MyMahj 4.1 — A fine freeware Mahjong tile game

Reviewed by Harry {doc} Babad © 2007

Author/Developer: Oliver Playez

http://www.mymahj.com/

Released: 15 September 2007

Freeware

System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.4 or later; Not apparently Universal binary); File size 7.5 MB for both2D and 3D Games

Strengths: A visually clean, easy to play fee version of the classic Shanghai/Mahjong tile game.

Weaknesses: The help system assumes you’ve played the game before and are familiar with its layout/setup characteristics.

Copyright Notice: Product and company names and logos in this review may be registered trademarks of their respective companies.

The software was tested on a 1 GHz dual processor PowerPC G4 Macintosh with 2 GB DDR SDRAM running under OS X 10.4.10

Introduction to Shanghai/Mahjong

By now you folks know that as a break from things that so fill my mind that I can’t to sleep; I collect. Collect, but not these days cook, recipes. You may have read my articles in which I describe the hunt and how to annotate and if needed reformat and illustrate captive recipes. What you may not know is that I’m a long time Mahjong/Shanghai gave addict.

It all began, years ago when I, a proud SE-30 owner discovered anActivision game called Shanghai, provided initially as floppies. As Mac’s evolved in power and gained hard drives, so did Shanghai become more feature -rich and for some challenging. CDs replaced floppies and the game variants got more complex.

Software: Microsoft Office

The computer version, unlike chess or backgammon, is not as interesting as real person face-to-face the Mahjong games beloved by generations of Oriental gentlemen and later on Jewish ladies and their friends. According to Wikipedia, Mahjong involves skill, strategy, and calculation, as well as a certain degree of luck. Depending on the variation that is played, luck can be anything from a minor to a dominant factor in success. In Asia as well as in some American communities, mahjong is also popular as a gambling game. Some of these elements are lacking in most of the computer versions of Shanghai/Mahjong I’ve played. To learn more check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong

Nevertheless, the now classic computer tile matching game is well loved my thousands of folks who forsake adrenaline rushes for quiet play. But as all such things evolved the computer versions became more complex. Activision’s single floppy based Shanghai game morphed into a two-CD set Shanghai: Great Moments and Shanghai II: Dragons eye. I then ran across and started enjoying Aspyr media’s Mah Jong Parlor. By then I was hooked. I eagerly awaited each new fortune cookie, my reward for a game won.

The game changed from a passive low stress one-player (solitaire) mode or friendly two-player version to newer versions having either a challenge or tournament theme. Other developers added a pilgrimage wrapper, al la Canterbury Tales. You played the various games in strict order each, like shoot-em up levels, becoming more challenging. You started at the beginning of your journey and the story unfolds as you move from game to game. Like a treasure hunt, at the end of a series of games, you win jewels, not fortune cookies.

Almost all game versions are extensively sprinkled with oriental graphics and at times a Confucius oriented theme. More eye candy was often added with animated backdrops well designed to both entrance and distracts you from the game.

Game Play — The purpose of the game is to clear the screen of tiles by clicking on two identical tiles (or two seasons or flower), Only exposed tiles can be removed at any given moment. A tile is exposed if there is no tile over it, and if there is empty space on its left or right side.

Simple, Not Quite — the tiles are stacked in one, originally a great turtle shaped solid pyramid, and in evolving versions an assortment of oriental 3D-glyph like structures (e.g., serpents, rats, dragons, pigs, lion monkey) and the other layouts from the Chinese Zodiac. Inherent in rendering the zodiac images, as 3D tile sets, the game variations ranged from easy to hard, creating an enjoyable challenge.

The Games Further Evolves — Progress, newer developers added both medieval and contemporary layouts, including a hollow pyramid, a variety of medieval castle ramparts type structures, columns from a roofless Greek temple. Anything you could visualize and lay out as a 3D tile set, had likely been tackled. There is even a great wall of china, with all the tiles spread out in one large single thickness collage. Tile layouts, tens and more tens of them were created, mostly non traditional and not linked by themes. Indeed most of the new layouts, like the Arch de Smoove defied the laws of gravity, all in the interest of keeping you amused.

Developers also added alternate tile sets, incase the oriental ones were not to your taste. These include wooden block toys, cute critter, birds or butterflies, the letters of the alphabet, and mini scenes. There’s also Egyptian and Celtic theme game versions, as well as lots of Star Trek tile sets. The Treckie set is embedded in one of the newer games released by major game developers like Aspyr, Ambrosia and Bonehead Software. [Sorry, I don’t remember which.] Incase your 2D depth perception is poor, there’s in some games, the ability to view the tile set in 3D, from several angles.

Then, much to my chagrin, a few the newer developers starting requiring you play against a clock or at least tracked your time; yuck. Another has added a fiendish unique random board generator in a recent posted version produces new and interesting boards every time you play. [Are they winnable?] Find out for your self with Random Factor Mahjong.

Here I am, I’m trying to relax but my choices of new game variants keep getting narrowed.

What followed next, as time moved on, were games that added “Tetris-like” elements, tiles falling from the sky while you tried to remove the pairs that already had landed. This mode, in an Activision game version, was called Action Shanghai; talk about adding stress factors.

I may, if I’m in the mood, review Random Factor Mahjong. I’m more likely, as a fan of Celtic music, to check out Rhiannon's Realm a Celtic Mahjong variant.

MyMahj — From the tone of what I’ve written you can gather that I like keeping to the simple, relaxing Oriental tradition version. Therefore I was please to find the freeware MyMahj 4.0.

In case, unlike me, you’re looking for more challenge and adrenaline oriented gaming, go to the end of this review.

I’ve provided, for you consideration, a list of most offerings (mahjong) found on the MacUpdate site for you consideration. All of those I’ve quickly screened, have a “demo version. A quick try of a demo often and quickly convinced me not to add them to my collection. There are also a few additional games variants that may amuse listed when searching MacUpdate for the term Shanghai

Getting Started

The game comes in two versions, one a standard 2D board, MyMahj2D.app that I’m comfortable with. The other called MyMahjGL.app is a 3D version. Using 3D effects, you can tilt the board for a better look at exposed tiles.

After a few minutes of 3D play, I reverted back to the standard board, but added an optional tile shadow effect. The shadows are unsymmetrical, after all light comes from only one direction in these games. The shadows please me, although they do make harder to recognize free tiles on the shaded side of the board.

Getting Started — Drag and drop either or both 2/3D versions to your applications folder. Double click and start to play the layout that appears. Alternatively, tweak the game’s background, sound, a tune few preferences (found in the menu bar) and a minute later, the games display has been customized to your taste. Here’s the 2D version with a pretty background scene. =>

You can select easy or “normal” play modes and then select the layout you want to play. [I could not figure out the differences in game play when using the default layout, called turtle in other game versions.

One feature common to those in newer shareware games is MyMahj’s ability to randomly generate layouts. Play the layout, if you like it save it to your collection of existing ones. But you cannot, in this version, create a series of sequential of new layouts to find ones that look interesting. That would allow you to save a number of fun-looking layouts to play at your leisure.

Discomforts

Changing Background Color — I prefer to play Mahjong against a neutral background, one with out any background images or worse yet a moving background. Thankfully the developer avoided the later. Changing the background is easy. [Graphics Menu > Background > None] The default background color was a bilious green, the color of the felt on a craps table. I could easily, from the graphics menu, change the color to a sky blue, but also the change did not take. When I restated the game, alas, I was back to yuck green. Victory, I wrote Oliver about this problem, and after a week or so, he fixed it by releasing version 4.1a. Horray, my chosen background color persists, after restarting the game.

Screen Display – Game Appearance — On my large 21” monitor, there was too much background showing, I would have preferred the focus in only on the playing pieces rather than have them diminished by the background.

Limited Number of Layouts Provided — Although the 15 layouts available in this free game, provide both plenty of challenge and some reasonable diversity, by current shareware game standards they a fewer than I expected. MIA, the game does not contain some of the classic shanghai zodiac layouts which I’ve come to enjoy.

Randomly Generated Layouts — I could not figure out how to randomly generate successive layouts. I would have like to find a few that looked interesting, and then save those for future replay.

However, on my system, using auto play to test a new layout occasionally crashed the application. [I had not saved the new layout prior to testing; in any test of the auto play function.] Discussing this issue with developer, he agrees that most of the randomly generated layouts are uninteresting. He may indeed eliminate this feature from the next significant upgrade. From my perspective, that we be no loss in the games quality.

Conclusion/Recommendation

If a simple relaxing, low stress game of Mahjong is your thing, download and play MyMahj. It free. If your need more complexities, check out the game lists I provide below and take your pick. I for one, although I have eight installed Mahjong/Shanghai games on my hard drive, am delighted with MyMahj. As always my score, 4.5 macC’s is a result of my being a trough grader, rather than there being problems with the product. I rarely find a developer to be as responsive to feedback as Oliver Playez, kudos for caring.

P.S.

MacUpdate Mahjong Game List