Mahjong Epic is on sale for $0.99, and at that price, it’s a steal for an incredibly powerful iPhone game. This game brings the power of Mahjong, the tile game from ancient China where you only match “free” (not surrounded by any other tiles) tiles to clear the board game, to the palm of your hand. And it does so incredibly well. I especially appreciated that the game was sensitive to my touch, and it knew where I was pointing. Kristanix Games got this rather well. I’ve played so many other games where I felt like I experienced “fat fingered-ness,” causing me to ‘tap’ on the wrong game piece. Not the case wit Mahjong Epic.
In Mahjong Epic, the lightly-shaded tiles are the ones you can play with at the present. The darker-shaded ones can be used when the other tiles are cleared. The game offers multiple boards to play with at first, and it also sports a nice editor that lets you create your own boards, making the possibilities for enjoyment endless.
The only thing I’d suggest is giving more options to the player: the background should be customized to our liking (blank, a photo from our album, for example), and we should see other style tiles. I’m a big fan of Mahjong and Shishen-sho (which, by the way, Kristanix Games should totally make) but as a player from non-Asian descent, the tiles are confusing to me and most look the same. I think a little variation — different tile boards — could make this game a real killer.
If you want to try it out beforehand, Mahjong Epic Lite is available for your perusal. I think you’ll agree that the paid version, though, is quite worth it.
