language (English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, etc.) and spoken language as well. Thanks to modern day technology (wiktionary, online handwriting recognition, apps, etc.) this has been easy for me. I just wish I had a live person whom Im able to see face to face more often who happens to read Traditional/Simplified Chinese and translate to English very good. Hopefully this wish becomes a reality fast!!!!!!!!!!!!

The majority of Mahjong game apps I own are Hong Kong based rules. Without any interuption here is the list of my faves:

1. 水墨麻雀 Ink Mahjong
by MG Interactive Entertainment Ltd. (Hong Kong based company)

This game is in Chinese only. The rules are Hong Kong based. 99 cents USD.
I was able to translate the Fan Menu partially.

2. 麻將三國 (Three Kingdoms Mahjong)
By Subsino Game Tech.
Game is in Chinese. Very fun. Has training mode, online mode and regular mode. Rules are Cantonese based. I will work on translating the Hands for this one.
3. SG Mahjong 新加坡麻将
By GameFront Singapore

This game is in English. Rules are Singaporean based (Use of Additional tiles).

4. KL Mahjong 吉隆坡麻将
By GameFront Singapore

This game is in English. Rules are Malaysian based (Use of Additional tiles).

5. Mahjong World 麻將天下
By PICK Technology Limited

This combines some rules from Japan, Taiwan, Chinese Official, and Hong Kong. Game is Chinese only. Hands translated.

6. 國士無雙 ~亂世英雄篇~
By PICK Technology Limited

Another great game from Pick Technology. This game is based on Cantonese rules. The game is in Chinese only. Based in Ancient China and you level up on this game based on the points you acquire. Challenge rival soldiers to Mahjong matches. Im currently working on translating the List of Hands. Its halfways done.

7. HKBG MJ 港男港女麻雀
By MG Interactive Entertainment Ltd.

This game is in Chinese only. Hong Kong based rules. I was able to translate the Hands.

8. Mahjong Fairyland
By Joymaster Holding Co., Ltd.

This is based on Taiwan 16 tile rules. Game can be switched from English to Chinese.

9. Dice Cafe
By Lixsoft

FREE!!!! Features Taiwan, Chinese Official, Japanese, and Hong Kong Rules (as well as Chess). English language. Very simple, no instructions. Hands are listed without descriptions. 3D graphics. Great for thoise who know how to play Mahjong and know the winning hands somewhat.

Great to know you've found so many mahjong games to keep you entertained. Certainly in my own experience you can have at least as much fun trying to figure out the translations as you have actually playing the games.

As long as the screen size and resolution are sufficient to read the discards, mahjong doesn't really need dazzling high-definition graphics and fancy animations (although they are nice!) so these download games are a good option - eminently portable (you'd carry your iOS/Android phone or iPod anyway) and so cheap too. I wonder how sophisticated the opponent AI is though?

Also, somewhat related, don't forget to mention that an iPhone (and iPad) version for Janryuumon 3 is coming out. Yeah.

JRM for iOS just came out today. It looks like the app is actually in English! It does not appear on the US store, however: those of you elsewhere, please check it out and let us know if it works in your part of the world.

The game appears to be a barebones and more expensive (20 cents/round) version of the JRM online client.

http://www.janryumon.com/

EDIT: JRM is on the US store now.