I like to think I'm a relatively smart person; I can often remember most of my ABCs and it only takes me around five seconds to add seven to something. But one thing will remain forever beyond me: mahjong, the Chinese tile-based game that I mostly know as 'that one Yakuza minigame I simply don't interact with.' The fact is: it's impossible to learn. The other fact is: I've never seriously attempted to learn it. These facts are unrelated, to my mind.
Anyway, I may have to finally learn it, because some mad lad has gone and added mahjong—under the setting-appropriate name of mazte—to The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, probably my favourite game of all time.
Created by modder CarlZee, Mazte – Playable Mahjong Card Game will let you sling tiles in any of a number of inns across Vvardenfell (and beyond, if you have Tamriel Rebuilt installed, which you should). It is still, you know, in Morrowind, so don't expect a lot of fancy animations, but I'm still remarkably impressed by how well it's pulled off.
Playing is simple. Just walk up to a Mazte box—set atop this or that table in the affected inns—and hit go. You can choose to face up to three opponents and how much to bet on the game, at which point the box will splay forth its contents and arrange tiles and coins according to the options you chose.
Like I said, this is still Morrowind, so your opponents are all, ah, empty chairs. But hey, you can watch your ghost-enemies make their moves as the turn order progresses, and the tiles are all inked with appropriate artwork: rather than Chinese characters, you play using tiles like Hlaalu Councilman and what-have-you.
And if you've somehow gotten this far in life without learning mahjong, it also adds a rulebook. Thank god.
