Game Details

• Title: Funtown Mahjong
• Developer: FunTown World Limited
• Released (UK): 28/01/2009
• Current Price: 800 MS Points
• Age Rating: E
• Game Type: Board Game
• Online Multi-player: 2-4 players

Background

FunTown Mahjong contains the “proper” multiplayer version of Mahjong which is not the version many of us are familiar with as we are used to the Solitaire version. The Mahjong in this game is the 16 tile version, which to be honest does not mean a thing to me as didn’t know that there where any versions apart from the solitaire one. The game itself is played in a table environment against a range of character avatars (not NXE versions).

Main Reasons to Buy

Its the best Mahjong game available as a xbox live arcade title, but then again its the only Mahjong game available as a XBLA title.

Main Reasons to Avoid

There is only multi-player Mahjong available and only one version of it. The tutorial is useless and starts off with going over how people are seated?! and choose which tiles to pick. This is fine if learning how to play a real life game but pointless in an online game where these features are automated. The tutorial also only briefly skirts over the concepts only visiting each of them once. The game also does not use the Xbox Avatars but their own custom ones which look like something found in a PS1 game

My Recommendation

AVOID – 4/10

The game is just bad, it should not be possible to mess up games like Mahjong but Funtown manage it. It feels and plays like a port of a 5-10 year old game and does not have a proper tutorial system. It would have helped if they included more versions of Mahjong  including the Solitaire one most of us are familiar with. Save your Microsoft points and get something else.

Funtime Mahjong is sadly worthy of being played by the Shamertag for 3 reasons

1. The Tutorial System is useless and I was almost as clueless how to play Mahjong after I finished it as when I started
2. The NXE introduced avatars, why not use them
3. The Game is rated as Avoid