Online Backup for Your American Mah Jongg Night: How to Host a Private Table
You can play American Mah Jongg with your existing group at a private online table in your browser, inviting friends with a link and using text and voice chat depending on your membership level.
Turn a cancelled Mah Jongg night into an online game
When a regular American Mah Jongg game falls through — weather, travel, a last-minute conflict — the organizer often feels responsible for finding an alternative.
Friends at Mahjong is a browser-based platform for playing and learning American Mah Jongg. It is designed so you can:
- Play directly in your browser
- Start with free games before committing
- Move from solo practice to private multiplayer
- Keep your existing group playing together when you cannot meet in person
This guide walks through how to use Friends at Mahjong as a backup for your in-person game.
Step 1: Try a free game yourself
Before you ask friends to join you online, you may want to see how the table feels.
Friends at Mahjong lets you:
- Play 1 free game without an account
- Unlock 4 more free games after you create an account
- Use 5 free games in total, with no expiration
- Do all of this with no credit card required
Free games are one hand long, which is about a quarter of an hour of play.
You can start by playing single-player against three computer-controlled opponents. This lets you verify that the rules and flow feel right for your group.
Step 2: Create your account when you’re ready
To continue beyond the first game, you will need an account.
Friends at Mahjong uses passwordless email authentication:
- Enter your email address
- Receive a one-time code
- Use that code to sign in
There is no traditional password to create, no password to remember, and no standard password-reset process for normal sign-in.
Your account is what ties together:
- Your remaining free games
- Any membership you choose later
- Any Shop items you purchase for your table
Step 3: Choose a membership level for private tables
Your membership determines what you can do.
Depending on the plan, membership benefits can include:
- Unlimited games
- Joining private tables
- Hosting private tables
- Inviting friends with a link
- Text chat
- Voice chat
- Building a personalized table theme
- Seasonal table designs and additional table choices
Friends at Mahjong offers Social and Premium memberships, with prices in U.S. dollars.
Paid memberships automatically renew until canceled. You can cancel at any time, and your membership benefits stay active through the period you have already paid for. You can also switch plans; when you upgrade, you pay only the applicable difference for the remaining days in your current billing period.
Step 4: Set up your private online table
Once you have the right membership level, you can use Friends at Mahjong to support private online tables for remote play with friends.
Depending on your membership and the current feature set, you can:
- Join a private table that someone else is hosting
- Host your own private table
- Invite friends to your table with a link
- Use chat while you play
- Use voice communication where available
This gives you a way to:
- Keep a scheduled game on the calendar even when you cannot meet in person
- Help out-of-town friends join your regular group
- Test an online session before proposing more frequent remote games
Step 5: Make the table feel familiar
Consider personalizing the digital table to make it feel like “your” table.
Friends at Mahjong’s core idea is:
Same game. Your look.
A complete table theme can include:
- A mat
- Tiles
- Racks
Depending on your membership, you can choose Friends at Mahjong designs and/or create a personalized table theme in the customization studio and keep it for future games.
The Shop focuses on how your table looks. It offers digital cosmetic items such as tile sets, Mah Jongg mats, and racks. These are digital in-game designs, not physical products.
Shop purchases are tied to your account so they can be available when you sign in and play. Shop items are bought once and usable on every table you play at both Friends at Mahjong and Mahjong Lexington. This portability applies to Shop items only.
Step 6: Help new or rusty players get up to speed
If someone in your group is newer to American Mah Jongg or rusty after a break, Friends at Mahjong includes instructional content and a guided onboarding tour.
Instruction covers:
- Understanding the tiles
- Reading the card
- The Charleston
- Calling tiles
- Joker rules
- Scoring
- Gameplay fundamentals
The guided onboarding tour introduces new players to the interface and basic gameplay.
Friends at Mahjong is primarily positioned as a place to practice and play, and it directs structured lessons to Mahjong Academy while keeping its own how-to material in scope.
Step 7: Use the card your group expects
Many existing groups are used to playing with a specific card.
Friends at Mahjong’s single-player setup currently lists:
- A Friends at Mahjong card with 51 hands
- An option for players who have the 2026 National Mah Jongg League (NMJL) card with 57 hands in front of them
Players who have purchased an NMJL card separately can use it as their personal reference while playing.
Friends at Mahjong is an independent teaching and gaming resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the National Mah Jongg League.
Friends at Mahjong does not sell the League’s card, and you do not need an account with the League to play.
Give your group an online backup
As an organizer, success often means the group actually plays.
With Friends at Mahjong, you can:
- Test the table yourself with a free single-player game
- Use your remaining free games to get comfortable
- Choose a membership when you are ready to host or join private tables
- Invite your existing group by link to a private online table
- Personalize the table so it feels familiar
That way, the next time your in-person game is at risk, you can consider an online backup you have tried — a way to play American Mah Jongg remotely with your friends.