Mahjong Wall – Review
By
BradT
On December 22, 2009
Our rating: 
By: Russell Wilson
Version #: 1.0 (iPhone OS 3.0 Tested)
Date Released: 2009-11-28
Developer:
Price: 1.99
User Rating:
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Creating a Mahjong game for the iPhone or iPod Touch is slightly risky for the developer. Mahjong is an old game and is usually played by older people. I’m not sure how large of an audience this particular game might have with the iPhone / Touch crowd.
On the other hand, the reason Mahjong has lasted so long is that it’s a simple, fun and addicting game. All you have to do is match tiles on a board. Once that is done, you move the tiles away to reveal more tiles. Repeat until finished or dead.
Mahjong Wall is a cute variation of the classic game. Sure, it has certain extras like the tiles reflecting each season and the special moves, but in the end it’s just Mahjong. The layout and animation for the game even reflects an advanced level of thinking on the part of the creators. I am not overly enthused by Mahjong as a game, but if I was Mahjong Wall would be on my "buy" list. Perhaps they could also develop a special Mahjong game to appeal to the young, hip crowd.
The game does come with fairly details instructions in the event you’re ignorant of the rules of Mahjong or just want to get the general idea of the twists to the game that Mahjong Wall provides. Or perhaps just for some extra reading.
If you wanted to try and sell your septuagenarian parents on the iPhone or iTouch, pre-installing Mahjong Wall would be a good start.
Quick Take
Value:Medium.
Would I Buy Again:Only if I was buying an iPod Touch for my mother.
Learning Curve:Low for the basic game. Medium for the particular rules of this one.
Who Is It For:Mahjong lovers.
What I Like:Good graphics for a Mahjong game.
What I Don't Like:I don't find Mahjong that exciting.
Final Statement:This one's for you, Ma!
Read the Developer's Notes:
~~~ OVERVIEW ~~~Mahjong Wall adds more mystery, strategy, and puzzle solving to the ancient Chinese tile game.Remove enough matching free pairs from the Mountain of tiles to build the Great Wall, while deducing the Joker's mystery partner for the final pair to complete it.Dragon pairs are discarded and all must be removed before completing the Wall.~~~ GAMEPLAY ~~~Tap the'info button'(i) for gameplay details. Most importantly, Changing Seasons and Special Moves may free blocked tiles.~~~ CHANGING SEASONS ~~~Season tiles (SPRing, SUMmer, AUTumn, WINter) are changed (not matched) by selecting the current free Season tile, then one of the tiles from the stacks inside the Wall. The first Season is your choice, thereafter they are changed in natural order.~~~ SPECIAL MOVES ~~~Shuffle Mountain Tiles by selecting a Shuffle tile in the Wall.Change Prevailing Wind by selecting a Wind tile (N, S, E, W) in the Wall. Selecting North or South changes free tile removal directions to up/down, selecting East or West changes to right/left.Slide Mountain Tile to an adjacent and lower stack (or empty space) by selecting the Mountain tile first, then selecting the Wind tile in the Wall that matches the direction you want to slide the Mountain tile.~~~ FEATURES ~~~10 tile sets15 Oriental background paintings200 ancient proverbs from the Old Master for games wonUnavailable tiles are dimmedDifferent highlight colors for Seasons (cyan), Dragons (orange), and other tiles (green)Yellow highlighting cautions you of unwise movesEach swipe right shows next free pairEach swipe left will undo previous movesSwipes up/down change opacity of paintings (solid colors and tinted paintings possible)Change tile sets and paintings during gamesStart current game overCurrent game state savedSound effects play along with iPod music (Settings option)New games can use random tile sets and/or paintings (Settings option)Popup Help displays gameplay tips while you learn the game (Settings option)
O U R T A K E ...
Article By BradT
bradt has written 504 awesome app reviews.
