Two years back i went to Sakuracon in Seattle and they had a whole room dedicated to teaching Riichi Mahjong, and my wife and i found it to be a particularly addicting game. Naturally wanted to find some console versions because we dont really have other people around us who are interested in playing the table game.
ive seen a lot of retro mahjong games and not so much modern console ones. not really a big deal, but there seems to be a lot of import mahjong games and i cant really tell even from gameplay videos are considered ‘good’. So, if you like these games, which ones would you recommend? i have a super famicom, and a saturn. im not opposed to buying another console for a game if it is like the golden goose of mahjong.
Additionally, why do a lot of these games have some sexy overtones to them? i dont mind it, but this game type seems to have it in excess.
My boyfriend and I play riichi mahjong via phone app (just called Richii Mahjong on the Play Store on Android) and it's solid. I know that's not exactly what you're looking for, but hope it works in a pinch!
I think there's "sexy" versions in the same way you can find porn poker or shape matching games, if that makes sense.
Honestly, that one’s pretty good. Three in the back seat and one in the passenger seat and they all get to play locally-networked riichi on long road trips.
Sorry, driver, no room for a fifth.
(Source: once landed daisangen while riding bitch)
It never occurred to me that a con would have this, so I appreciate you mentioning it. I'm gonna keep an eye out for it at my local cons. I've played a ton of riichi mahjong digitally but very, very little with real tiles.
What I've seen when looking back is a lot of the retro games aren't in English. It's not a big deal once you're familiar with the game, but I definitely don't recommend that approach for beginners. Not retro (yet), Yakuza 0 was the game that got me started with riichi mahjong. It has the added benefit of being a way to make a little money for other stuff in the game.
The current game I play is Mahjong Soul. Super friendly to beginners. It has a cosmetics-only gacha, and sexy anime girls is very much the trend in gacha these days.