Play Majong Games the Right Way

How to play Mah Jong

Majong beginning, the four players sitting on the sides of a square table, the four winds, north, south, east and west. The cards are then placed down and mingle. Each player gets 36 of them, respectively, puts them in two rows of 18 pieces, stacking the lines of the other. The stores are on the table and then joined together to form a square.

East starts the game of Mah Jongrolling the two dice. He counts himself as first and proceeds to his right till he reaches the number displayed on the two dice. Seven tiles are selected by each player from right to left, from the chosen wall of the player. This is known as the 'flower pile' and reserved for exchanging with flower tiles later in the Majong game. At this point, a decision on drawing is taken, which normally begins from the rightmost part of the wall and continues to the left till the needed number is taken. The east begins by taking 2 stacks of 2 tiles, totaling 4 tiles, followed by south, west and north by taking the same number of tiles. The process continues until all players have taken 3 stacks of 2 tiles each totaling 12 altogether. One more tile is then taken so that each player has a total of 13 tiles in his hand.

On receiving all 13 tiles, every player arranges them in order. Flower tiles that a player gets are 'retired' or kept aside to the right of the table, face up. A tile is then taken from the flower pile in place of the retired tile. The flower tiles get additional points. The east player begins the round by taking one more tile from the wall and discarding one of his tiles.

How to Play a Majong Hand

After discarding a tile by the east player, the player on his right (south) takes a tile from the wall. The player can keep the tile or discard it, which is dependent on the hands in his possession. If he decides to keep the tile, he needs to discard one from his hand. The Majong play continues this way with each player picking up and discarding tiles.

The players need not pull out the tiles from the wall at all times. If a player can complete a sequence or a set with a discarded tile, he can take it rather than pulling out from the wall. The Majong player who picks up a discarded tile must declare his intent by stating 'chow', 'pung', or 'kong', as the case may be. A series of 3 tiles in an identical suit is a 'chow'. A 'pung'is three matching tiles in an identical suit and a 'kong' is for similar tiles of the same suit. For instance, if a player has two, number 7 tiles of the circle suit and a number 7 tile of the same suit is discarded, he can declare 'pung' to complete his series. On completion of a sequence using a discarded tile, the sequence needs to be 'retired' and kept aside at the right of the table.

Winning Majong

A player wins on his completing a combination of 4 triplets, four of a kind or sequences. The 'retired' tiles also ads up in the final combination. Additionally, he should have a pair of the same tiles, also known as the 'eyes'.

Alhambra Board Game Review

Balance your limited resources and strategic benefits as you build the greatest Arabian palace and fortress in Alhambra. Efficiently spend your cash in 4 different currencies to buy up various building extensions. Use these extensions to grow your Alhambra from around your central fountain. Ensure that your palace is protected by sturdy walls, and dominate your competitors in all the different architectural styles!

Alhambra is a German-style board game or Eurogame, and is an Arabian-themed re-imagining of the stock trading board game Stimmt So! which in turn is a re-imagining of the mafia influence board game Al Capone. Instead of influencing mafia families or buying up profitable stocks, the aim in Alhambra is to control the most powerful, well-rounded and well-defended palace. The premise of the game is based on the fabled Moorish Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain.

Just like the real Alhambra palace, the goal of the game is to create the most inspiring palace/fortress ever, containing many buildings all featuring different styles of architecture. The palace will also need to be properly defended by sturdy walls. The style of the game is primarily a draft game, where both the buildings as well as the currency required to buy them are revealed at random and could be scooped up in an instant.

Players earn scores at 3 different times in the game, which are fairly evenly spread out. At each scoring event, players earn points if their Alhambra contains either the most or second most number of buildings in each of 7 architectural styles. To make things more challenging, each of the 7 building types award different amount of points. So players will need to decide whether they want to fight others in order to get majority in the most valuable building types, or go for the less rewarding types hoping that they won't face much competition there.

Every round, each player has the option of either buying a building, or taking a currency card. You buy buildings by using 4 different currencies. There is a board with 4 slots, each representing a currency. These slots are filled by building tiles from a bag (like in Scrabble) at the start of each round. While the board slot tells you what currency to use, the building tile itself will tell you how much it costs. So if a 9 cost building tile appears in the yellow currency slot, that tile will cost 9 in the yellow currency.

Other than buying building tiles, you can use your turn to collect currency cards. Each turn, there will be 4 randomly revealed currency cards of different types and values, and you are allowed to take either 1 currency card, or any number of currency cards with a total value of 5 or less. And contrary to conventional wisdom, taking a currency card with a high value might not be the best idea. The thing is, if you manage to buy a building tile using a combination of currency cards totaling the exact cost of the building, you get to perform another free action!

So what do you do with the building tiles that you buy? Each turn that you buy a building tile, you must either place it in your Alhambra, or in a reserve section (You will need to use another turn to grab the tile out of the reserve). There are a few rules regarding the placement of these tiles. They must be connected to your existing tiles, and their edges must match their neighbors. So an edge with a wall must be placed next to a tile whose connecting edge is also a wall. Similarly, open edges must be placed next to open edges. In addition, you must be able to walk from your central fountain to every building tile in your Alhambra, and you can't walk through walls.

There is a fair amount of strategy involved in the game. Firstly, you will need to decide which of the 7 architectural styles you want to focus on, and that will depend on what your opponents are doing. In terms of individual building tiles, the tiles with walls generally cost less than those without. Buying them can be risky though, as you might end up enclosing your Alhambra and be unable to expand. However, you also score points depending on how long your longest continuous wall is. And you have to consider all these while bearing in mind that the scores will be tallied at 3 specific scoring events.

Alhambra is a pretty easy game to learn, since its mechanics are very straightforward and there isn't much that you have to worry about or keep track of. It is also a reasonably fast game, and can be played in about an hour. It serves as a great party game or as an introduction to the more sophisticated strategy board games.

Complexity: 2.5/5.0
Playing Time: ~ 1 hour
Number of Players: 2 to 6 players

You can read more about Alhambra at http://www.ageofboards.com/alhambra.html

How to Play Mahjong - The Unique American Way

If you don't yet know how to play Mahjong (American Mahjong) you are really missing out big time! Mahjong is a great strategic tile game which is social, addictive and will keep you and your family or friends entertained for hours! Don't hesitate, get up to speed with the Mahjong rules and join or form a Mahjong group.

American Mahjong is generally played with four people, but can also be played with three. The game is played with tiles. There are three suits - bam, crack and dot. The goal of Mahjong is to build a winning hand. Each hand is made up of a combination of tiles. Tiles are chosen and used or discarded until a player completes a hand. Some hands are more difficult to make than others. Understanding how winning hands are constructed is part and parcel of learning how to play mahjong.

Mahjong, which originated in China, remains an incredibly popular game today. American Mahjong is based on the original Chinese games but differs in a few key ways. In American Mahjong rules a "Charleston" occurs after the initial deal. This step is obligatory. Unwanted tiles are discarded in the 'Charleston' sequence, generally resulting in a player being much closer to a winning mahjong hand. A courtesy pass may also follow the Charleston if two players sitting across each other agree. In American Mahjong rules there are more special hands than in the Chinese form of the game. The hand consists of a combination of quint, pung, kong, pair or single tiles. Another key difference is that jokers are used in the American form of the game.

You will find that American Mahjong will provide your family and friends hours of fun, excitement and entertainment. If you are willing to take the risk of becoming a Mahjong addict then learn how to play mahjongg today. Learning how to play mahjongg used to be a extremely difficult, but now learning how to play mahjong is easier than ever.

Live Tiles On The Samsung Omnia 7

There is one convenient and minimalistic feature on the Samsung Omnia 7 that not many phone have. This is live tiles. First of all, what are these tiles? In a nutshell, they are easier ways to get through the features of the phone. This will definitely make your mobile experience easier and more convenient.

Missed Calls Tile

There are times when you neglect to see if you have received a missed call. This means that it easy to miss out on an important call. With the Omnia, this will never happen. You get a tile that shows how many missed calls that you have received. It will be easy to see this tile on the home screen.

Facebook Tile

We can never get enough of Facebook. How we wish can stay logged in for the entire day. However, there is no way for you to stay in front of the computer for the rest of the day. With this phone, you can do this. You get the Facebook tile that allows you to see friend's status updates as well as the people who "like" them. You never have to wait till you get to a computer.

Messaging Tile

Are you afraid of missing out on an important message? With the phone, you never have to worry about this happening. It has the messaging tile. With this tile, you get to see all of the text messages that you are still to open. You will never miss out on these important messages.

Outlook Tile

Are you one of those people who constantly receive emails? If this is the case, you will love this helpful tile. This is the Outlook tile. Here, you get to see if you have received and important email. With quick access to this feature, you always get to respond to mail.

Schedule Tile

Are you one of those people who have a hard time managing his or her schedule? With the schedule tile, you will never miss out on a task or schedule. You will always know what you have to do on a certain time. This way, you always get the job done.

Customization

These are not the only tiles you will see on the on the home screen. You can easily customize what you want to put on these tiles. You can put anything on them from games to browsing. There are so many of the phone's features that you will able to place on home screen.

These are the live tiles on the Samsung Omnia 7.

Games of Dominoes

We have perhaps played dominoes when we where children. The box of rectangular tiles is probably hidden in the drawer or a closet ready to be opened on a rainy day or on a sluggish Sunday afternoon. This ancient game is still loved by people even today. Dominoes can be played in different ways, yet people follow the basic rule of the game because it is easy, enjoyable and easy to keep score.

Incase you have forgotten the game, rediscover it by going thorough the rules and scoring patterns of the game. Then you will certainly enjoy playing it with your kids, friends and grandchildren. One game of dominoes is enough to get you addicted and hooked. One would yearn to share this timeless and classic game with someone you love.

The games of dominoes are simple and easy to understand. Dominoes games are available in a wide variety of forms, from simple to complex and from complicated to uncomplicated.

Dominoes seem to have instigated in China in the 12th century and found its way in the 18th century in Europe. Today it is popular all over the world. It is played by all age groups and nationalities. It is the national game of many Latin American countries, a popular club game of Europe and a favorite party game in America.

The games of dominoes must have been derived in ancient times from the dice, which is considered to be the oldest gaming implement. The term bones was replaced by the word dominoes for it resembled the half-masked domino. The domino pieces are either made of ivory, wood, metal or plastic. There are numerous games that one can play with dominoes. The draw game is the simplest and the most commonly played game.

A domino game set contains 28 pieces and can be played by 4 people. These pieces are even referred as tiles, cards, bones or stones. The ancient set of dominoes was either made from ivory or bones. Each tile is rectangular in shape and has lines engraved in the center which divides it into further two ends. These ends are either blotch with spots or are left blank. These ends could either have between 1-6 dots or have none. These dots are known as pips. The tile that has the maximum number of spots on both ends is called as doublets. The pile that is not used while playing dominoes is referred as boneyard.

Phonics Printables

Phonics is not that difficult to teach, as long as you approach it correctly. In terms of phonics development I think there are a few main steps that you want to take, and this should guide what kind of phonics printables you use in your lesson.

1. Stage 1-Letter Recognition: For young learners, it's very important to make sure they can accurately recognize all letters of the alphabet before starting to learn letter sounds. Some people try to teach them concurrently, and that can be confusing for some kids. There are a lot of great worksheets for this stage. One good worksheet we often used was "connect-the-dots", but instead of using numbers, we'd use the letters of the alphabet to make the picture. And once the letters were connected in the correct form, they formed a cool picture. Like a unicorn, or a 66 Oldsmobile (kidding!) Another good activity is the missing letters tracing exercise. You have students trace the letters of the alphabet (you'll need a font that makes kind of dotted lines so your students/child can trace the letters out). Have them practice tracing the letters for a few weeks in a row. Encourage them to use different colours and have fun doing it. Then, gradually remove letters from the alphabet and have students try and remember how to write them. By gradually removing letters, students will learn to memorize what shape the letters are.

2. Sound worksheets: Next, you'll have to learn the sounds that the letters make. You can make your own worksheets for this, or search for them online. But keep in mind, a lot of people that made these phonics worksheets seem to have forgotten to thoroughly cover all phonemes and graphemes. Some phonics printable websites will cover all the basic 26 letters of the alphabet, but they'll forget important digraphs like "or" and "ow". Make sure you research "synthetic phonics" to be sure your phonics printables cover all 44 phonemes and 120 graphemes of the English language.

3. Practice Blending Letters: Books are a great way to do this; specifically you're looking for "decodable readers". Here are some excellent "decodable readers" that will help your child practice reading on their own:

a. BOB BOOKS: Everyone raves about these books, and with good reason. Kids enjoy them, they make sure to review the phonetic concepts that they use in the book, and they're pretty quick.

b. FUN PHONICS BOOKS: These books have the important distinction of using comprehension questions at the end of the book to test your child's understanding of the material. Really sweet stories that your child will enjoy. Positive, upbeat story themes.

c. THE FAMILY READERS BOOKS: These books have large print for easy reading, and the extensive 72 book set has the same interesting characters and imparts good values.

4. Test Their Skills: Once they've practiced reading, it's fun and important to test their skills. There are a couple of good ways to do this. There's the misspelled word activity, where one of the words is spelled incorrectly and your child tries to find it. There's the scrabble tile game, where you say a word and your child tries to spell it out with scrabble tiles (you can race each other to see who does it first). There's the missing letters game (where you cover one of the letters and they try to guess what it is).

Green Techniques for Tile Cleaning

When it comes time to clean your tile floors it seems like we are always looking for that special cleaning agent to make cleaning more efficient. The problem here is that most tile cleaning agents have some sort of chemical make up that can create toxic residue.

These toxins can be released into the air or even left behind on your tile after cleaning. For people with young children or pets, this isn't exactly creating a safe environment for them to play and walk on.

Lately many companies have been releasing eco-friendly cleaning agents for professional cleaning companies and everyday consumers. The problem is that sometimes these can cost a good deal more than their toxic counterparts. It's not fair to have to pay more for a safe alternative but until the rules of the game change that's just the way it's going to be.

But the news isn't all bad or disappointing. There are cost effective, green alternatives to the traditional chemical cleaners we are all used to. And what's more, most of these alternatives are already in your home.

Using a vacuum cleaner on your tile, just like your carpet, is a quick and easy way to keep dust, dirt, and other loose particles off your floors. Getting these loose particles up on a regular basis will keep them from building up over time and becoming more work for you later. If you have a vacuum cleaner that is made for hard floors, all the better. But if you don't just set your vacuum to the lowest height setting. Regular vacuuming will make the rest of your clean-up efforts much easier.

If you've stuck with your vacuuming routine then mopping should be a breeze. When it comes to mopping you have a few choices as to what you can use. The cheapest, most environmentally safe product you can use is plain water. Water is a universal solvent. This basically means that it can dissolve most compounds. Water, along with a good mop, can be a very effective option for mopping.

If you need a little more cleaning power then try some dish washing soap. Just add a little to your water. When compared to other traditional cleaners dish soap is far less toxic and gentle enough to not harm your tile. If you need to pick up your cleaning power just another notch then try using white vinegar and water. One part vinegar to ten parts water should help you with those stubborn stains. You can increase the vinegar portion if needed. Just keep in mind that you do not want to use vinegar on natural stone tile. Vinegar will etch into natural stone and leave scarring which can cost a pretty penny to fix.

These tile cleaning tips should put a smile on the faces of those who are environmentally conscious. The products used are very eco-friendly and safe for your floors and your family.

Try These Scrabble House Rules

Any family with a Scrabble tradition has doubtless developed their own set of house rules, particularly if that household includes children requiring modifications. House rules can make play more interesting and lively, place an emphasis on learning rather than competition, or simply be used to speed the game up. Below, are some common house rules I've heard about or used at home. Each rule adds its own twist to the game. I welcome you to try them!

Eternal Bonus Squares: I was raised on this one. What was my disappointment when I found out at a friend's house that the rules killed the efficacy of the bonus square once it was covered! By deeming them "eternal," meaning they remain in force and count every time the word is added to, each move becomes more rewarding than the first. Scores soar into the hundreds. Egos inflate. The skillful player must try to make words that can't be added to, at least when covering a bonus square.

Blank Tile Substitution: This rule keeps the blank tiles in constant circulation. For instance, if someone uses a blank on the board in place of a T, and you later wind up with a T on your rack, you can substitute the real letter and re-use the blank. This is really nice toward the end of the game when everyone is down to the nubs, letter-wise.

Allowable Dictionary Use/Broadening the Word Base: To give the game more educational significance, we've sometimes allowed players to browse the dictionary when it wasn't their turns. This rule is especially helpful for children or beginners, whose vocabulary base may still be limited. If playing against more seasoned opponents, the use of a dictionary, along with offering free challenges, can even the playing field. When my sister and I were learning German we purchased a German Scrabble set and mixed it in with the English letters. Words from either language were allowed. Since letters have varying degrees of usage in different languages the point value and letter distribution will vary among foreign sets. This made our game even more interesting. Scrabble sets can be purchased on the internet in many different languages.

Free Trades: Allowing free trades of the following combinations reduces the element of luck, and can make the game more fun. Two pair Three of the same letter Six vowels Six consonants

Of course, the blank tile can not be used to substitute for any letter in a trade. Y can be used as a vowel or a consonant, to the player's advantage. Only one trade is allowed per turn, although your tiles may be rejected if it restores one of the above conditions to your rack.

Take Two: This last suggestion isn't so much a house rule, but an alternative game which can be played using Scrabble tiles. The number of players is unlimited, and can be practiced alone, or played in a large group. The more players, the faster the game will go. To play, turn all the tiles face down in the middle of the table. Each player draws seven tiles, turning them over in front of him or her. Laying letters in words across and down, players attempt to connect all their letters. The first player to do so calls out, "Take two!" and everyone draws two more tiles. The game continues until the tiles run out. The winner is the first player to use all his of her tiles. The value of unused tiles is counted and a negative score is recorded. (The winner scores a perfect zero.) This game may be played in successive rounds if a longer version is desired.

Best Games in the App Store

Games in the Apple App Store are the biggest selling items since Apple launched the iPhone applications. These games can cost from as little as 99 cents to over 30 dollars. There are a plethora of free games as well, as many paid apps have smaller free versions. In order to download and play these games you need an iPhone or iPod touch and the iPhone 2.0 software. You can either download it to your computer and sync it to the iPhone, or you can download it directly from your iPhone of iPod touch.

Cube Runner was created by Andy Qua. It's similar to the 1980's game of the Star Wars arcade game. The mission is to dodge the cubes as long as you can. There are no missiles to shoot, no shooting at all for that matter, and nothing that has fire associated with it. It really is a game of escapism. There are different levels of difficulty and you can even download packages with extra difficulties. This helps to keep the game from becoming stale as it gives you more variation to the same game. Another cool thing is that you can change your view from portrait to landscape.

Tap Tap Revenge is a lot like Guitar Hero and Rock Band. You tap lights that coincide with little balls as it plays to a song. There are different levels of difficulty and it is a two player game. Just like Guitar Hero, this game is addictive, especially since it is on your phone and you can take it with you wherever you go. The maker of this app has said that they will be releasing more soundtracks for the game.

Bugdom 2 is a game that has awesome 3D graphics that capture your interest immediately. You play a grasshopper named Skip Mcfly who goes around exploring houses and looking around yards while at the same time he meets friends and enemies.

Enigmo has 50 levels of play that continue to get more difficult. The purpose of this app is the flow of water or fire to their correct them can get support. At first glance it seems impossible, because this is a puzzle / maze type game, but how you play, the answer is clear. You also get tools that allow you to play as a move to one side.

One is a popular board game that families in the whole family a night to play country. Well, now is also a play on the iPhone, one that can play. It 'pretty easy, as many know, but if you've never playedthe game all you do is match up like colors and/or numbers. If you cannot match your card up to the one previously played then you draw a card. If that card is something you cannot use, then you must continue to draw cards until a sufficient card is picked up. The first one to get rid of all their cards wins.

Another well known game is Boggle. It is a game where you have tiles of letters that get scrambled up and you simply touch the letters, they have to be touching each other in any direction, to make words. Make as many words as you can in the time allotted. You also have the option of making the grid bigger and changing the look of the tiles.

There are so many iPhone games you can choose from in the Apple App Store. Currently there are over 19,000 different apps to choose from. Some you may like and others you may not, but with that great of a selection you're bound to find something that suits you.

Tile bathroom floor - important considerations in the choice of tiles for the bathroom

Choosing the right bathroom floor tile is by far the most important decision you must make when designing a bathroom. Tiles last a long time and you should not change very often, it is essential that they get right the first time.

Keeping that in view, here are some important tips and purchase the tiles could help you make the right decision and prevent you from buying the wrong bathroom on the floor.

First consider how thelook for work finished floor bathroom is, what kind of style you are after.

E 'must see how the tiles will look like on the floor, the tiles and keep the budget you have for where you are installing the floor.

According Get accurate measurements of the bathroom.

Once you have decided to adhere to the style of bathroom tiles for your bathroom, adding a measurePart. Without accurate measurements of the soil, it would be difficult to estimate the amount of tiles in the bathroom had to be done.

If you plan to cover the walls with the tiles are then measured as needed.

Without proper measurement you might end up buying a lot of wasting more money and buy it, or not much less, the risk of the same design available.

Hunting for the third reflection on the budget tile, tile Types, styles and sizes.

After we have chosen and the style of bathroom tiles to get the measurements, the time is right brick.

Depending on the amount of space that must be met in order, would be important to see what kind of tile suit of the budget.

Several kinds of ceramic tiles, glass in different price ranges.

If you plan to tile the walls with well to remember that a choice> The color of the tiles to the wall that is lighter than those on land. It 'also important to choose the right tile size and weight of the bathroom floor.

If you choose a smaller tile for the bathroom, it would generally cost more money and time for installation.

There are some who believe that small tiles aesthetically better than the greatest, but it's really personal preference.

4 Choose the right colorBathroom Floor Tiles.

The choice of color must also be some consideration, because it makes it difficult to choose a variety of colors and styles available.

Although white is a very common color, it could be more style, a combination of colors and designs.

What color is selected, the excess of every color and style (decoration) of the bath should be considered.

Fifth select a card that will. Take

Last but not least, the long-term life of the boxes should be taken into account.

For the protection of waters, you choose tiles. Vitrification is a process, the manufacturer of weaving the mantle surface of the tiles and re-mastered a. This provides additional protection from water to prevent absorption of water in the maintenance of ceramic tiles and below the surface.

In the hope that these suggestions to help you find some supportand the purchase of adequate bathroom floor tiles and proper for your bathroom.

Board mahjong game for Quality Time

board games are a great way to spend time together with family or friends. Your children and you will be binding, if board games together. Are your children math, reading, communication and concern for each other. Many people rushed into the game today and play together, enjoy some fun together. Moreover, the economy can be played over and over again at home for free at the time of purchase > Game.

Instead of children play video games or hand-held game system in their bedroom or living alone, as it is locked to the television host of a game like the board game Mah-Jongg.

The games are a great way to share with friends. It serves a few snacks and drinks and get a game and you're ready to go out for dinner the rest of the. Great fun and laughter that happens when playing a board> Game.

The Mahjong board game is a strategy game, the game is a Chinese tile. If sparrows have never heard the noise, you can see with the sound of mahjong tiles. There are eighty-one combinations of the mahjong game card can be purchased.

The tournaments are also held in this board game. Can keep you and your family or your friends Mahjong tournament. Make your home with a couple of decorations, as if in Japan or China. Design a menu and wine list of the cultures of Japan and China described. Add a delicious dessert, before you start playing the board game of Mahjong.

After all well fed and relaxed, it's time for your tournament to begin. It might be fun to finish the night who the winner a small prize. Make sure the price fits the theme of the party with Chinese or Japanese.

Once you and your family and / or friends fall in love with the camera > Mahjong game, you might want to buy the travel size game. If you go on family trip with your long journey, is the perfect game. Before you know it, you arrive at your destination without the kids keep asking: "Are We There Yet "

When you go to the hotel for a relaxing holiday as a remote cabin, camping in nature, or even one, bring the Mahjong game.

Summary

Top games as the Boardcompete> Mahjong game for another time, while shopping with a.

Mah Jongg set - selection of quality games

If you or a collector of game, you just love to play, there are many ways for you to choose them. This article explores the various sets of quality game that you can easily find in the market today. Mah Jongg sets are known for their unique look and high quality standards known. Materials such as bone, ivory and bamboo, these traditional Chinese game fixing. The range offers affordable and expensive tiles Set. Some of them have Joker tiles, while others do not, you prefer, you can choose this sets include the manuals in English and pairs of dice. All these sets are expensive luxury or sold in bags or bags.

Here are some of the phrases are now, you can:

American style game with Red Wood Case

This beautiful series of elegant, as it is traditionally made of red wood. It has a total of 166 tiles, so play> Play in both Chinese and American styles. For the Chinese, which uses tiles, and 144 for the U.S., there would be extra tiles 22nd There are two types of dragons, red and green. You can use it as a "Hong Zong 'and' does' the Chinese version of the game.

Qilin American Bone Bamboo Vintage September

The elegant and attractive set - - would look great even if only in a small space. Rosewood, which has five drawers that lookand traditional craftsmanship. It does not have racks, but the tiles include jokers. With a total of 166 cards, you can play both American and Chinese versions with him. It also comes with a pair of dice and gambling clubs.

American Jet Black Tiles

Locked in a stylish black, this series is very interesting. E 'line with five trays for storage, two dice and coins bet. Manuals in English are also included.

Family Board Games - looking for something new to play?

Why Board Games?

A few months ago I was looking for a way to get a bit 'more fun, and actually interact with people. I've always loved playing PC games online play involved. Social interaction has always been fun, but there was always someone who was five states away, or sometimes had to play with difficulty, when, so I started searching for games.

We used to play board games as a child, but wasusually monopoly, knowledge is a very long game, as you probably all. So I started exploring other options.

There are a lot of good reviews of games out there, but sometimes it's difficult to have a game you find one that fits. There are some good websites that actually help people, even play the best games for them. Here are some tips to think about whether a game.

Find the right game forYou

Some things to consider when choosing a game ...

How many players do you want? Some games are designed specifically for two players, some for four. Players Four games are sometimes hard to get together. With a two-player game, you can leave someone out. Many of us have only a two-player games, because we will be able to play only with their spouse. There are also some games that are designed toSingle-player game ... for the times you can not find another player, but want to fix your game. Look at the age of the players. You do not want to make it difficult to know where people are not interested. If you plan to include younger players, do not want a game on its head and can not enjoy. You want them to grow and enjoy the games, just like you, right? It is the theme that something is open to all? Some people do not like fantasy. Somedo not like war games. Some games have exactly the same elements, but several pieces.
Reccomendations to begin

Here are some of my favorites, which normally can accommodate different amounts of players.

Carcassonne

This is a game where you build a city laid and get points. It 's easy and it changes every time you play because each player chooses how to build the city. How to build the city,You can get points. The bigger the city, or the voice in the game, the more points you get.

Train to train

The goal of the game is a train from one city to another. The nice thing about this game is its level of simplicity. You can go through any number of cities there. Each train can only do one of three things: 1) draw train cards that can be used to build a track, a track with the train tickets in hand, orobtain a new card to your destination, you can choose different ways to build. It 's very funny and plays fast (usually less than an hour). The instructions are very simple and children seem to appreciate the topic.

Settlers of Catan

This is one of the most popular games in the world - and have probably played. Simply it is a "country" with different resources. If you roll the dice and have a city on a resource, you get the map of resources. In Catan,Collect cards of resources for cities and local roads. If you place the city get resource cards. If you have a particular card, you may need to change places with other players, so there is much interaction between people at every turn. You win by making the first of a certain number of points.

Blokus

Who takes care of city building and resource gathering? You want a good puzzle game. If you like Tetris or Sudoku, the game is probably yourAlley. Think about how you go through a maze of rocks. They have many different pieces, and the goal of the game is all get on the board. Here's the trick, you can just touch the corner of your piece and you can block other players in Remember the advice is specific to the number of players you have, because the standard Blokus game, up to four players, the output can Travel two players.

We hope that these recommendations andfind a new game or two for you and your family. It 's a great way to get the time to your family or your computer for a period of game shows.

Where to download game Mah Jong

Mah Jong, the resettlement of rules and competitions, it is still incredibly popular. Now that there is a real part of the mainstream that people know where they can play. Knowing where to download games mah jong expensive helps you play more often without paying for games to be taken to your home can be that often.

is published with the first electronic version of Mah Jong in 1983, it is not surprising that you can> Play online for free. There are a number of different version of Mah Jong, you can get on the Internet. Each download has a unique version of the game. While the rules remain unchanged, there are adjustments and configurations that you will play for hours. So, where do you go to download these versions? Here are some tips on where to look.

First, you can always start any research on the Internet with a search engine. With the care and '"Mah Jong Free Downloads" you will immediately receive a number of options before you. You can also search for the search of downloads for different types or versions of the games. Once you find the desired, you may have downloaded it.

Find the versions of the game that can be customized. Many of them offer options such as rules for playing with. You can also choose to design layout of tiles, tiles and even background music, so the game is exciting. This allows you to take one and make the changes you want, that you never get bored of the game. You can play Mah Jong times the number of game and is never the same game twice.

Make sure that the right system to download games, though. You probably need a high-speed connection such as DSL or cable have. Secondly, you want a fast computer and updated, so do not wait for days,> Games for download. The idea is to them and the game begins.

Once you know where to download new games of Mah Jong you want to go forward. You may have different versions, updates and even new games. By honing your skills in different ways and get a feel for the use of tiles, you will improve your overall capacity. If you play with friends or enter tournaments, then you will be able to keep from embarrassing himself.

Learningwhere to download game Mah Jong is not difficult. As long as you understand the Internet search engine and you will be able to do something in terms of mah-jong. Download different versions, different games and different sets of rules. Note that in a game to save time you can download versions that you can change the rules. So you can play as you want, whenever you want with no problems at all.

Tiles Are Perfect For Basements

Whenever people think about redecorating a house they simply forget about the basement. Even if it's been a year now since you've moved into the new house it's time to do something about this room. This can have so many purposes that it would be a shame to waste this very practical space only because you're out of ideas.

You could turn it into a getaway area, a workshop, a place where to play poker with your friends. You could practically do anything with it as long as you decorate it properly. Start by choosing the flooring. Cement is definitely out of the question. Choose natural stone tiles like marble ones. They are extremely functional and look great.

One of the biggest advantages of marble tiles versus other types of floors is their easy cleaning. If they're properly set-up you'll be amazed how easy it is to make the place sparkling clean in no time. It doesn't matter if you want to use your basement as a workplace or as a recreational area. It has to be easy to maintain.

If it's going to be a workplace you need a floor that's easy to clean because you may get dirt on it or spill several liquids. If it's a recreational space it's not enough to be able to wipe the wine that may get on the floor, it also has to look stylish even if it's a basement. This way nothing can stop you to party each weekend with your friends.

If you're planning to use the basement as a storage area you need floors that are resistant and that can handle heavy weights. Marble has been used in many industries especially for its resistance and durability. So no need to worry that a marble tiles flooring might not handle your heavy cabinets or even the grass cutting machine.

There's one important thing to know about installing marble tiles. All online DIY articles have this as a primary rule: clean and dry the surface perfectly before starting anything else. Don't worry if the floor isn't properly leveled, you can fix that with the level of mortar you use to stick the tiles. Now that you know that, all you have to do is choose which marble tiles would look best in your basement. Remember even if it is a basement it has to look nice in case you decide to change its purpose and turn it into a room for parties or where you and your friends can just hang out and play games.

The Game: Mahjong Solitaire

In the advent of online games mahjong solitaire became one of the most popular. This type of game is different from the traditional mah-jong or solitaire. It is a tile game which involves matching in order to undo the arrangement and reveal imaginary treasures included to serve as the game's rewards.

This game was first introduced on the universities and colleges as student projects. American companies such as Activision took interest in the game and eventually developed it into an online game. The online game format was first introduced in 1986. It was named "shanghai" and a version was created for a platform for Macintosh.

The game is made up of 144 tiles with different designs such as numbers, flowers, and seasons. The tiles are placed in a grid that is most of the time higher on the portion near portion. In the computer version, the lay-out is randomly created by the computer. The lay-out created by the computer is in different patterns, sizes, and heights.

Given this situation, mahjong solitaire is an easy to understand game and is attractive to most players. This was the reason why the game gained popularity. It is also free of charge and does not involve monthly premiums to maintain the game. The player would just log-on to websites with mahjong solitaire and play the game. The player can play as long as he can without having to worry for whatever payments.

Mahjong solitaire is also an advisable game for all ages. This game cannot be used for gambling purposes. In case players would eventually place bets on this, the amount involved are not that large due to the feature of the game which is not concluded easily. It takes a lot of time and strategy before the game produce a winner or loser.

The winner of a mahjong solitaire is determined through a point system. Each tile has a subsequent point. The character for example earns one point, circles earn two points, and bamboos earn three points. The player who earns the greatest points is considered the winner.

As a whole, mahjong solitaire is one of the best ways for individuals to relax and unwind. It does not involve extra spending and monthly payments. The only requirement for this type of game is a computer and an internet connection. It is offered in different websites and players have the liberty to select what they want from the game offered.

Constructive Patio Wood Deck Tiles Extensions

A patio deck is to provide space for informal conversation and daily enjoyment of the countryside. Patios are usually built either on the back or in front of the residence. Effective patio design wood deck tiles deepen the area of your home and add a room where you can entertain friends too often. People who talk to shareholders would have a patio, as with an exclusive kitchen and dining area. Decks add-on is among the jobs at home very difficult and very nice upgrade you can perform. As a beginning of a terrace last model, it is important to remember that your new places to entertain outdoors should not be chic. There are courts in several areas, suitable for paving the specific tastes of each owner and finance, natural clay stones, bricks and concrete, you do not have some kind of outside. A wood deck tiles bridge is also another choice.

The need for a sumptuous house and detached livelihood oriented resulted in designing new deck and concrete way. Designs concrete patio are a necessity because of the trend results of the population and the recurrence of terraces and decks in the distribution of homes of every person. Concrete patios are also reasonable, and create a call for less protection than other materials. You can create solid slabs like bricks or stones to look for. There are also facilities to create you look like wood deck tiles surface to the environment more elastic. Concrete is a solid surface prevents the growth of weeds completely. Today you can enjoy your patio slabs pairing with an outdoor kitchen equipped with sitting area, fireplace and pool complex features a showcase elegant terrace. The elasticity of concrete patio designs and key materials add to the attributes of the house and provide real value for money spent. Concrete is cracked for a period of time and therefore also for this reason, needs renovation.

It is fairly common for decking is made of concrete experience, but in these days of stone and brick terraces, patio projects are surprisingly common. They give a look fashionable restructured and works well with brick or stone houses. Brick and natural stone, perhaps noble, but they are very hard and may contain too much heat and cold climatic conditions. They can be placed in the base area of sand or gravel. The proposed method of installation of brick or stone is it placed on the concrete. But this method is sustainable, but you will be years, the beauty of a low maintenance yard.

Wood deck Tiles Bridge was a major improvement after the house, the beauty and value of your home has increased. A game designed as a platform of wood is glued to the conservation of mass, outside built-up areas and your home is a good choice Farm Design. It could be caught by a wooden railing for protection according to their height above the ground. Decks but require regular maintenance and re-staining after a while.

Home terraces may come in different shapes and sizes can be arranged, and therefore always revitalized. Out-of-doors is always fun, always a popular hobby for friends and family, and assumed that meet your selection is also very interesting.

Mah Jongg Sets - Selection of Quality Games

If you are a game set collector or you just love to play games, there are many options available for you to choose them from. This article will illuminate the various quality game sets that you can easily find in the market today. Mah Jongg Sets are known widely for their unique look and topnotch quality. Made of materials such as bone, bamboo and ivory, these are traditional Chinese game sets. The range offers both affordable and expensive tile sets. Some of these have joker tiles while others do not, you can pick the one that you prefer. The sets also include manuals in English language and pairs of dices. All of these expensive or luxury sets are sold in leather pouches or bags.

Following are some of the sets you can purchase:

American Style Game with Red Wood Case

This beautiful stylish set looks traditional as it is made of red wood. It has total 166 tiles so that you can play the game in both Chinese and American styles. For Chinese, you would have to use 144 tiles while for American you would need 22 extra tiles. There are two types of dragons; red and green. You can use them as 'hong zong' and 'fa' for Chinese version of the game.

American Bone Bamboo Vintage Qilin Set

The most elegant and attractive set - - it would look great even if just placed idle in the room. Made of rosewood, the set has five sliding drawers that look traditional and extremely sophisticated. It does not have racks but includes the joker tiles. With total 166 tiles, you can play both the Chinese and the American versions with it. It also comes with a pair of dice and betting sticks.

American Jet Black Tiles

Closed in an elegant black case, this set is highly attractive. It comes with five lined trays for storage, pair of dice and betting coins. Manuals in English are also included.

Casino Card Games

There are three types of casino card games -- Poker, Black Jack and Baccarat. These games are played in almost every casino around the world. Though, some people play for leisure, there are those who gamble and bet. There are different types of Poker, Black Jack, and Baccarat. The card games played in casinos usually involve a lot of money on bets and the stakes are high.

Poker is played with a standard deck of 52 cards. A deck of cards consists of four suits, spades, diamonds, clubs and hearts. Each suit has 13 cards. At times the game calls for more or less cards -- the most common variation being the addition of wild cards such as jokers. Sometimes the ace might be the lowest rank card instead of the highest rank card. In some games, it may be both the lowest and the highest rank card. The joker is included in all combinations. The use of the joker depends on the type of the game. Any other card can also become the joker. The number of cards dealt depends on the game being played. In draw poker five cards are dealt, while in stud poker it may vary from five to seven. The other types of poker are Caribbean poker and Omaha Hi.

Black Jack or 21 originated from the French game called 'Vingt-et-un.' In American casinos, the rules are simplified but rigid. It is played with a pack of 52 cards. More often two different packs of cards are used. In the casinos, there are constant dealers. The dealer shuffles the cards and a player cuts the pack. Cards are dealt in the clockwise direction. Different methods of dealing are used depending on the stakes involved and the betting.

Decorate Your Bathroom Mexican Style

Your Mexican style bathroom is bold and colorful. It is inviting and makes you feel happy. You can have your Mexican style bathroom with just a few decorator items and bright bathroom towels all the way to a whole new vanity and new saltillo tile floors. Lets start with the whole bathroom remodel and work our way up to bathroom accessories Mexican style.

The Mexican bathroom floor. Never carpet. Mexican saltillo tile or a glazed Mexican tile will give you the most authentic Mexican bathroom floor. Saltillo tile in a range of terracotta colors to manganese, a rich brown color. Saltillo tiles are made in a variety of shapes. What you see most are squares, six, twelve and sixteen inch. Then there are rounded patterned ones. You can do your bathroom floor overall with one tile or you can create a tile rug using several shapes or sizes of tile.

How to create your Mexican tile rug. Use the twelve or sixteen inch squares on the entire bathroom floor except where you are placing the rug. Then make a border using smaller tiles. These can be broken pieces, colored tiles, patterned tiles or just the small saltillo tile. Then fill the center with the six-inch Mexican saltillo tiles set on a diagonal. For inspiration look at the designs on area rugs.

Mexican style bathroom walls. Paint or tile your walls in bright colors.
(Keep in mind you still have to put on make up and want to complement your pretty skin when choosing your colors). A great way to get that Mexican style is to paint a bold stripe in a chili pepper red or Tucson teal at chair rail height all the way around the room. Paint a lighter color on top and another bold color on the bottom part of the wall. You can also use bright colored Mexican tiles for your stripe or paint or stencil Mexican style designs in your stripe.

Your Mexican style bathroom vanity. Find an old dresser or buy a Mexican rustic chest or dresser cut a hole for the sink. Use a Mexican talavera pottery sink or buy a cobalt blue, sunflower yellow, aqua or red sink. Use bright solid or patterned Mexican tile on you vanity top. Or just waterproof the wood with a sealer. If you don't change your vanity, sink or countertop paint the cabinet base either solid or with a dry brush technique in a bold color.

Your Mexican style bathroom mirror can be framed in iron, shinny shaped tin or copper. A heavily carved frame can work and can be painted. There are also the shinny tin framed mirrors with the Mexican tiles inset.

Bathroom fixtures for a Mexican style bathroom. Replace shinny brass or silver faucets with dark rustic fixtures. Look at styles in antique bronze. If you change your sink fixtures don't forget the bathtub and shower for your overall Mexican bathroom style.

Mexican style bathroom lighting. Hang a wrought iron or rustic chandelier over each of your vanity sinks. Sconces on each side of the mirror work well too. If you use the chandelier, scrolly wrought iron sconces to hold pillar candles are totally Mexican style. Put a dimmer on the lights for those relaxing soaking baths.

Bathroom accessories Mexican designer style. Bright, bold colors, scrolly iron pieces, real Mexican serapes and Mexican pottery. Bright painted wood and Mexican woven or appliqué wall hangings will pull your Mexican style bathroom together.

Paint an old chair in a bright turquoise and place a stack of bold colored towels on the seat. Take a bright serape stripe fabric to make a valance over the shower curtain rod or hang a length of south of the border fabric from the ceiling to the floor to hide the open shower curtain. Use a solid or bright floral printed shower curtain that compliments.

Hang a piece of wall art that you love where you can see while soaking in the tub. Your Mexican wall art can be a framed print, a Mexican weaving or appliqué or scrolly wrought iron. Use Mexican pottery bathroom sink accessories. Use a small Mexican flower pot or mug to hold your toothbrushes and salsa, you have your bathroom Mexican style!.

Qwirkle Board Game Review

You'll love Qwirkle, the board game by MindWare. It's not just for the kiddie set, mind you. Even adults are having fun with its surprisingly simple layout. Contrary to popular belief, it's not just a plain match-the-colors-and-shapes game. Qwirkle is Scrabble, Rummikub, and Dominoes combined, which means there's logic and strategy involved. If you don't watch out, you might find yourself scrambling for the right tile to rescue you.

On top of it all, Qwirkle board game is MindWare's most awarded game ever, garnering recognition from various toy industry awards such as Mensa Best Mind Game 2007 and Major Fun Award 2007. True enough, Qwirkle encourages strategy and deep thought, and for little kids, pattern recognition and sequencing.

Does that sound nifty or what?

So how do you play Qwirkle Board Game?

1. Qwirkle board game has 108 tiles painted with one of 6 shapes (starburst, diamond, cross, circle, square, and an X-mark) in one of 6 colors (yellow, orange, red, green, blue, purple).

2. The object of the game is to form rows and columns of tiles with either matching color or shape.

3. At the start of the game, place the tiles face down on the table, and shuffle them well. Each player then gets 6 random tiles.

4. Player with the most tiles sharing one attribute starts the game. He or she plays them in a row or column, and scores 1 point for every tile.

5. For example, first player lays down four diamonds (4 points). Next player builds on that existing row with one more diamond (of a different color than the ones laid down) and scores 5 points. Or that player can match color instead (of a different shape than the ones already played).

4. A player who adds the sixth tile in a series (called a Qwirkle) not only scores 6 points for the tiles, but also gets 6 more bonus points.

5. Players must continually replenish their six tiles on hand after each turn.

6.All colors in a row and all shapes in a column must be different.

7. Game ends when all the tiles have been used, or when a player uses all his/her available tiles. (This last person gets 6 additional points.)

As you can see, Qwirkle board game is a thinking game with endless tactics and maneuvers to furrow the forehead of even the most adept players. You can block your opponent from forming a series, and, of course, be prepared to get frustrated as well. You can even score big by creating multiple combinations of colors and shapes (reminiscent of Scrabble).

Tips For Playing Scrabble

Scrabble was invented by an unemployed American designer called Alfred Butts, who set out tinkering with a word game in 1933. In the beginning named Lexico, Butts bit by bit developed the game over the following five years.

If you are sick of with losing, here are some tips to assist you meliorate your game.

Don't utilize "baby" words. By this I think of do not begin using words like "cow," "the," "sun," "go!" These words are worthless and worth very, very few points. The only time to employ these, is if you have reexamined all potential words. I intend you require to have looked for and picked at your brain for those prominent words you think back from schooling. If you have done all of that and are yet clueless, so go ahead and lay down your three point word.

Arrangement on the board is essential. Surely, the squares that double and triple your letters and words are the to the highest degree desirable. But there are other ways to duplicate your letters and words when those squares are not useable. Play as much of your word against a word already on the table as you can, adjoining as many letters of both words as possible. That duplicates every letter in your word, or at least as many tiles as you are capable to line up.

Another tip in playing Scrabble, is to spread out across the board. More often that not, when following people play scrabble, they constantly seem to jumble all of their words up onto one side, or one corner. This is OK awhile, but finally you don't have any room to play off of words, and your pick goes very restrained. Rather of doing this, seek to do words evenly across the board, this will allow for a greater pick, and you will end up with large and better words.

Scrabble helper is a outstanding tool that will receive words from a applied tiles even a blank tiles.

The following tip is to look out for utile words. I was in a book store the other day and they had a poster of horse anatomy on display - a regular gold mine of potentially utile words. But browsing through a good dictionary is an amusing and utile recitation. Invariably hold a dictionary in the bathroom, open willy nilly.

Don't let your opponents catch your tiles. You may conceive it isn't a big deal, but if it comes down to a two or three point game, letting an opponent see a tile can end the game. E.g., you are playing to 300, and the score is you 292, and the opponent 275. If the opponent views you have an "E", and an "E" is worth few points and then the opponent knows that whatever they do, they shouldn't play a word that would aid you in using your "E.".

Try to use all your tiles up firstly at the end of the game, and don't get left with high marking tiles in your hand. These count against you at the ending, and are added to the score of the person who completes foremost.

Math Games For Teachers

There are lots of great math games for teachers to liven up their math classes and not to mention, develop interest for math in students! Since everyone enjoys playing games, learning math becomes more user friendly and for those who fear it, a lot less frightening!

Students enjoy the immediacy of knowing that they got a right answer during the game. Likewise, parents can be encouraged to play games with their children at home and share in the math learning process after they are given the necessary instructions from the student or teacher

Math games are a valuable aid to teachers in the classroom to:

introduce new skills
drill new and old skills
review already learned skills
evaluate students' understanding of fundamental math concepts

They can supplement the regular instruction time or be used independently by students at learning centers or in small groups.

Many common games can be adjusted to complement a math curriculum. A few of these include: Bingo, Dominoes, Concentration or Matching, Jeopardy, and Tic-Tac-Toe. Also, consider popular board games like Candyland, Monopoly or Monopoly, Jr. as math games for teachers to help students gain a better understanding and retention of math skills.

A math game that can be used in the classroom to teach patterns is one where students have to duplicate the math patterns represented on the board. The teacher or leader uses different colored magnetic tiles to demonstrate a pattern. Students use tiles, beads or counting bears at their desks to mimic the teacher's pattern. Solicit volunteers to come up to the board and create patterns to continue the game.

Another fun game which can be used to practice money skills in the classroom is the Shopping Game. Begin by creating a mock store in the class with actual items or pictures taken from magazines of favorite things. Assign a price to each item and have volunteers come to "shop" in the store and purchase a few things. Have students work in groups to estimate the cost of the purchase and then find the actual price of items. For more advanced students, you could require them to calculate the tax as well.

Let's say you wanted to teach a group of students how to subtract numbers without regrouping. You could introduce the abstract concept of subtraction by playing a game where the students could concretely see that you start with a larger number and take away a smaller number to finally arrive at your answer. After the students are capable of subtracting, you could use games instead of flashcards to drill and review these facts. Finally, you could utilize games to assess their overall speed and ability to complete subtraction problems prior to moving on to the multiplication lesson.

Because of the fun and lively cooperation (or friendly competition) that occurs during play, students will often ask to play games. They are a legitimate alternative to the customary worksheets and rote memorization of facts that have long been in use by the teacher. They can lead into or follow many math lessons just as you would use other learning aids or manipulatives. Also, students can be encouraged to share these games with their families and encourage parental involvement. So, use these games and others like them to motivate your students and allow them to enjoy math in your classroom.

What Are Ceramic Art Tiles?

What are ceramic art tiles? Hand crafted tiles are a very unique and interesting way to decorate your home with style and personality. One thing for certain, is that they are elegant and beautiful. There are two types of art tiles. Some are pre-designed with decals consisting of all types of dramatic designs. The other type of ceramic art tiles consist of custom designs.

When you are searching for a unique and exciting way to redecorate your home, ceramic art tiles definitely qualify. One quality that makes them so great is the fact that they are so versatile, meaning they are perfect for anywhere in your home. You can bring out the beauty of any kitchen and make it look more modern and exciting. Bedrooms, living rooms and even bathrooms seem to come alive with this amazing art. You can even use tile art for patios, sundecks and pool areas.

Ceramic art tile is now affordable for everyone to enjoy and even makes a great gift. They add a personal touch that stands out more than a picture or painting ever could. They show that you put thought into your decor and they can have special meaning for you and your family. They are durable so their beauty never seems end. Decorating your home with ceramic art tile can be the start of a new family tradition, something special that every generation can add to.

Ceramic tile art features all types of designs such as nature scenes, animals, Victorian designs, ocean scenery and more. Whatever you choose, you are sure to be pleased with the result you get from decorating your home with decorative tiles.

Free Mahjong Games

Are you interested in discovering how and where to play mahjong for free?

As you've probably found, if you try typing 'free mahjong games' into your search engine you'll get all sorts of weird and wonderful mahjong variations - plus the usual load of useless spammy sites. If you can be bothered to plough through it all you'll hopefully stumble upon a free game of the type you had in mind. But we all know what a hit and miss process that can be. So let's quickly summarise what there is out there.

If you're looking for free mahjong games, you have in fact got 3 basic options.

Firstly, you could go to a multi-player site and take advantage of their 'freeplay' games. This means you can play a game of 'proper' mahjong, against other people. These sites are getting increasingly popular, especially since US online gamgbling legislation reduced the gaming options for a lot of players. Once you've played free for a while, you've always got the choice of opting into to the pay-to-play games, where you can start winning prizes!

Alternatively, you could go to one of the multitude of 'Free Games' sites and choose a mahjong solitaire tiles game. These places have a wide menu of games, and most of them these days include a few mahjong tile-matching games. You can generally choose to download or play online. Usually you'll need to put up with loads of pop-ups and advertising because that's how they make their money. Some prefer to avoid the advertising by offering the option of cash tournament games, where you compete against other players to get the best score. Again, it's up to you to decide if you're ready for that.

Your third option is to go to a site that supplies software for free download. These types of sites are like software supermarkets with all sorts of software packages available for download. Usually you can choose between a free version or one with extra features, such as free upgrades, 'expert' game levels, or better graphics. Of course you'd have to pay for the higher spec version.

So now you know what your options are. It's up to choose you which type suits your preferences. The next step of course is to choose between the sites that fall into each category...but that's another topic!

Fortunately you'll be glad to know that there are places out there that can save you the time and effort of all that research. For an extensive and objective review of the best mahjong games out there (and a whole load of other mahjong resources), check out
http://www.the-mahjong-guide.com/

Best Board Games For Family Game Night

Families are starting to long for more time together. When each member is plugged into an electronic device all day long it is easy to spend time sitting together but not actually being together mentally. Board games have been around for a long time and hold a classic appeal because you actually get to talk, sit and interact together, face to face.

Kids especially like games because they have a nice tactile feel and focuses them on thinking differently. Electronic games will always be around but board games are making a come back, especially with the new ones.

There are so many games available it is dizzying. Picking the best board games can be hard, so here is a short list to get you going.

Simple Fun Card Games

For Sale...This is a very fun game of bidding and bluffing anyone can play
Sleeping Queens...You wake these sleeping beauties up with your kings and steal them with your knights.

Race Games

Jamaica...Race around the island battling other pirates and finding the buried treasure.
Around The World In 80 Days...Race around the world, trying to do it faster than you opponents, even riding elephants.

Strategy Games

Ticket To Ride...One of the most popular games. Build your train empire longer and faster than your opponents.
Finca...One the island of Mallorca, you can grow all the juicy fruits and sell them to be the richest farmer on the island.

Group Games

Incan Gold...A fun, quick, game of bluffing and pressing your luck.
Wits & Wagers...Trivia game that you don't need to know anything.

Abstract  Games

Taluva...Be the best at building your tribes and the island. The game changes constantly. This can be a mind bender.
Blokus...Great challenge to put all the pieces together better than your opponents.

2 Person Games

Hive...This is like simple chess, but with bugs. Faster and more fun than chess.
Lost Cities...Classic card game that everyone likes. Just be careful not to start an adventure you can't finish.

Kids Games

Elk Fest...Great table game to work the eye-hand coordination.
Labyrinth...A Tile sliding game that can challenge any one, yet simple enough for kids.

Our family has enjoyed all these board games and they will keep you busy for many family game nights.

How to Install Heated Floor Tiles

If you've ever walked across a tile floor in the middle of the night in your bare feet, you know how extremely cold the floors can be. Many people install beautiful tile, then are forced to cover it with area rugs just to make it tolerable to walk on.

However, you can install tile heaters under the tiles, which warm up the tiles and make them very comfortable to walk on. In fact, the floor tile heaters come with a thermostat which controls the temperature. And because tile hold and radiate heat so well, keeping them warm in the winter helps regulate your house's temperature.

The easiest type of heated floor tiles actually snap together, making installation a breeze. To start, remove the molding (base) around the edge of the room, and to prepare the subfloor. Screw the subfloor to the joists to help eliminate squeaks. Ensure the floor is flat, and float the surface with quick-drying cement if needed.

Lay the underlayment mats, and tape the seams. The underlayment is like an electric heating blanket that you lay out in sections, connecting to each other, and ultimately to the thermostat. Once the heating units are in place, measure and install the tiles themselves.

Look for porcelain tiles that are specially designed to be used with heating systems. The kind that snap together are great. A "floating" floor just clicks together, and there is no adhering the tiles with cement.

Trim the tiles to fit on the edge. A wet saw with a diamond blade is great to cut the porcelain tiles. When there is no room to hammer the tiles together (at the edge of the wall), use a prybar to pull the tiles together.

With the snappable tiles, you do still need to grout them. Use a 'flexible' grout. Apply it wet, let it dry, then use a wet sponge to wipe away the residue on the tile surfaces.

Scrabble Flash Game - The New Scrabble Flash From Hasbro

Have you heard of Scrabble, the most popular word game ever? Would you be interested in playing Scrabble without any game board, whenever and wherever you wish to? If so, let me introduce to the Scrabble Flash Game, an electronic alternative of Scrabble.

The Scrabble Flash Game (also often referred to as Scrabble Flash Cubes or even Boggle Flash Game in countries outside the USA) has been released in early fall 2010 and it comes with a brand new technology that allows the Scrabble Cubes recognise their position to each other. This technology is called "SmartLink" and is one of the reasons why Scrabble Flash is going to be one of the top-selling toys at Christmas 2010.

The Hasbro package contains 5 electronic tiles of a square shape (that's why the game is also called Scrabble Flash Cubes) and each of them has an electronic display that shows a letter from the English alphabet. Batteries are included.

The goal of the game is to form as many English words as possible in a time limit. There are three game modes you can play; In the first game mode, you are supposed to create as many 3-, 4- or 5-letter words as possible within 75 seconds and every time you create a word, the letters on the tiles change to 5 new ones. Whenever you create a word (regardless of length), you receive one point and when you create a 5-letter word, you get additional 5 seconds. When the game's over, the tiles will tell you how many words (=points) you have achieved and how many is maximum possible.

As for the second Scrabble Flash game mode, you are given 75 seconds as well, but this time, you are allowed to spell 5-letter words only. Logically, when you spell a 5-letter word, the letters on the displays change to 5 new ones.

The third type of play is probably the most enjoyable; because it can be played with as many people as you want, literally. However, you are allowed to form 5-letter words only (likewise in game mode 2). You are given a short time to do so and when you successfully create a word, the tiles will say "Next" and you pass the Scrabble Flash Cubes to the player sitting next to you. But if you fail to spell a 5-letter word within the time limit, the tiles will say "Out" and that means you have been eliminated. I find this game mode the best and after some time the game gets hectic, as the time limit decreases with each new word created.

In the conclusion, I can highly recommend the Hasbro Scrabble Flash and give it 9/10 stars. It is a perfect toy to play on the go and it gets even more amusing when played in a bigger number of players.

Floor Tile Mortar - How to Mix Floor Tile Mortar and Achieve the Correct Consistency

No matter what method you use to mix floor tile mortar, be it by hand with a trowel or by power drill and mixing paddle, you must aim for the correct mortar mix consistency regardless. What you are looking to achieve is a mortar consistency similar to that of creamy mashed potatoes or pancake batter. This may take a little time to get correct, but when done properly it can save on a lot of time on the job of laying floor tiles, and a lot less hassle.

If your mortar mix is of a soupy or syrup-like consistency and is not able to stand upright on its own weight, then you will need to add more powder. If it is thick enough so that it does stand, but it does not flow slowly like molten lava when subjected to the force of gravity, then more water will be required. With regards to both instances where either powder or water is needed to be added, do this on a very minimal and gradual basis, other than hasty and generous scoops or pours.

There are no exact mix quantities to creating the perfect floor tile mortar consistency, therefore it's really much of a guessing game found through trial and error. The biggest factor which would throw these variables off would actually be the water you are using that is found in your particular region. Hard water has more of a dry chalky mineral content to it, so it would account for needing more water used in the mix as opposed to soft water regions.

For the correct amount of floor tile mortar to mix, again this is just a trial and error aspect depending on the speed of your laying floor tiles. Freshly mixed mortar should ideally all be spread within 15 to 30 minutes of mixing for best results; however it is possible for it to remain fresh for up to 2 hours. By placing a damp cloth or towel over your mortar mix bucket, you can slow down the drying-out process by keeping it moist for longer periods. Don't use a soaking wet cloth though, as it may drip more water into your mix and throw off the consistency.

As a final important time guide to obtaining the correct mix consistency of mortar, when you have that molten lava mix that your are happy with, you then need to give it mixing and rest periods. These allow the mortar dust to bond properly with the water and maximize its adhesive properties. Using your power drill and mixing paddle if possible to make the job easier and less strenuous, mix your mortar for a solid 5 minutes. Then, let it sit for between 5 to 10 minutes in order for it to congeal best. Once rested, mix again for a continuous 2 minutes, and then it is finally ready to begin spreading and immediately laying your floor tiles.

New Board Games For Kids

Kids now-a-days are part of the X box generation where everything is digitalized and computerized. However, board games for kids are not necessarily out of style. Playing board games is a great way for kids as well as friends and family to get together and have some quality family fun.

Connect Four is one of the new board games for kids that is similar to the good old fashioned tic tac toe. The game is played vertically and its aim is for the first one to get four checkers in a row while preventing your opponents from doing the same wins.

The classic and all time favorite Scrabble is a great type of board games for kids to play with. This is a great way for kids to practice their spelling and vocabulary while having tons of fun. The object of this board game is to score the most number of points by forming words from the letter tiles.

Battleship is a classic kind of board games for kids and adults alike to enjoy. This is a game where skill, strategy, and luck play an important part in winning the game. The aim of the game is locate your opponent's battleships while concealing your own.

As far as board games for kids go, Sorry offers players the chance to use their skills at strategy and planning to win the game. Players must move their game pieces from the Start field to the Home field on the game board. Unlike other games that use dice, Sorry uses game cards with numbers that allow players to take certain actions. Players can even send their opponents pieces back to the Start field and at all cost must avoid the dreaded "Sorry" cards that are in the deck.

Twister is one of the perfect board games for kids to enjoy during sleep-over nights and parties. A mat with different colored circles or discs is the game board and the players use their own bodies as the pieces to win. The objective of the game is to spin the spinner and follow its instructions on which hand or foot goes to what color of the circle that is selected on the Twister mat. The last player to remain in an upright position with all hands and feet on the correct disc colors wins.

If you don't have enough money to buy yourself a trip to Las Vegas but you are in the mood for a fun game of dice then, the board game, Yahtzee is just what you are looking for. This is one of those board games for kids and adults to enjoy. There are five dice in the game and the objective is to throw them all at the same time. Different combinations of the dice make for different points. A scoring card is used to track down the scores and the player with the most number of points wins the game!

So whether it is a wet rainy day outside, or its one of those days that you simply want to stay home and spend time with the kids, these board games for kids are a perfect way to spend your time together as a family and a great tool for babysitters as well.