I love a good card game, but I love a good story even more.
Jenn and Adam created Not Your Ma’s Jong to celebrate their grandmothers’ friendship. When they first met, they didn’t speak the same language but did discover they shared a love for the game of mahjong.
To help share this traditional game with a new generation, they’ve reimagined mahjong into a fast paced card game!
Do you know what’s extra exciting?? They’re offering you a special offer to pick up a copy for your family!
How Do You Play?
You’ll need 3-4 players to enjoy this one!
Everyone gets 10 cards and 10 tokens to start. One player also has the honor of being “Ma” for the round.
During the game, you will be attempting to collect 3 sets of 3 cards plus 1 pair to go out and end the round. Your sets can be a run of 3 cards in a single suit ( 1,2,3 in blue for example ) or a set of 3 cards in a single suit ( 3 Winter cards or 3 green fives for example )
To do this, players will take turns drawing a card off the top of the deck and then discarding a card from their hand.
If there is ever a card played into the discard pile that you can use to make a set of 3, you say “STEAL!” This interrupts the play order, you take the card you stole, lay it on the table along with the two other cards you are using to make your set of 3, and now you discard a card as if it was your turn. The game continues from your position, so the player after you goes and all players between you and the player you stole from are skipped! So you better pay attention!
Once you have collected 3 sets of 3 and one pair, you lay down your cards to win the round. Losers pay the winner tokens.
The game ends after someone has lost all their tokens. Then the player with the most tokens is declared the winner!
What Do We Think?
Not Your Ma’s Jong is an adorable and fun card game that I am completely addicted to!
I have always wanted to learn how to play mahjong, but never knew anyone with a set or how to get started. I absolutely love that Jenn and Adam have taken their grandmothers’ love for the game of mahjong and made a creative, fast paced, and welcoming design to help bring the fun and spirit of mahjong to more players!
The illustrations on the cards are adorable; bringing a fun sense of personality to the play experience. We all get a good laugh out of the Winter card! Basically I just want to become best friends with their grandmothers.
As a big fan of card games, I love the rush this brings in trying to create all of the sets you need from the limited number of cards in the deck. There are only 3 of each type of card, so if you draw a blue 6, but someone has already discarded a blue 6 two rounds ago, you know right away that your six will be of no use to you as a set, you’ll have to go for a run if you choose to keep it at all.
You really have to be paying attention, otherwise you could be looking to grab your third red 5 to go out, but it was already played early on! I find that this really helps keep players attentive to the game and what other players are doing. Similarly, because you are allowed to steal a card another player discards, you have an even larger incentive to remain focused on what everyone is getting rid of.
Good for Families!
I find Not Your Ma’s Jong to be a great choice for families to play together. It’s a nice fit for a wide range of ages and abilities!
It’s great for kids in that 8-10 range. Because you need to focus on what is being discarded and be quick to steal when necessary, it can take a lot of practice and mental acuity to keep everything ordered in your mind. Our daughter Alice (8) has a lot of fun playing this!. It’s such a fun game for her to practice and sharpen her card playing skills and the memory required to keep it all ordered.
For any families that have players that struggle to hold cards in their hands, I recommend picking up a set of these card holders. You’ll need to hold a total of 10 cards in your hand during the game so some players might find the extra help beneficial.
Summary
I’m completely smitten with Not Your Ma’s Jong! It has so much personality packed into a fast paced and feisty game! This will for sure be coming with me on my next trip to visit my own grandmother – a sassy card player herself!
What’s even better than this game is the sweet story behind it. I love how this small design team is celebrating the bond and friendship between their grandmothers in a medium that we all can enjoy no matter the languages we speak: A GAME!
If you’d like to pick up a copy of Not Your Ma’s Jong, I have a special deal for you! Enter TTFAMILY on NotMaJong.com for 15% off! With every purchase, 10% of all sales go to charities benefiting senior citizens.
For a chance to win a copy of Not Your Ma’s Jong, visit us on Instagram!
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A special thank you to Jenn and Adam for sending us a copy of Not Your Ma’s Jong for review! As always, our thoughts and opinions are our own.
