Rummy Tiles

[Rummy Tiles] 104+8 C, Singapore.

In Singapore, mahjong shops sell a kind of gaming-tile. The tiles are called 'Rummy', after the game that they are used to play. However, these cards are quite different from the Rummy tiles that are commonly known in the West.These tiles are in effect a pair of International pattern decks that have been transferred into tiles.

The cards have been fairly faithfully transferred. The pips are fully represented on each card, which have an index in two corners to assist the player. The Double-ended courts are also rendered in detail, with the appropriate index attached to each rank. The ace of Spades is also enlarged, agreeing to custom. 

But the most striking feature of the cards is their colour. Each suit is assigned a colour. Spades are black, Hearts are Red, Clubs are Green and Diamonds are yellow. The tiles are so small [ Around 3.5 by 2.8 cm], the risk of confusion between suits would be higher if only two colours were used. 

Knowledgeable readers might recognize these as the four colours of the German Turnierbild decks, save that clubs and Spades have swapped colours.

Through the four suits, the courts possess an identical design. They are differentiated only by the suit symbol, and the colour of the frame that surrounds the courts.  

The King is clearly inspired by the King of Diamonds in a standard deck. The Jack and Queen are less certain. The Queen might be inspired by Possibly the Q. of Diamonds or Clubs. 

The Suit of Diamonds. The attention to detail in the courts is formidable. The maker has taken care to give the faces and bodies of the courts different colours. 

The Joker depicts the head of a clown. There are Eight jokers in this set, corresponding to four in each deck. 

The tiles are relatively thick, as seen in the picture. 

Their backs are "Plain".By contrast, Most kinds of mahjong Tiles sold have a layer of different-coloured plastic attached to their backs. 

The tiles in their carrying-case. Such cases are also used to store mahjong tiles. The case is made of leather-like plastic. Within this case are stored four smaller "trays" that make the tiles easier to bring out of the case. In between them is an oblong tray, which would be usually filled with jetons. This set lacks the jetons. 

 Note the Eight blank tiles in the left-hand side of the case. These are spares, If a tile is lost, this blank tile can be sent to an engraver to be engraved with a replacement. 

Gaming tiles from Singapore

[Gaming tiles], 32c. Anon. 

The tiles in their box. 

Some years ago, I saw a set of gaming-tiles from a Mahjong shop in Singapore. The tiles were extremely peculiar. The proprietor was ignorant about their function, and the objects themselves seemed very old. I nonetheless bought them, and they have been a mystery ever since. 

The box contained 32 tiles. The design of the tiles resembled the ones used for mahjong, but the similarities ended there. 

The complete deck

The complete 'Deck' contained 32 tiles, engraved on long, thin pieces of plastic. This sort of shape is typically associated with Chinese dominoes. But it had radically different subjects. As mentioned above, it had mahjong-like pips with ranks from 1 to 10, plus three 'Court cards', indexed in large Roman letters. The result is a sort of single-suited deck.

The Pips (1)

There is an unequal number of copies of each subject, as you can see here. There are two copies of the ace, the 2, 3, 4,5, 6, and 7 have three copies each. The 8,9 10 and courts again have two copies. 

The Pips (2)

The 7, 8, 9 and 10.  Up to the 8, the arrangement of pips agrees with those in mahjong tiles. The Nine and 10 diverge.  In mahjong tiles, the pips for the Nine are arranged in 3 rows of three. In this deck, they are arranged 5,4. The Ten is absent in a mahjong deck, so our engraver has arranged it 6,4

Three of the six courts. Note the large roundel that shows their rank. 

What sort of game is played with this deck? We can speculate. Counting was clearly an element in the game. But how the numbers were used is another open question. Why are there some cards with two copies of each, and others with three? A game like black-jack is a likely candidate. But the uneven distribution of cards would make the deck awkward to use for such a game. . There are Seven subjects that have two copies of each card (A, 8,9,10, J,Q,K), and Six subjects that have 3 copies of each (2,3,4,5,6,7)

Rank	Number of copies	Total
Ace, 8, 9, 10 Jack, Queen, King,	2	14 cards.
2,3,4,5,6,7	3	18 cards
Total number in deck -----------------------------------------		32 cards

Another possibility is a 'comparison' game, like Daun Tiga or Koo Kiew. The relative scarcity of high-ranked cards in the deck might make these games more challenging. 

The other three courts. 

The game might also have been played with English playing-cards, as the inclusion of the courts suggests. Three of the courts have a blue "Index", and the other three have this painted in red. Does the difference in coloring mean the color of the cards was significant in the game, or is it merely the maker wanting to introduce variety? 

The tiles. 

I do not think the set is incomplete. The tiles fit the box provided perfectly. The distribution of the ranks seems unlikely to be resulting from chance. But if it is not chance, what is the rationale? We can only speculate.


If any reader has more information on what these tiles are, or what game is played with them, the author will be most grateful.