Dmytro Polovynka

Mo Hua Hua

Mo Hua Hua (抹花花, “Wipe the Flowers”) is a three-player game played with a set of 48 paper dominoes. Its rules help clarify certain aspects of Folk Tien Gow, so before reading further, it is useful to understand the general principles of Tien Gow.

Paper dominoes

There are other games played with paper dominoes, but those usually use 84 or even 105 cards, with four or five copies of each tile. In such decks, there is no asymmetry between civilian and military tiles, and they are therefore more difficult to adapt to a standard Chinese domino set.

For this reason, Mo Hua Hua is particularly interesting - it can be reproduced using physical dominoes.

Tiles and ranking

Although Mo Hua Hua uses a special 48-card paper deck, it can also be played with two standard 32-tile Chinese domino sets (a double set).

To construct the deck:

This results in a shortened double deck of 48 tiles.

Unlike in Tien Gow, civilian and military tiles belong to the same suit and can beat one another. Civilian tiles are stronger than military tiles.

Combinations

Combinations in Mo Hua Hua may contain two to four tiles and resemble those found in Folk Tien Gow.

Supreme pair – [4:2][2:1] – beats nothing but cannot be beaten.

Other combinations are as follows in descending order:

Don’t be surprised that some combinations have two and some have three tiles. That’s normal for Mo Hua Hua.

For example, [4:4][4:4][4:4] is a combination of three tiles that can be beaten, for example by [1:1][2:2][3:3], which in turn can be beaten by [6:3][6:2][6:2]. The number of tiles can be up to four.

If it is a “Supreme” or “Bull” pair, Pendulum, or Fish combination, all the necessary tiles must be present for it to be a valid combination. For example, [6:3][6:3] is not a bull pair (it does not contain [6:2]).

But there can be more tiles in the combination – up to four, for example [1:1][2:2][3:3][3:3] is a valid Fish combination.

Moreover, [1:1][2:2][3:3][3:3] is greater than [1:1][1:1][2:2][3:3], because in such cases, the number of spots plays a role.

Some sources mention even larger combinations, but their exact structure is unclear. For practical purposes, we may assume that four tiles is the maximum combination size. Moreover, there are many variants of this game. This could be one of them.

Deal and bidding

Each player receives 16 tiles.

After the deal, there is a single round of bidding:

There are no bonuses or penalties connected to passing or playing later.

Gameplay

At the start of the session, the first dealer (remember - dealer moves first) is chosen by lot. Thereafter, the deal rotates counter-clockwise.

The game proceeds in normal trick-taking fashion:

Scoring

End-of-Hand Settlement

Example: if the player took 13 tricks, he will receive 6 chips from each player.

Please note: It is possible for two players to win simultaneously. For example, if two players each take six tricks, they are both winners and the third player is the sole loser.

In-Game Bonuses

Players may also receive chips during play:

Conclusions for Folk Tien Gow

Mo Hua Hua suggests several possible interpretations for Folk Tien Gow (though these remain hypotheses).

First, in a reduced deck containing all civilians plus [4:2][2:1], civilian may beat military tiles when played alone.

Second, Folk Tien Gow bidding is likely straightforward: players merely decide whether they wish to play the deal. If all pass, the dealer moved on.

Third, it is possible that there is a similar calculation in the Folk Tien Gow, as in Mo Hua Hua. For example, it can be 1 point for 3-4 tricks; 3 points for 5 tricks + 1 point for each subsequent one. This roughly corresponds to the Chinese description, which mentions that there can be two winners.

The next game is Bagchen. Unlike Mo Hua Hua, its rules are well documented and clearly understood. It is also the most complex known variant of Tien Gow.

Sources:

Video sources (search for “掀牛九 紙骨” on ixigua)