Help & Support

Something not working, or a question we haven’t answered here? Email support@gamenightcircle.com. A real person reads every message.

Looking for the rules? Read How to keep score in American mahjong and How to run a mahjong group.

Joining a group

How do I join my group?

Tap the invite link your organizer sent you. If the app is already on your phone, open it, tap I have an invite link, and paste the link in.

It says my link is a Bunco Circle invite.

Each app has its own groups. A Bunco Circle invite opens in Bunco Circle, and a Mahjongg Circle invite opens here. Ask your organizer for your mahjong group’s link.

Signing in

My sign-in code never came.

Give it a minute, then look in your junk or spam folder. Still nothing? Tap Didn’t get it? Send again. Make sure the email address is spelled right: the code goes only to that address.

I already use Bunco Circle. Can I use the same email?

Yes. Sign in with the same email address. The first time, Mahjongg Circle asks your name, and your phone number if you’d like to give it. Your mahjong groups, scores and subscription are kept separately from your Bunco ones.

Running a group

How do I start a group of my own?

Open the app and tap Start a group (or Organize → Start another group if you are already in one). You name it and say when you play and how many players. Your house rules, like the pie and switching tables, are in Organize → Group settings. Then share the invite link from Organize → Roster & invite.

How do I hand my group to someone else?

Go to Organize → Roster & invite, tap … next to their name, and choose Hand the circle to them. They need to have joined the app, and not be marked as a sub.

Someone came late, or has to leave early.

On Table setup, tap + Someone just arrived. If a table has only 3 and nobody is waiting, they take its empty seat when that table’s game is saved; otherwise they go to the end of the waiting line. For someone leaving, tap their name, then has gone home. They leave when their table’s game is saved: the first in line takes their seat, or the table plays as 3. Their points stay theirs.

Keeping score

Who keeps score?

Each table has a scorekeeper: a player at that table who has the app. The organizer sees who it is on Table setup and can tap Change. The organizer can also keep score for any table.

How do I enter a game?

After each game, the scorekeeper taps through a few short steps: Who called Mahj? (or Wall game), Worth? (25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 75 or Other), How? (Self-picked, or who threw it) and Jokerless? (Yes or No). The last step shows everyone’s plus or minus, and Save game records it. Nothing is chosen for you ahead of time.

How does the app work out the points?

The scorekeeper enters what the winning hand is worth, and the app does the rest. With a hand worth 25 at a table of 4:

• Thrown: the player who threw the winning tile gives double (−50) and the other two give the value (−25 each). The winner gets +100.
• Self-picked: everyone gives double (−50 each). The winner gets +150. Self-picked also covers winning by swapping for a joker on someone’s rack, or East’s hand being complete from the start.
• Jokerless: all of it doubles. The winner gets +200 if it was thrown, or +300 if the winner self-picked.
• Wall game: the tiles ran out and nobody won, so nobody’s points change.

A table of 3 works the same way: a thrown 25 is −50 and −25, and the winner gets +75. East gives and gets the same as everyone else. Each game’s pluses and minuses always add up to zero. They are points only: no money changes hands in the app.

Does the app check the hand?

No. The app keeps score; it doesn’t referee. Your table decides, as it always has, and the scorekeeper enters the number. Jokerless counts only when the scorekeeper taps Yes.

Do my points stay with me if I move?

Yes. Your points belong to you, not your seat. Your total for the day goes with you when you change tables or wait in line.

Fixing a mistake

We saved a game wrong. How do we fix it?

Under the steps are Undo and Fix Game (with the game’s number). Both work on your table’s last saved game, for the table’s scorekeeper or the organizer, until the organizer taps Finish for today.

• Fix Game opens that game’s steps again with the saved answers showing. Change what was wrong and save it. Only the points change; East and the seats stay as they are.
• Undo takes the game back completely. It asks first. Its points come off, and East and any seat change go back to how they were before it. If people have moved since, at another table or in the waiting line, the points come off but the seats stay, and the app tells you so.

If your group plays a pie, the app works the pie out again for any game saved after the one you changed.

East and the waiting line

What does East do in the app?

East is the dealer for that game. Before your table’s first game, the scorekeeper taps who’s East. After every game, win or wall game, the deal passes to the player on East’s right, and the app moves East for you. East never keeps the deal, even when East wins. If the app shows the wrong East, tap Change on the East card.

How do the tables and the waiting line work?

The app makes tables of 4. If 1 or 2 players are left over, they wait in one line shared by all the tables. If 3 are left over, they make a table of 3. So 5 players make a table of 4 with 1 waiting, and 7 make a table of 4 and a table of 3.

After each game at a table, if anyone is waiting, that game’s East goes to the end of the line and the first in line takes that seat. The deal still passes to the old East’s right, so the newcomer isn’t the next East. Your points don’t change while you wait.

How do I know where to sit?

Tap Where’s my table? on the live scoreboard. Your seat shows your table and your seat, or your place in the waiting line. When it’s your turn to sit down, a banner tells you whose seat to take. Seeing where you sit is always free.

The pie

What is the pie?

A house rule some groups play: the most one player can go down in a day. The organizer sets it in Organize → Group settings → Pie: No pie, 300, 500, 1000, or Other. Left empty, there’s no pie.

What happens when someone reaches the pie?

Once a player’s total for the day is down to minus the pie, a PIE tag shows by their name. If they owe more than they have left, they give only what’s left, and the winner gets only what was given. Their wins count toward their total, so they’re paid in full when they win, and the tag goes away once they’re back above the limit.

For example, with a pie of 500, Ruth is at −480 and Linda self-picks a 25. Ruth gives 20, the other two give 50 each, and Linda gets +120. The last scoring step says so before you save.

Switching tables

Can we switch tables during the day?

Yes, if your group does. In Organize → Group settings → Switch tables, the organizer picks Never, Every round, or Other (every 2, 3 or more rounds). A round is 4 games. Left empty, players stay at their tables.

When it’s on, a table that finishes its round waits, and its screen says which tables it’s waiting for. When every table has finished, everyone, including anyone waiting, gets a new seat at random, and each table picks East again. Tap New tables — where do I go? to see your new seat.

Can the organizer move people themselves?

Yes. On Table setup, tap two names to swap their seats, or tap Shuffle to give everyone a new seat now. After a Shuffle each table picks East again, so save any game being played first.

Take a look first

Can I try the app before my group starts?

Yes. Before you’re in a group, tap Take a look first. You get a sample group of your own with pretend players, three Mahj days already played, and a practice Mahj day today. Sign players in, set up tables, pick East and save a few games: you keep score for every table. Everything is unlocked in the sample, and nothing is sent to anyone.

How do I get rid of the sample?

Tap Delete sample on its banner, or Delete the sample group on Me. The pretend players and their Mahj days go with it. Nothing else changes.

Bigger words

How do I make the words bigger?

Go to Me (or Settings, if you aren’t in a group yet) and choose a Text size.

Subscriptions

What does the subscription cost, and what does it unlock?

$4.99 a month or $49.99 a year in the US, paid through Apple on iPhone, or Google Play on Android. In Canada, the store shows your price in Canadian dollars. One subscription covers every Mahjongg Circle group you play in. It unlocks the live scoreboard, season standings, the winners log and your stats. Saying “I’m in” and keeping score are always free.

Does my Bunco Circle subscription cover this app?

No. Each app has its own subscription. A Bunco Circle subscription doesn’t unlock Mahjongg Circle, and a Mahjongg Circle subscription doesn’t unlock Bunco Circle.

How do I change or cancel my subscription?

In the app, go to Me and tap Subscription. Or on your iPhone, open Settings, tap your name, then Subscriptions. On Android, open the Play Store app, tap your profile picture, then Payments & subscriptions, then Subscriptions.

I subscribed, but things are still locked.

Tap any Subscribe button, then Restore purchases. Make sure you are signed in to the same Mahjongg Circle account you subscribed with.

Deleting your account

How do I delete my account?

Go to Me (or Settings, if you aren’t in a group yet) and tap Delete my account. The app tells you exactly what goes and what stays before anything is deleted. If you run a group, hand it to someone else first, or delete it in Organize → Group settings. Deleting your account doesn’t cancel an Apple or Google Play subscription, so cancel that first. If you also play Bunco Circle, your Bunco Circle account stays, and deleting your Bunco Circle account leaves this one alone.

No longer have the app? Sign in at gamenightcircle.com/mahjongg in any web browser and do the same from Me, or email support@gamenightcircle.com from the address you sign in with and we will delete it for you. More in the privacy policy.