Journal

Stories from the table

Design notes, hosting ideas, and beginner-friendly mahjong reading from the studio.

How to host a mahjong night

A practical guide to seating, timing, table setup and food that survives a long hand.

The set, the setup, the Charleston, a turn, and the words you'll hear at the table.

From nineteenth-century China to the many regional styles played today, and how the American game grew from that tradition.

A decade of print design, a crowded market, and the gap between a game people love and the objects around it.

Less about finding the right four people, more about picking a night and defending it.

What's actually worth giving a new player, and why the cheapest set is the fastest way to make them quit.

Three tiles, face-down, passed around the table: equal parts strategy and nerve.

Two tiles deep, nineteen tiles wide: the brick everyone draws from as the hand plays out.

Called tiles laid face-up and locked: speed on one side, secrecy on the other.

No safety net, more points, and one of the more satisfying ways to win a hand.

A hand that can no longer win, and why spotting it early saves you three wasted rounds.