Bonus tiles contribute little to the skill factor of the game, but adds more luck and also some rules complexity too. Thus they are not used in formal competitions.
In casual family play, some players may want to use the bonus tiles, to add some flavor to the game. These rules explain how the bonus tiles can be used with the Zung Jung scoring system.
The standard set of 8 bonus tiles are used. They are divided into two groups of 4 tiles each; the groups are called "Flowers" and "Seasons" for convenience. In each group, the 4 tiles are each "proper" to one of the 4 different seats. Thus each seat has one proper Flower and one proper Season, and 6 "improper" bonus tiles. The common mahjong rules for declaring and replacing bonus tiles should be followed.
Bonus tiles are counted as the 11th category. These patterns are all cumulative with no exclusions (regardless of series). Thus, a complete set of 4 Flowers (a "bouquet") would score:
10 (Four Flowers) + 4 (Proper Flower) + 2 + 2 + 2 (3 Improper Flowers) = 20 points
And a hand with all 8 bonus tiles would score 40 points for them.
A hand with any bonus tiles is not a chicken hand, and does not get 1 point added for chicken hand.
(Note: Playes who wish to use flowers, but want them to be of lesser weight, may agree to halve all the point values listed above.)
back to home
© 2007, 2009 Alan KWAN Shiu Ho