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Play American Mahjong online with friends

Your group doesn't have to be in the same room, or even awake at the same time.

Updated November 9, 2026

The short answer In Mahjong Alley, one friend hosts a table and sends the others a link, a code or a QR code. You play hand after hand with a running score. The host picks how the table runs: now, with everyone playing at once; async, where each person takes their turn when it suits them and gets a notification when it's their move; or scheduled for a set time, once or every week.

Start a table

Open Play, tap Play with friends, and host a table.
Answer "When do you want to play?": Now, Async or Scheduled.
Pick the rules: Standard, or House Rules with blanks. Pick the opponents' level for any seat a friend doesn't fill.
Invite people. Choose from your Friends list, search an @handle, share the table link, copy the code, or show the "Scan to join" QR code.

Friends who don't have the app yet can tap the link, get the app, then come back to the same link to take their seat. Joining a table doesn't need an account.

Three ways to run a table

Now

Everyone plays at once, like a game at the kitchen table. The host sets a turn timer of one to three minutes and a call timer of 10 to 30 seconds. If someone drops off, their seat stays theirs. If they miss their turn, an opponent covers it until they tap Take my seat.

Async

Nobody has to be online at the same time. The host sets how long each turn can wait: 12, 24 or 48 hours. You get a notification when it's your turn, and when a discard you could call is waiting ("Tap to call or pass"). Make your move and put your phone down. One game can stretch over days, which suits friends in different time zones or with busy weeks.

Scheduled

Set a time, once or repeating weekly, for a standing game night. Everyone gets a reminder about an hour before and again when it starts, and the table shows under Upcoming on the home screen. If someone can't make it, start with who's there; empty seats fill in with opponents.

Hand after hand, one score

A table isn't a single hand. You play a session together, the score carries from one hand to the next, and seats stay put, so you can leave and come back to the same table. After each hand, everyone chooses whether to play another. Your tables are waiting under the bell at the top of the screen.

Friends, standings and reactions

Add friends by @handle, link, code or QR code, then invite them to tables straight from your Friends list. Friends need you to sign in with Apple.
See how you stack up in your friends Standings, counted from Standard-rules games at tables with friends.
Send a reaction across the table when someone makes a great call.

Play with friends is marked beta in the app while we keep improving it. Found a problem? Tell us from Settings or the bell, and we'll write back.

Playing in person instead?

Mahjong Alley is also a good way to keep your game sharp between game days. Practice solo against three computer opponents at four levels, or do the Daily Shuffle, a free daily puzzle built from three hands on this year's card. At a real table, everyone still needs their own official card from the National Mah Jongg League.