In your bag · 0 items
Your bag is empty
A 144 tile mini set with engraved white faces, traditional in every respect except its size, and light enough for a child to carry.
delivery_truck_bolt Estimated delivery: -
Flat $9.95 shipping · 30-day returns from delivery
Most mahjong is learned from a relative, and the age at which that happens is often younger than the sets allow for. A full sized 40 mm tile is a substantial object for a child to hold 13 of, and a heavy set is not something 9 year old fetches from a shelf.
A mini set solves both. The tiles suit smaller hands, the whole set can be carried by the person who wants to play, and nobody worries about it being dropped.
Worth checking on any mini set, because most are printed. Printed markings on a small face wear within a year of regular play and wear unevenly, so the set becomes inconsistent. Engraving cuts the character into the tile and colours the cut, putting the marking below the wearing surface.
On a set that will be handled by people still learning to be careful with it, that is the specification that decides whether it survives.
144 tiles: 108 suit tiles, 16 winds, 12 dragons, 8 flowers and seasons. No jokers. It teaches the game that most of the world plays rather than a cut down version.
Mahjong passes between generations more reliably than most games, and it usually happens over a set that is not precious. Nobody teaches a child on a set they are worried about, so the set that gets used is the light one that lives in a drawer.
That is the role this one fills, and it is worth more to a household than a better set that stays in its box.
Barely damp cloth. Count the tiles back in every session, and make that the habit from the beginning if the set is going to be played by children.
| Tiles | 144 |
|---|---|
| Size | Mini |
| Colour | White |
| Finish | Engraved |
| Weight | 0.7 kg (1.5 lb) |
| Age | 7 and over |
Orders are processed within 1 to 2 business days, with tracking on every parcel. Delivery across the United States takes 10 to 25 days and costs $9.95, one flat rate charged once per order whatever the number of items.
Changed your mind? You have 30 days from delivery to request a return, unused and in its original packaging. Approved refunds go back to your original payment method within 3 business days.
Read at a glance
Nobody wants to squint at their own hand. Faces that carry across the table, so the game moves and nobody has to ask.
Weight you'll notice
The difference between a tile you tolerate and a tile you reach for is in your fingers. Heavier tiles shuffle better and stack straighter.
Match your mat
Tiles set the palette for everything else on the table. Pick the ones you want to build around.
Anywhere that states the count, the size and the finish. Those three facts decide whether a set suits you and they are exactly what decorative listings omit. For a small set the finish matters most, since printing on a miniature tile has very little material to hold onto. This one is engraved, 144 tiles, and rated from 7 years upward.
The 166 count is an American invention: the traditional 144 plus jokers and blank spares. Everything a Chinese or Japanese game needs is inside the 144, which is why that number appears on sets sold worldwide. Buying a 144 set means committing to the traditional game, which for a first set or a child's set is the simpler place to start.
It is arithmetic rather than tradition for its own sake. 9 values in 3 suits at 4 copies each accounts for 108 tiles. The honours add 28 more, 16 winds and 12 dragons. Flowers and seasons contribute the last eight. Sets that show a different number have either added something, as the American game does, or dropped the bonus tiles.
Chinese mahjong and the regional versions closest to it, which between them account for most tables in the world. It is also the count taught in nearly every beginner guide, which matters for a set rated from 7 years up: a child learning from a book or a video should be holding the same tiles the book describes.
A mahjong set is handled more than almost anything else in the house: every tile passes through four pairs of hands, several times a game.
That is what we select for. Tiles that read clearly from the far side of the table, edges that stay clean, and a case that still closes after a few seasons of being carried around.
Sets differ in ways that only show at the table: the weight of a tile in the hand, how a crak reads from three seats away, whether the case survives the trip to a friend’s house.
When we have the figures, we publish them: tile count, tile size, weight and material. When we do not have one, we leave it out rather than guess.
Loading…
