Mahjong 4 Friends: Multiplayer

Review by eFreeware

Finding a full table of Mahjong is the hard part of the game. Four people, matching cards, matching rules and a free evening rarely line up, and the versions that do exist online often force one style of play on everyone. Mahjong 4 Friends, from Unwind Media, is built around that gap: it puts American Mahjong and four regional variants in one place and lets you fill the seats you cannot fill yourself.

The app is free, carries ads and offers in-app purchases, and it has been on Google Play since August 2020. It has passed 100,000 installs and holds a 4.6 average from 1,912 ratings, with an Everyone content rating. The most recent update, in June 2026, was a round of bug fixes and performance work rather than new features.

What interests me most is the scope. This is not a stripped-down tile matcher wearing a Mahjong name; it is a game that treats the American card, the Charleston and the regional rule sets as the point rather than as decoration. The trade-off is that a game this specific asks something of you in return, and I will come to that.

American Mahjong with the real cards

The 2026 NMJL card is included, and the developer says NMJL cards from 2020 through 2026 are supported, along with Marvelous Mah Jongg cards from 2021 through 2026. That range matters if your group is still working from an older card or has moved to a different publisher's line.

Rounds include Charleston play, and a blind pass can be turned on. Jokers and real tile scoring are included, which separates a game that plays like the table version from one that only looks like it. If your weekly group plays by the card, this is the part that decides whether the app is usable for you.

I like that the rules are not softened for newcomers. A player coming from a simplified Mahjong game will have to learn the card, the passing sequence and the scoring, and the app gives them tools for that rather than changing the game underneath them.

Four regional variants and house rules

Beyond the American game, the app covers Chinese, Hong Kong, British and Panama Mahjong. These are 13-tile games built on pongs, kongs, chows and pairs, and the developer presents them as fully supported rather than as extras. Five variants in one free app is a lot of ground for a single download.

The customization is the part I would actually use. Sequence and scoring rules can be adjusted to match the way you play, which is the app's answer to the house rules that every regular group accumulates. Anyone who has tried to move a long-running game online knows how quickly a fixed rule set becomes a problem.

Switching between styles is described as something you can do at any time, so the same app can serve an American card night and a Chinese session without a second install. For a group that plays more than one style, that is a meaningful convenience.

Getting a table together

Multiplayer is the center of the design. You can create a private game room and share a link so friends join directly, or join public rooms and play with new opponents. If not everyone turns up, AI players take the empty seats, so a game can start without waiting for a fourth.

That last point is the practical one. A private room with two friends and one AI player is a complete game, and the host is not stuck rescheduling because one person cannot make it. The developer's framing is that you never wait for a full table, and the mechanics support that claim.

A solo mode against computer opponents also runs offline, for practice hands. Between private rooms, public tables and solo play, the app tries to make sure there is always something to do with the tile set.

Learning the card without holding up the table

The beginner support is built into the game rather than separated from it. Tile tips and suggested hands help newcomers spot useful combinations and gain confidence, so a learner does not hold up the rest of the table.

That approach suits American Mah Jongg in particular, where the card is the real barrier. A new player can follow suggestions in the moment instead of studying a card in isolation and hoping it sticks. Easy-to-read tiles and a clean interface are the other half of that, and they matter more on a phone than on a tablet.

The developer aims the app at newcomers and seniors learning Mah Jongg, and at experienced players who want to keep their strategy sharp between tile nights. Those are different needs, and the tips are the feature that lets both use the same table.

Ads, purchases and what free covers

The app is free to install, shows ads and includes in-app purchases. The developer states that all five variants are free and that there are no paywalls or locked tables, so the game modes themselves are not gated behind a purchase.

Ads in a turn-based game are easier to live with than ads in something fast, but they are still part of the deal, and the free price is what buys the access. If you object to advertising on principle, that is a consideration before you start rather than after.

One thing worth noting for anyone weighing the price of entry: the developer asks for feedback by email and says messages get a faster response than store reviews, typically within 24 hours. That is a support route rather than a feature, but it is a useful one to know about if something goes wrong mid-game.

Playing across phone, tablet and browser

The app is built for real-time multiplayer across devices, and it also runs in a browser at mahjong4friends.com. That means a game can be picked up on a phone, a tablet or a desktop, which is more flexible than most tile games manage.

Someone at a desktop can join a room created by someone on a phone.

Setting up a game is straightforward, and the shared-link room system fits that. You create a room, share it, and play.

Who this table is set for

The clearest fit is a regular Mah Jongg group that wants to keep playing between in-person sessions, or a group whose members have scattered. Private rooms, shared links and AI seats are exactly the tools that problem needs, and the American card support means the game they play is the game they get.

The second fit is a learner. Someone who has watched the card at a family table and wants to try it themselves can use the tips and suggested hands in a solo game or with AI before sitting down with people. The learning curve is real, but the app is built to carry a beginner through it.

Players who move between American and Chinese styles are the third group, since one install covers both and the rules can be adjusted. The app is narrow in the sense that it is a Mahjong game and nothing else; within that, it is unusually broad.

A Mahjong table that is nearly always open

Mahjong 4 Friends takes the hardest part of the game, getting four people to the same table under the same rules, and removes most of it. The 2026 NMJL card and the older cards, the Charleston, the four regional variants and the rule customization cover the ways people actually play, and private rooms with AI seats cover the ways people actually schedule.

The cost is a free app with ads and in-app purchases, and a rule set serious enough that a beginner has to learn it. Neither is a surprise for this kind of game, and the developer's claim that the variants are not locked behind paywalls is the part that keeps the free price honest.

If you play American Mah Jongg and want more games than your group can arrange, this is worth installing. If you are learning the card and want a place to practice without slowing anyone down, the same applies.

What's new

Bug fixes and performance improvements