Quint
A quint is a group of five identical tiles in American Mahjong. A set has only four of most tiles, so a quint usually needs at least one Joker to complete.
Definition
A quint is a group of five identical tiles. A standard set has only four of each suit, Wind and Dragon tile, so a quint of any of those needs at least one Joker. Flowers are the exception: an American set has eight Flowers, so a quint of Flowers can be made without Jokers. Quints come from American Mahjong; Chinese and Japanese mahjong have no five-tile groups. Hands with quints appear in the Quints section of the NMJL card.
How It Works in Gameplay
Building a quint takes five matching tiles, with Jokers filling in for the natural tiles you can't get. When you expose a quint, you show the table a big commitment, and the other players will know exactly which tile you're holding. Managing your Jokers matters: you need to collect enough of them, and any Joker in an exposed quint can be taken by a player who holds the matching natural tile.
Example
You're going for a Quints hand that needs a quint of 3 Dots. You hold two natural 3 Dots and two Jokers. When another player discards a 3 Dot, you call it and expose all five tiles (three 3 Dots and two Jokers) on your rack. The player who holds the last natural 3 Dot can swap it in on their turn and take one of your Jokers.
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