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tile game is fast paced (with similar play to
rummy, if you're a card player), with the
goal of forming sets of three or four match-
ing or sequential tiles.
For McCormick, both cultural and
age-based inclusion have been central
to building Lucky Tile with co-founder
Sandy Gunn. The duo play monthly with
a group of businesswomen called Joy Luck
Club Vancouver, and launched Lucky Tile
as a breakout company because so many
people were reaching out to ask how they
could learn to play. So far, they're seeing
people of all ages (they taught a 100-year-
old woman at one session and had three
generations of one family—teens, parents
and grandparents—at another).
"We want people to take the game back
to their homes and family and friends—to
spread the joy of the game and the commu-
nity that comes with knowing how to play
it," says McCormick.
Like McCormick, Lucky Tile event
participant Cindy Yu grew up around the
game ("the sound of the tiles is a core
memory from childhood—it was so com-
forting," she says), but hadn't played for
many years until she was re-introduced
by one of the organizers. "The session was
for three hours. I was like, 'Who plays for
three hours?' At the end, I literally begged
to keep playing. I was so hooked after that
first session," she says.
That newfound passion quickly spurred
Yu to buy her own mahjong table from
Facebook Marketplace and start regular
"mahjong and martini" sessions at home
with her besties. She attended the Lucky
Tile event to practice and play more, says
she'll be back again, and predicts most
other attendees will return, too.
"It's a feeling of community I have
not felt for a long time," she says. "It's a
good, fun and wholesome way to authen-
tically connect with people. I've gotten all
my friends hooked, too. I think this is a
moment—and it's just going to explode."
It's a feeling of
community I have not
felt for a long time. It's a
good, fun and wholesome
way to authentically
connect with people. I've
gotten all my friends
hooked, too. I think this
is a moment—and it's just
going to explode.
"
–Cindy Yu, Lucky Tile event participant
M A H J O N G
