Tile game

Tile games in Japan are dominated by one giant: riichi mahjong. Arriving from China in 1909, Japanese mahjong developed its own rules—riichi (declaring readiness), dora (bonus tiles), furiten (discard-based restrictions)—and by the late twentieth century had become the country's most popular table game. Mahjong parlours, televised celebrity games, and later online platforms like Tenhou and Mahjong Soul created a vast playing and viewing culture. Alongside it sits Goita, a regional tile game from the Noto Peninsula that uses shogi-piece names and values but is played in partnerships with a completely different logic. Tiles offer a tactile, clacking presence that cards do not; they are shuffled in a different way, drawn and discarded in rhythm, and in Japan they carry the weight of parlour culture, professional leagues, and the kind of depth that rewards a lifetime of study. Riichi mahjong requires at least one yaku (scoring pattern) to win; the furiten rule adds strategic depth. Goita is passed down in Noto fishing communities and recognised as Ishikawa intangible cultural heritage. Both games reward partnership communication and pattern recognition. Each entry below includes full rules, history, and links to play or buy sets.