Tenhou
The largest free-to-play riichi mahjong client, http://tenhou.net/ was until recently difficult for non-Japanese players, as the whole interface is in Japanese.
Of course, if you know where to click it can be done, and many non-Japanese players were playing in the Japanese client, some (like me) helped by this excellent book. Note: the book not only contains a thorough explanation on Tenhou (more information than written below), it also contains a wealth of information on strategy for starting and intermediate players.
Since a couple of months, Tenhou is available in English. Using an extension in the browsers Firefox and Google Chrome the whole interface is translated. Note: you need to use a desktop or laptop computer, the extensions do not work on the tablet versions of Firefox and Chrome.
Getting started
In Firefox, enter about:addons in the address bar, and then search for Tenhou. You should get the Tenhou English UI extension. Click "Add to Firefox" and the extension will install. In Chrome the process is similar, the extension can be accessed here and installed using "Add to Chrome".
In Firefox and in Chrome, the configuration is available from the address bar when you click the small mahjong tile in the right of the address bar. You can choose from two languages (English and French) and 4 levels of translation, from None to Thorough. If you are playing in tournaments, it is probably best to choose the Romaji translation level. Here, the Japanese terms (yaku names etc.) are written in the western alphabet. Alternatively, use the EMA translation, where the English terms are used for the yaku names.
In Firefox and in Chrome, the configuration is available from the address bar when you click the small mahjong tile in the right of the address bar. You can choose from two languages (English and French) and 4 levels of translation, from None to Thorough. If you are playing in tournaments, it is probably best to choose the Romaji translation level. Here, the Japanese terms (yaku names etc.) are written in the western alphabet. Alternatively, use the EMA translation, where the English terms are used for the yaku names.
Opening the client
The translations by the browser extensions only work for the HTML5 web client, which can directly be accessed using http://tenhou.net/3/ The translations don't work in the Flash client. As Flash is getting deprecated more and more, it is sensible to use the web client.
Click OK on the <Event Notices> pop-up, and you will be presented with the login screen:
Creating an ID
Using New ID you can create a new name. If the name does not exist yet, you will get a unique identifier code, that can be used to log into your account. If the name is taken, you need to use another name. There is no username/password login, the identifier code is all you need to log in. As others are able to log in with your identifier, keep it stored in a secure location. If you loose it, you won't be able to log in your account anymore!
A cookie with the ID is stored on your computer, so the next time you browse to http://tenhou.net/3/ the identifier code will be shown. Click OK to log in.
The main screens
Using the << and >> buttons at the bottom you can navigate the 8 main screens. The most important screens are listed below.
Practice play against the computer. Here you can get a feel for the main playing area and practice.
Play ranked games. This is the main screen to start playing against other people.
Raw stats. Here you get the percentages of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th placement, the number of games and the win, deal-in, call and riichi rates.
Playing ranked games
Ranking and rating
While playing on Tenhou, your ranking and rating will change. The ranking is organised using kyu and dan levels. You start at no-rank (rookie, 新人) , and after winning a game you will reach 9 kyu (級) level. Winning more games will progress your ranking to 1 kyu, and then to 1st dan (初段). After that, the ranking goes up again from 1st to 10th dan. Then, the last level is Tenhoui (天鳳位) Very few people have ever reached this level!
At the end of the game, you gain ranking points. These are displayed to the right of the rating: above I have 0/20 pt, meaning I have to get 20 ranking points to get to the next rank. First place always gets points, and in higher rooms (see below) second place also gets a few points. Third place never gets points and fourth place looses ranking points (only when your ranking is 1 dan or higher). So, by winning games and avoiding fourth place, your ranking will go up. This is also known as "fourth place avoidance", a common strategy seen in Tenhou, which is different when playing in a tournament.
At the end of the game, you gain ranking points. These are displayed to the right of the rating: above I have 0/20 pt, meaning I have to get 20 ranking points to get to the next rank. First place always gets points, and in higher rooms (see below) second place also gets a few points. Third place never gets points and fourth place looses ranking points (only when your ranking is 1 dan or higher). So, by winning games and avoiding fourth place, your ranking will go up. This is also known as "fourth place avoidance", a common strategy seen in Tenhou, which is different when playing in a tournament.
The amount of wins and losses will also affect your rating. This is the R-number in the upper right corner of the screen. You start at a rating of 1500 (it is shown for both 4-player and 3-player games). After each game, the rating is changed according to:
Rnew = Rold+(P+Ravg)*G
P is based on the placement at the end of the game: +30 for first, +10 for second, -10 for third and -30 for 4th place. Ravg is the difference between your rating and the average rating of all players and G is an adjustment based on the number of games you have played so far: if n < 400, it is equal to (1-0.002*n) with n the number of games played. If n > 400, G is equal to 0.2. This means that at the start of a new account, your rating will change quickly (up and down!) because of the large value of G. When you have played a couple of hundred games, the G-factor will level off to its final value of 0.2 and the changes will become smaller.
Rnew = Rold+(P+Ravg)*G
P is based on the placement at the end of the game: +30 for first, +10 for second, -10 for third and -30 for 4th place. Ravg is the difference between your rating and the average rating of all players and G is an adjustment based on the number of games you have played so far: if n < 400, it is equal to (1-0.002*n) with n the number of games played. If n > 400, G is equal to 0.2. This means that at the start of a new account, your rating will change quickly (up and down!) because of the large value of G. When you have played a couple of hundred games, the G-factor will level off to its final value of 0.2 and the changes will become smaller.
Rooms
There are 4 different rooms, each for different level of players.
Ippan room
This is the starting room where everyone starts. Players with R > 1800 and level higher than 4th dan (四段) are not allowed in this room. Players in this room sometimes do not understand the rules very well, or will leave the game unexpectedly (their name will turn red).
Joukyu room
If your rank is first dan or better, you can play in this room. Players with R > 2000 and 7th dan or better are not allowed in this room. Players in this room understand the rules, but generally do not defend very well and do not play very strategically.
Tokujou room
With a rating of 1800 or better and 4th dan or better, you can play in this room. These requirements are quite demanding, and this is reflected in the gameplay which is quite different from the Ippan and Joukyu rooms.
Houou room
With a rating of 2000 or better, and 7th dan or better, and a paid membership (about 3 euros per month), you can play in this room. The requirements for this room are very, very demanding.
Game types
The two main game types are 4- or 3-player games. Then, within those types you can choose for an East-only (Tonpuusen) or East+South (Hanchan). These can be played in normal mode or in fast mode. In normal mode, the time to make discard/claim is about 12 seconds (and 5 extra seconds per game), in fast mode it is about 7 seconds (+5).
Select one or more types of game from the drop-down list, and the press "Queue" to wait for four other players. Usually, you do not have to wait long (seconds, up to a few minutes when it is night time in Japan)
Note: the exact amount of ranking points gained or lost can be seen when you hover the mouse cursor over the Queue button. In the top left of the screen, the points will be displayed. Further, all the rule details will be displayed.
Tiles are added to the right of the hand and by clicking onto a tile it can be discarded. Right-clicking on the board will discard the just-drawn tile. The points are displayed in the middle, and by hovering the mouse cursor over the middle square, the point differences between you and the other players is shown.
On the bottom are four check-boxes:
Once the winning tile is discarded, you can click and declare ron. The points are calculated automatically in the next screen; clicking OK will start the next deal (this picture below does not correspond to the deal above).
Once the game has finished, the final ranking, including oka is displayed:
The oka points are displayed in the coloured fonts and do not affect the rating or ranking.
Note: the exact amount of ranking points gained or lost can be seen when you hover the mouse cursor over the Queue button. In the top left of the screen, the points will be displayed. Further, all the rule details will be displayed.
Game play
Once play begins, the tiles are distributed and the game starts.
Tiles are added to the right of the hand and by clicking onto a tile it can be discarded. Right-clicking on the board will discard the just-drawn tile. The points are displayed in the middle, and by hovering the mouse cursor over the middle square, the point differences between you and the other players is shown.
On the bottom are four check-boxes:
- Sort - enabled: this will sort the tiles in order
- Auto ron - enabled: when a winning tile is discarded, declare Ron immediately. If you want to ron off a specific player, don't use this.
- Auto discard enabled: discard all the drawn tiles immediately (tsumogiri). I almost never use this.
- No call enabled: when a tile is discarded that you could claim, don't display the claim dialog. This is ideal if you want to keep the hand closed.
Once the winning tile is discarded, you can click and declare ron. The points are calculated automatically in the next screen; clicking OK will start the next deal (this picture below does not correspond to the deal above).
Once the game has finished, the final ranking, including oka is displayed:
The oka points are displayed in the coloured fonts and do not affect the rating or ranking.
Game review
In the review page, a list of played games is shown. This list is not the list played for the whole account, only the list of games played on the computer you are using. If you use multiple devices for playing with the same account, this means that only the games played on the currently logged in device are listed.
Click the game to review and you will enter the review. After pressing OK, you can select the following options from the bottom-right area:
Turn: select the turn in the current round to display
Round: select the round to display, use this to quickly go to the desired round.
View pt.: view the participants. Click another player to switch the point-of-view.
Quite: return to the main screen (you may need to quit twice)
Checks for
- Wall - shows the wall tiles
- Auto discards - shows discards from hand in brighter color than direct discards
- Waits - shows the tiles you and/or other players wait on in red
- Hand - shows other players hands
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