The click-clack of Mahjong tiles echoes throughout my dining room. Mahjong is a classic game I play with my family, and it acts as a timeless bridge between generations, allowing me to spend time with my grandma and parents. We sit at a square-shaped table with tiles neatly arranged in front of us as we take turns drawing and discarding tiles.

Mahjong is a tile-based game consisting of four suits and honor tiles, which are additional tiles similar to wild cards. Each suit contains nine tiles numbered from one to nine, while each honor tile has four copies. There are typically four players, and each person discards and draws tiles to try and get a winner’s hand: three sets of triplets and a pair of doubles. A triplet could be three of the same tile, like three white dragon tiles, or three tiles of the same suit in ascending order, like having a one, two, and three of the circle suit. While there are many ways to play the game, such as Hong Kong style, Riichi Mahjong, and even Mahjong solitaire, they all use the same set of tiles with numbers. I have ranked my top five favorite Mahjong tiles based on their design and my experience with a couple of years of casual playing.

5. The 1 Circle

This simple tile is characterized by a singular circle at the center. Despite its plain design, I have a very complicated relationship with it. Despite leading me to victory many times, it has also repeatedly been the cause of my downfall. As the first tile of the suit, it creates fewer combinations than other tiles, since it is the smallest tile. Not only that, but in Riichi mahjong, it can cost me my ability to win, since only specific winning hands can guarantee victory. While the tile’s overall design is simple, upon closer inspection, the design of the circle itself is incredibly intricate, since it is inscribed with a flower and many petals.

4. The 7 Circle

Compared to the other tiles in Mahjong, the circle suit’s seven stands out to me because of the slanted three dots at the top of the brick. While all the other circle tiles are neatly arranged in rows and columns, seven breaks free from the pattern, offering an innovative design. Although this inconsistency annoyed me as a child, I have grown to love the tile for its uniqueness. Not only is it easier to recognize the tile from the rest of the suit, but it also reminds me that being different is not a concern. In fact, it can provide advantages, as I can identify and slide it into my hand.

3. The 8 Bamboo

The Bamboo suit’s eight stylishly stands out from other basic number tiles with its unique bamboo placement. Rather than being arranged in rows and columns like other tiles in the bamboo suit, the sticks are placed in an innovative formation that looks like two M’s. Its design is a perfect representation of creativity and innovation: its sleek angles are unusual yet clearly convey the number eight to the players. Even though the tile functions like any other tile, its design is sleek and sets it apart from all the others.

2. The 1 Bamboo

As a child, I never understood why the one bamboo tile was a bird. In fact, in the Mahjong set my family uses at home, I always misidentified the bird as a fish. Turns out, Mahjong sounds remarkably similar to sparrow in Chinese, and the sound of shuffling tiles sounds like sparrows, which is why many people think the tile was designed to be a bird. The stylish and animalistic nature of the tile always captures my attention, and the sweeping strokes of the bird’s tail always entertain me. However, because of its design, I always forget that it is part of the bamboo suit, so I end up sorting it wrong in my hand. Even though I often misplace this tile, its beautiful design has a special place in my heart.

1. The White Dragon (“White Board”)

Depending on the Mahjong set, the White Dragon tile can either be an empty tile or a simple blue outline. To me, the tile’s emptiness evokes an alluring sense of serenity as I play the game since it stands out from the stylistic complexities of the other tiles. The only way to win with this tile is to have multiple copies of it, putting it at a disadvantage against other tiles, which can create both triplets and sequences. This makes the chances of creating a winning hand with this tile much lower than with others, since the odds of getting a triplet are lower than creating a sequence. Despite not offering any strategic advantages, my love for this tile often surpasses my rationality and desire to win, often leading me to a reluctant defeat. My obsession with the tile’s simplicity leads me to hold onto it, serving as a reminder that Mahjong is a game of both luck and skill.