Mahjong Night at TWC2

Mahjong Night at TWC2 is a singleplayer Riichi Mahjong videogame published by Rectangle Zone. It follows the Player playing mahjong against characters from multiple different pieces of media.

Plot

TWC2 (Tables We Cater To) is a dubiously legal gambling club, based on a 'bring your own table' policy. The hosts of the club will provide the players with drinks and overlook any gambling going on. Many characters across different sources are invited to a Riichi Mahjong tournament hosted by Gaty from Battle for Dream Island. It is never mentioned whether or not there is actually a prize for winning the tournament, or how many people entered the tournament total. It is implied that there were other people who entered the tournament other than the games cast.

Cast

The game features many characters in its roll call, here is the order they appear in the opening credits.

• Gaty from Battle For Dream Island as the host
• The Computer from The Wiki Camp 2 as the Autotable
• Vriska from Homestuck
• Michael Bloomberg and Spike from The Wiki Camp 2
• Ponsuke from Seals
• Statler and Waldorf from The Muppets as hecklers
• And You!

Although there are 6 characters not including the player, only four are able to be played against, as The Computer and Statler and Waldorf are simply spectators and only provide commentary.

Gameplay

The gameplay is standard to many Riichi clients. Although the rulesets can be further customised with both mods and ingame settings, the default settings are the standard akaari ruleset. There are also some additional, more specific rules not covered in the games instructions. The full list of optional rules is as follows:

• Red fives are enabled by default, but can be turned off in settings.
• Atozuke is enabled by default, but can be turned off in settings.
• Nagashi Mangan is enabled by default and cannot be turned off without mods.
• Pao is enabled, and cannot be turned off without mods.
• Open Riichi is disabled, and cannot be enabled without mods.
• 13 han hands are counted as counted yakuman. It may be counted as sanbaiman if the "Counted Yakuman" setting is disabled.
• Yakuman stacking is enabled by default, but may be disabled via the "Multiple Yakuman" setting.
• Two-han minimum for five or more honba is disabled by default, but may be enabled via the "Ryanhan Shibari" setting.
• All abortive draws are enabled by default, except for four riichi abortive draw. All abortive draws may be individually toggled in settings.
• The game ends when a player bankrupts.

The player must perform well across multiple hanchans in order to unlock all the (cosmetic only) special items from their respective characters, and beat the final boss. Once the player does this, they are shown the victory screen and may revisit the standard table or the final boss table whenever they like.

Progression Through The Tournament

Although the game is framed as a tournament, there are really only two stages - The standard table and the final table. Winning at the standard table will progress a hidden ranking, when this ranking is high enough they may progress to the final table, though failing to win at the final table will decrease (but not reset) their ranking.

The standard table has the player playing against Vriska, Ponsuke, and Micheal Bloomberg and Spike. All players start at 25,000 points. Only the players placement in a hanchan matters in terms of gaining rank. Ranking is calculated via the following table:

Placement	Point Difference
1st	+30
2nd	+15
3rd	0
4th	-30

Once the players ranking is equal to 100 points, they may play at the final table. The player can choose to continue to play at the standard table with 100 ranking, but the player's ranking cannot exceed 100 points.

The final table is always against Gaty and two random players from the standard table. Gaty and the player start with 35,000 points, but the other players start with 25,000. To win against Gaty, you only need to score higher than her. However, points exchanged between the player and gaty via tsumo, ron, and noten payments are doubled. Other than that, placement does not matter. It is possible to win against Gaty by coming in third as long as she comes in last. If the player scores below Gaty, they lose 20 ranking. Statler and Waldorf are not present at this table.

In addition to winning at the final table, you must collect items from every character at the standard table. To do this, all the player has to do is win via ron or tsumo such that the character goes below 0 points. If this happens, they will give you their special item. It is possible to get multiple items off of a single win if it puts two players below 0 points.

Dialogue

Most dialogue in the game is either situational, with characters reacting to plays at the table. There are also conversations between characters that happen regardless of what is happening at the table. There are some lines of dialogue that only happen under rare circumstances, and are mostly documented using cheats. This section aims to archive some of the rarer lines.

After a Tenhou or Chiihou:

Hm. Well, don't look at me.

Anyone winning via ron on an open tanki wait:

Is there any hand you guys won't deal into?

Yeah, YOURS!

Can play randomly at any time, but very low chance. (In the games files, this voice line actually has 6 copies):

Put this voice line in the game to waste 8mb of space in the games files.

Very low chance to play after Ponsuke goes below 0 points:

THIS SEAL WILL DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THIS SEAL WILL DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THIS SEAL WILL DIE!!!!!!!!

THIS SEAL WILL DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THIS SEAL WILL DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THIS SEAL WILL DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THIS SEAL WILL DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THIS SEAL WILL DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If everyone but Ponsuke declares riichi:

Uh, guys??? *gets scared*

If two players call on each others discards on the same go-around:

Cahoooooooots!!!!!!!!

Bloomberg calling pon or kan on a dora tile:

💰

How the fuck did you say that out loud

Ponsuke must be playing defensively, and then deal into a suji trap

Anyone Who’s Played riichi mahjong Understands That the Idea of a Compassionate God Is a Naive One.

If Vriska loses while being 2-shanten or better for Sanshoku Doukou with eights (This used to play regardless of whether or not there were visible triplets, now it only plays if there are at least two visible triplets.):

DUDE!!!!!!!! I WAS TRYING TO DO SOMETHING HERE!!!!!!!!

If Vriska actually manages to get Sanshoku Doukou with eights:

Read 'em and weep, 8ITCHES!!!!!!!!

Holy shit.

(Walks into scene if she is not already at the table)

WOW, uhh, okay. Oh fuck. Wow.

DUDE. WHAT THE FUCK.

What's the odds of that again?

0.03% divided by 9... Which comes out to about one in a trillion.

Sometimes plays if the player (manually) tsumogiris within one second of drawing:

Are you getting impatient too?

I don't blame you. I'm running out of time too, kid.

... DUDE... DON'T RUIN THE MOOD.

If the players starting hand is 2-shanten or better:

By the way guys, I've decided to start picking favourites.

If the player takes a long time to discard against a riichi, whoever declared riichi will have dialogue:

Jegus, it's not that hard, just go already!

Blehhhh!!!

You know, most clients would have forced a tsumogiri by now.

(Sometimes, any of these lines may be replaced by the following:)

Oh, so THAT'S why it's hosted at night.

Why's that?

Because this game is gonna put me to sleep!

Bahahahaha!! Ohoho!

Bloomberg winning via kokushi musou:

They call me kokushi musou the way I have 13 orphans.

What.

What.

What.

What.

WHAT.

What.

What.

Strategy

This section is not about general Riichi Mahjong strategy, only how it applies to the AI in-game. It is assumed the reader knows basic Riichi strategy such as tile efficiency, when to fold, and when to riichi. General riichi skill is essential to winning, but additional insight to how the characters make their decisions will help your odds just a little.

Although the exact methods of the AI in MNTWC2 are not 100% known, there are a few things that do seem to hint towards how AI makes decisions in-game. For individual discards, each tile in a hand has a "progress" value, and a "worth" value. In addition, there is also another calculation attributed to all other players based on how close to tenpai they seem to be, in addition to the value their hand may be. This is used to calculate the "danger" value of a tile. Different characters calculate these values differently, and will make their discard based on the result of weighing them against each other. However, there is also a slight randomness to this decision making, as characters in the exact same situation have been shown to make different decisions.

A character deciding whether or not to riichi works using a similar formula. The "danger" of each player is weighed against the value of the hand, and how good the wait is. Whether or not the riichi tile is dangerous is also taken into considerations of the calculation, it seems the tile calculation is done first, then the riichi calculation.

Vriska

Ugh... This 8lows, I'll get you back for this!!!!!!!!

Vriska's item-losing dialogue.

Vriska's special item is her Fluorite Octet. Once unlocked, when the player rolls as dealer to break the wall, the dice will be recoloured to look more like the Fluorite Octet (despite it being 8-sided in canon).

Vriska has the highest tolerance for dangerous tiles, and prioritises speed over value in most situations. Because of this, her winning hands usually end up open and cheap, and she also ends up dealing in more than any other character. Although she is able to "steal luck" in her source material, there is no such manipulation mechanic in MNTWC2. Her item is fairly easy to obtain, and you will often get it before facing Gaty for the first time.

Since Vriska ends up throwing many dangerous tiles, and will often throw dora tiles if they don't easily fit into her hand, it is very beneficial to have her as your kami-cha.

Ponsuke

Well... This is actually Niko's, but I'll win it back from you, I promise!

Ponsuke's item-losing dialogue.

Ponsuke's special item is Pipis. Once unlocked, the background colour of the table changes from green to blue.

Ponsuke's playstyle tends to change. He has three different styles - prioritising speed, value, and defense. At the beginning of the hand, Ponsuke will evaluate his own hand and select whichever playstyle is best (playing aggressive with a fast hand, prioritising value with a hand with many dora, or folding if the hand has too many shanten at the start).

Based on whether or not he opens his hand, and his discards, it is possible to tell which playstyle he is currently using. A closed hand will often signify value, while an open hand signifies a cheap hand. However, if the hand is closed and has middle tiles discarded early on, he is likely completely folding. He may also switch to light folding after someone else calls riichi. This adaptive playstyle makes him the strongest player at the standard table.

It should be noted that although Ponsuke's playstyle tends to change, his playstyles are not as extreme as other characters. His aggression is less than Vriska's, his greed less than Bloomberg's, and his defense is less extreme than Gaty's.

To get Ponsuke's Pipis, wait for him to end up in last. He will pick his aggressive playstyle more often, and is therefore more likely to deal into your hand.

Micheal Bloomberg and Spike

S-Sorry spike, but I have to give this up for now

DUDE. IT'S OKAY. I'LL ALWAYS LOVE YOU.

Bloombergs's item-losing dialogue.

The special item gained from this duo is Spike's Spiked Roller. Once unlocked, a miniature spiked roller will replace the player's riichi stick.

Micheal Bloomberg is the one who is actually sitting at the table, and he has a playstyle that prioritises value above all else. He will hoard dora tiles and will keep his hand closed to riichi unless he has a significantly fast hand. Because he almost always calls riichi when he is in tenpai, it is very wise to fold in response, since the hand will likely be valuable. However, he will sometimes delay riichi to try and get pinfu. This means that his riichi often has a ryanmen wait, making suji effective against him. However, if there are few dora that have been discarded, his wait may instead be involved with the dora. This applies especially if the dora is an honour tile that has not been discarded yet.

Micheal Bloomberg has a very low win rate due to his slow hands. As long as you respect his riichi, he will continue to lose points to tsumo and ron. You just have to be the one who puts him below zero points, so up the aggression when he is low (Note: this is not advisable to gain ranking. This is only advisable to force getting his item).

Gaty

Well played! You've managed to beat me. I'm impressed, you've won the tourney!

After beating Gaty at the final table.

Gaty is by far the most difficult opponent to conquer, not only being the smartest AI out of all of the characters, but also the special rules in place are extremely punishing for the player. Before even getting into strategy to beat Gaty, it should be noted that having Vriska as your kami-cha is ideal, since she will often feed into your hands and is useful for going on dealer streaks. Likewise, having Vriska as your shimo-cha is very bad, since she will feed into Gaty's hands. Slower players like Micheal Bloomberg are good to have as a shimo-cha, but this information is only useful if you have either beaten the game or are playing on a pre-patched version that allows save-scumming.

Gaty's playstyle is incredibly defensive, and she very rarely deals into your hands. Despite this, she also pushes when it is to her advantage. She also goes damaten more than any other character in the game, especially if she is chasing your riichi (She hardly ever chases your riichi with her own riichi). Because of this, the player not only has to have good waits for her to even come close to dealing in, but the player must also be incredibly aware of how close Gaty is to tenpai, and pay careful attention to her discards. If she is pushing middle tiles late in the game, she is close to (if not already in) tenpai. If Gaty declares riichi, you should copy her strategy: Only push if it is safe, avoid declaring riichi, and fold if you run out of safe tiles - even if it puts you out of tenpai. Dealing into Gaty's hand (ESPECIALLY on her dealer turn) will give her a devastating lead. Most games between Gaty and a skilled player will have cheap tsumos and maybe a single valuable direct hit. After this, the rest of the game is spent trying to either overturn her lead or preserve your own lead.

Sometimes unorthodox strategies can work against Gaty. For example, suji traps can make Gaty deal into a hand she normally wouldn't have, but for the rest of the hanchan, she will be wary of them. Only use things like suji traps and unorthodox waits sparingly, or if you have no other choice.

Because of the doubled point exchanges, it is (only sometimes) recommended to at least consider manipulation moves like sashikomi. For example, if it is south 4 and you have a lead, and Vriska has called 3 times, it is not a terrible idea to deal into her hand as long as it does not put you below Gaty's score. This is also recommended if you are the dealer in this situation, as Gaty winning via tsumo would be dangerous to you, since your payments are increased twice - once because of your dealership, and another due to the tables rules.

Trivia

• In the day one version of the game, players could close the game on the first screen of a hanchan to avoid losing points, and save scum to get better seating positions. This was patched later.
  • However, post-patch, if the player has completed the game on a save file, they can exit via menu on the first screen to re-roll seating without losing any points.
• It is possible to play with Gaty at the standard table. On a save file with a completed game, type "suuankougayti". When input correctly, the tile discard sound effect will play. When the standard table is selected, Gaty is guaranteed to replace one of the characters. In addition to not having the double payout rules, she may sit anywhere relative to the player instead of being forced into toimen.
• Bloomberg was not asked for permission to be put into the game.