Cover of Azumanga Donjyara Daioh
Azumanga Donjyara Daioh, a puzzle game similar to mahjong and based on the Azumanga Daioh franchise, was released by Bandai for the PlayStation on April 18, 2002.
Characters[]
Character Selection Screen With Unlockable Characters
- Tomo Takino
- Ayumu Kasuga
- Chiyo Mihama
- Koyomi Mizuhara
- Sakaki
- Kagura
- Kaori (Unlockable)
- Yukari Tanizaki (Unlockable)
- Minamo Kurosawa (Unlockable)
- Kimura (Unlockable)
- Tadakichi-san (Unlockable)
- Chiyo-chichi (Unlockable)
Gameplay[]
Like mahjong, Azumanga Donjyara Daioh is a tile-matching game. Each player is given eight blocks each round. To win a game, you must have three sets of three different characters (three of each character). There are also several winnings hands, known as 'yaku,' that award various amounts of points. A special Chiyo-chichi tile functions as a joker, meaning it can be used to replace one tile in a set.
The play procedure is as follows:[]
Contents in order of label: 1: Player's last discard 2:Opponent's last discard 3:Player portrait 4: Opponent 5: polygon character 6: cursor
- Round start: Both players roll dice to see who goes first.
- Draw tiles: Both players draw their starting hand, after drawing one's hand, the player can choose to use either their or their friend's Sly Ability.
- Turn: on one's own turn, draw a tile, then discard a tile.
Riichi[]
Once a player is one tile away from a winning hand, they can call "riichi," then discard one of their unnecessary tiles. They are now in the Riichi state; in this state, the player will automatically discard on their turn until they get their winning tile, then they can call "Donjara" and win the round. Alternatively, the player can call "pon" when the opponent discards the winning tile.
Rounds continue until a player runs out of points to wager, or 5 rounds pass. Whoever has the most points after 5 rounds wins.
Points[]
Each player begins the game with 300 points. Points are earned by winning hands, the winning player deducts the points from the losing player. A basic winning hand of any 3 sets is worth 15 points, additional points are scored for getting yaku and winning with special tiles.
tiles numbered 1 are happy tiles, and earn an extra 3 points each.
tiles numbered 9 are sad tiles, and earn an extra 2 points each.
Chiyo-chichi earns 10 points.
Yaku[]
Special winning hands, known as yaku, award points based on the specific hands. Every winning hand besides 'All together' still requires 3 sets, and achieving multiple yaku award the sum of their points.
| Name | Tiles | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Daioh 大王 | All 9 tiles of the same character | 300 |
| All together A 全員集合A | One of each character, all the same number | 280 |
| All together B 全員集合B | One of each character (any numbers) | 30 |
| Scary drive 恐怖のドライブ | Yukari, Chiyo, and Osaka | 150 |
| Radio exercises ラジオ体操 | Kurosawa, Chiyo, and Sakaki | 130 |
| High achievers 成績優秀 | Chiyo, Sakaki, and Yomi | 120 |
| Boneheads ボンクラーズ | Tomo, Osaka, and Kagura | 103 |
| Double ダブル | 6 tiles of the same character | 70 |
| Same color おんなじいろ | All tiles are the same color | 40 |
| Teachers 先生 | Yukari and Kurosawa | 40 |
| Swim team 水球部 | Kurosawa and Kagura | 40 |
| Childhood friends 幼馴染 | Yomi and Tomo | 40 |
| Sea cucumber なまこ | Yomi and Osaka | 40 |
| Kimura’s favorites 木村ごのみ | Kagura and Kaorin | 30 |
| Gifted athletes スポーツ万能 | Sakaki and Kagura | 30 |
| Folk dance フォークダンス | Sakaki and Kaorin | 30 |
Sly Abilities[]
Before a round starts, a player can choose a 'Sly' ability; a special modifier that each character can use to affect the outcome of the game. Your player character and 'friend' character both have an ability to choose from. Abilities vary in cost as well, they are listed below:
| Character | Ability | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Chiyo | +100 points if Chiyo’s father is in your winning hand | -30 |
| Sakaki | Always get Chiyo’s father as your first drawn tile | -40 |
| Yomi | +10 points for every tile you discard after calling Riichi | -20 |
| Tomo | Higher chance of winning in the next turn after calling Riichi | -20 |
| Osaka | +100 points for any winning hand, even if it’s the CPU’s | -50 |
| Kagura | +50 points for winning with the “Swim team” hand | -20 |
| Kaorin | +10 points for each Sakaki tile in your hand | -10 |
| Yukari | Opponent’s win doesn’t count (only once per match) | -20 |
| Kurosawa | Your hand scores triple, if you have less than 50 points left | -10 |
| Kimura | +10 points for each Kaorin or Kagura tile in your hand | -30 |
| Tadakichi | +50 points for a basic hand | -10 |
| Father | Half points for any winning hand (yours or CPU’s) | -10 |
After you have moved around 10 times, the game will be set as a tie. If this happens, you may lose your points. The characters have different strong points, which has both upsides and downsides. You may get extra points for winning when choosing a specific character, but if you lose the points will go as well.
Trivia[]
- Judging by Tomo and Chiyo's hairstyles, this game takes place during the summer of third year, likely before Episode 22, between Episodes 22 and 23, or shortly after Episode 23 (based on the fact that the girls are in their summer uniforms).
- "Donjara" is Bandai's branded version of the game "Ponjan." Ponjan is a simplified version of Riichi Mahjong, the Japanese variant of Mahjong, which on top of having the basic winning hand of 3 sets and 1 pair, also has special winning hands called 'yaku.' Ponjan/Donjara usually replaces the tiles with characters from multimedia franchises, so each version of Donjara has unique yaku.
