Probably it’s less popular in America, but it’s huge in Asia, so I doubt the solitaire version is more well known globally
replyYes, but most of HN is outside Asia, so I feel the clarification is helpful here.
replySolitaire version should be pretty well known due to the computer game.
replyLess known to the Western centric HN crowd, maybe.
replyI only have 2 data points, but my mom in the southeastern US (in her 70's) and all of her friends have started playing and are fully addicted and the same seems to be true at my golf club in Inland Northwest. Maybe it's getting a toehold? (in a very non-HN demographic)
replyThis is generational. Of course, the generation of Westerners who played a lot of four-hand Mahjong is dead now, but still...
replyhttps://bamgoodtime.com/blog/history-of-american-mahjong
> What followed was one of the biggest game fads in American history. Between roughly 1922 and 1924, mahjong exploded across the United States. Department stores couldn't keep sets in stock. Demand grew so quickly that bone and bamboo tiles had to be imported from China in enormous quantities. Newspapers ran columns explaining the rules. Eddie Cantor performed a hit song called "Since Ma Is Playing Mah Jong." Fashion designers created mahjong-themed clothing. Entire social calendars reorganized around the game.