New Feature on Real Mah Jongg

Night before last I was playing Mah Jongg online as I do before I go to bed every night. As I was logging in I noticed a new feature on the login page, “Hand suggestions.” I thought, this must be really new because it wasn’t here yesterday. So I clicked on it to see what it would show me.

When my hand was dealt and I pressed the light bulb it highlighted a group of tile with words that said which neighborhood and number hand it was suggesting. I pressed the light bulb bulb a second time and it gave me another suggestion. I did not necessarily agree with both suggestions, so I went with my own pick and I won.

Then yesterday I got an email from the developer of Real Mah Jongg, which I assume was sent to all the subscribers announcing the new feature.

I am not a fan of playing games where the game gives you hints. Usually new players use them as a crutch and if you are just getting hints you are not really playing the game yourself, you are just watching the computer play the game for you.

You learn so much more from trying something yourself and if you fail you learn something. We learn so much more from trial and error than from always getting the answers given to us.

So tonight I got a second email from Ronnie, saying how much people like the feature. It’s been two days, and only one since he alerted people to it. So I thought I should Give it another test. It missed suggestions I would have given on the first pass and again on the second, but by the third it caught up to ones I had thought of. It kept giving me the same suggestion even when a better hand had come to fruition.

I went with my gut and I came within one tile of winning, and no other player had my tiles so I still had a chance.

I do not write code and have no idea if this one is written to learn as people play more, but right now I have not seen evidence that it is going to be correct enough. I believe that Ral Mah Jongg has the best written code to play the game, but my jury is out on if the hints are the best. In my limited play looking at the hints they have not been my choices.

I understand that lots of people like hints to help them figure out complicated games, but I beg my students to use this feature VERY sparingly. It will not make you a better mah Jongg player and will most certainly make you more anxious playing in person where you get not hints. I see hints as a dangerous crutch that might cripple you. Learn to think so you can win.