Ponjan

Overview

Ponjan is a digital tile game published digitally by Takara Tomy for the Nintendo DS (as a DSiWare title) on November 25, 2009 and Wii (as a WiiWare title) on December 1, 2009, both exclusively in Japan.

It is a digital adaptation of the real-life Tomy game of the same name (sometimes known in English as Pom Jong), and is a simplified kids-friendly variation of four-player riichi mahjong. It is the first official adaptation of the game since the original's 1976 release.

Similar to mahjong, Ponjan has four players attempting to be the first with a winning hand formed by drawing and discarding mahjong tiles. Unlike traditional riichi mahjong, players are limited to forming three "Pon" (three-of-a-kind) melds for a nine-tile hand and the game uses a unique set of 81 tiles that are evenly split into three designs (boat, car, and plane) and three colors (black, red, and blue). Much of the complex rules of mahjong have been abandoned and the scoring system is simplified.

Along with the traditional Ponjan tiles and rules, the game includes a "Sushi Ponjan" mode which uses a special set of sushi-themed tiles. These tiles are split into eight colors (green, blue, dark purple, light purple, red, pink, orange, and yellow) and three numbers (1, 2, and 3), with the remaining tiles being special power-up tiles. Due to the different split, this mode features some rule changes and revamps the scoring system (allowing for different types of scoring hands, including those based on numerical sequences and pairs).

One notable aspect of the game is connectivity between the DS and Wii versions of the game, as each player can use their own DS handheld to play, with the Wii console displaying the table in a satellite setup.

As of March 31, 2017, the DS version of the game can no longer be acquired due to the closure of the DSi Shop. As of January 30, 2019, the Wii version of the game can no longer be acquired due to the closure of the Wii Shop Channel.