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Aotenjo: Infinite Hands News

Aotenjo 01- 23 Update Patch Note

Greetings, everyone!

Aotenjo has been live for four days, and we’re incredibly grateful for all your support and encouragement!
Over the past few days, the team has been actively collecting and reviewing your feedback. With the weekend approaching — we have just released a major update to address and optimize some of the key issues that have surfaced.

As we’ve mentioned before, our top priority is ensuring the best experience for current players. For this update, we’re focusing on simplifying the Green Mahjong flow to prevent new players from getting stuck on certain mechanics or bosses before fully grasping the game.
Patch notes for version 0.2.1.6 are at the end of this post for easy reference. If you encounter any issues, please join our official Discord community and send us your feedback.

[h3]About the Corruption Mechanic[/h3]
One of the most-discussed topics has been the Corruption Mechanic, particularly its effect in Endless Mode. Many players have pointed out that certain boss traits, combined with the mechanic, rely too heavily on luck rather than strategy.
While removing the mechanic altogether is a straightforward solution, we’re exploring adjustments first. We have some ideas for improvements, and you can expect changes in the next update.

[h3]Upcoming Features[/h3]
  • Level Details Page: View your current progress and upcoming level requirements at any time outside of a match.
  • New Artifacts: Adding a batch of exciting new Artifacts to enrich your strategy.
  • Music Toggle: For our veteran players who loved the 8-bit pixel music from earlier versions, we’re introducing a toggle option to switch between music styles.
  • Add a Hold-to-Skip Option in settings, allowing players to long-press instead of clicking to skip

[h3]Version 0.2.1.6 Patch Notes[/h3]
[New Features]
  1. Added a display for remaining tiles when hovering over Mahjong tiles outside of matches.discarding tiles.
[Adjustments]
  1. Boss: Flawless will no longer appear in Green Mahjong.
  2. Boss “Unaided” effect now reduces the score multiplier of Rare/Epic Artifacts to x0.8/x0.7 (was x0.8/x0.6).
  3. Artifact: Gold Ingot multiplier reduced from x3 to x2.5 for single-suit numbered tiles.
  4. Artifact: Bamboo Shoot effect now applies to tiles with a face value below 4 and containing green color.
  5. Artifact: Jade Mirror multiplier per layer increased from 0.15 to 0.20.
  6. Artifact: Brush rarity downgraded from Rare to Common.
  7. Artifact: Mysterious Fleshball rarity downgraded from Rare to Common.
[Bug Fixes]
  1. Fixed an issue where Copper Dagger did not apply to Copper tiles.
  2. Resolved a bug where combining Mo Tiles and Demon Tiles under certain conditions caused the game to crash.
  3. Corrected an issue where the upgraded Origami Bear Artifact was mistakenly classified as Rare by the “Unaided” trait.
  4. Fixed cases where dragging Artifacts could result in a crash.

[h3]Join the Community![/h3]
Be sure to join our official Discord community to discuss strategies, and participate in playtests. We always read your feedback and look forward to chat with you!

[h3]Community Highlights[/h3]
We’ve received many guide submissions from players, and we’re excited to share some of them with you. Feel free to join our discord to exchange tips and tricks!
Don’t forget that our Daily Score Sharing and Community Tournament events are still ongoing! High scores continue to roll in, and we’re amazed by everyone’s creativity and mastery.


For more details of the event, please take a look at our last post.
Aotenjo: Infinite Hands is Now Available!

Aotenjo is the mahjong equivalent of Balatro and it's just hit early access

With its satisfying card designs, gratifying multipliers, and occasionally stratospheric high scores, Balatro has cemented itself as one of the all-time great dark horse games. A single developer turning poker into a roguelike deckbuilder and taking the world by storm is a story for the ages, and as with all great successes, we may soon start to see a flurry of games that riff off of its concept. Well, here's one of the very first Balatro-likes, Aotenjo, which takes the popular game of mahjong and gives it that roguelike twist. It's just hit early access, and already players are singing its praises.


Read the rest of the story...


RELATED LINKS:

Balatro and mahjong meet in Aotenjo, a roguelike with a new Steam demo

Aotenjo is the mahjong equivalent of Balatro and it's just hit early access

With its satisfying card designs, gratifying multipliers, and occasionally stratospheric high scores, Balatro has cemented itself as one of the all-time great dark horse games. A single developer turning poker into a roguelike deckbuilder and taking the world by storm is a story for the ages, and as with all great successes, we may soon start to see a flurry of games that riff off of its concept. Well, here's one of the very first Balatro-likes, Aotenjo, which takes the popular game of mahjong and gives it that roguelike twist. It's just hit early access, and already players are singing its praises.


Read the rest of the story...


RELATED LINKS:

Balatro and mahjong meet in Aotenjo, a roguelike with a new Steam demo

Aotenjo: Infinite Hands is Now Available!

Aotenjo has officially launched! A huge thank you to all our fellow mahjong enthusiasts for your continued support and interest!
To celebrate the launch, we're offering a 12% discount, bringing the price down to $8.71 USD. This launch discount will last for 14 days until February 2nd (the fifth day of Lunar New Year)—don’t miss out!


[h3]About the Early Access Version[/h3]
This release is in Early Access. As we previously mentioned, our goal for the EA version was to establish a solid core gameplay and framework, offering a substantial, replayable experience.
Depth and variety are the heart of any deckbuilding roguelike. Instead of developing in isolation, we believe in actively engaging with the community—it aligns with our team’s "surfing the wave" philosophy. We’d love to hear your feedback and hope this launch version meets expectations, giving you an exciting way to enjoy the Lunar New Year holidays!

[h3]Mahjong for Everyone[/h3]
Our team started out as a group of passionate mahjong players, captivated by the endless combinations and beauty of mahjong hands—something unmatched by other card games. Our goal was to create a game that’s not just for mahjong veterans but also accessible to newcomers, helping more players discover and fall in love with mahjong.
Since our announcement, we've been pleasantly surprised by the enthusiastic response from players in Japan, Korea, and Western regions. We're thrilled to be sharing the fun of this traditional Chinese game with players worldwide!

[h3]Learn More & Stay Updated[/h3]
If you're new to the game, we recommend checking out our past Developer Logs. These cover gameplay mechanics, current content available in the EA version, and our roadmap for future updates:
Dev Blog 1 Dev Blog 2 Dev Blog 3 Dev Blog 4 Dev Blog 5

[h3]Ongoing Updates & Player Support[/h3]
During the launch period, our team will maintain a high update frequency, ensuring a smooth player experience by quickly iterating on the current version before moving on to our next content update.
Need Help? Join Our Official Community!
If you encounter any issues while playing, don’t hesitate to join our Official Discord and share your feedback.

[h3]Aotenjo Grand Master Rougelike Mahjong Campaign![/h3]
[Event Time]
Jan 20 - Jan 26, 8 PM PST

[Event Overview]
A deep Mahjong deck-building competition that challenges both your strategy and... a bit of luck!
As Aotenjo enters Steam Early Access, we are calling all players to join in a week-long global showdown. Not only are there daily raffle prizes, but also grand ranking rewards!

[How to Enter]
1. Game Mode:
Play Aotenjo. You must select the "Blue Mahjong" mode and the "Ascension Goose”. Please note: Other modes will not be counted for scores.

2. Submit High Score Screenshot:
Players need to take a screenshot displaying their high score, with the "seed" visible as a contest identifier (the seed info should be included in the screenshot).
Here is the sample screenshot:



3. Twitter(X) Post Submission:
Post your screenshots on Twitter(X) with
hashtags: #AotenjoHighScore #PlayAotenjo, and tag @playaotenjo in the post.

During the event, the official account will publish a daily high score leaderboard. Special note: if multiple players share the same high score, the one who posted first will be ranked higher.

[Prizes]
Jan 20 - 26 Daily Lucky Draw
Each day, three players will be randomly selected from those who post their high score screenshots on Twitter with hashtags. Each will receive a $10 Steam Card.

Jan 27 Winner Time!
  • Grand Champion: $500 Steam Card
  • Runner-up: $300 Steam Card
  • Third Place: $150 Steam Card
  • 4th-8th Place: $50 Steam Card

For more information or to discuss with other players, join the Aotenjo Discord!

Once again, we want to extend our gratitude to everyone who participated in the beta tests and Steam Next Fest, providing invaluable feedback. We hope you all have great luck at the mahjong table—may your hands be limitlessly high!

3 Days to Launch – Tips for New Players!

Hey Mahjong Masters!

The launch of Aotenjo: Infinite Hands is just around the corner—only 3 days to go! Mark your calendars: the game officially releases on Monday, the 20th, at 11 AM (UTC+8)—no delays, we promise!

In our last dev blog, we shared details about the Early Access launch and our 2025 update roadmap. This time, we want to introduce some handy tips for new players! While Aotenjo is a mahjong-inspired roguelike deckbuilder, it doesn’t require deep mahjong knowledge to enjoy. The mechanics are designed to be approachable, and you’ll pick them up as you play!

[h3]Which Mahjong Should I Start With?[/h3]
We highly recommend starting with Green Mahjong. It has a streamlined rule set, a built-in tutorial, and 5 extra discards (we’ll explain these later). The difficulty is also relatively low, making it the perfect starting point.
Once you’ve mastered Green Mahjong, you’ll unlock more complex styles! The Early Access version includes six mahjong types: Green, Blue, Galaxy, Bamboo, Rainbow, and Schemer Mahjong—each with unique mechanics and challenges!



[h3]The Goal: Score! Score! And More Score![/h3]
The core gameplay is simple:
  1. Each round, add new tiles to your hand and score points based on your tile combinations.
  2. After four rounds, your total score determines whether you clear the level.
  3. Any points beyond the required target convert into in-game currency—which you can spend on upgrades in the rest phase.

Just like traditional mahjong, Aotenjo is about planning, adapting, and maximizing your score. So don’t hold back—aim for big hands and rack up those points!

[h3]Scoring System[/h3]
Scoring in Aotenjo follows a system similar to classic mahjong: Base Points × Multipliers. Base Points (符, Fu)

Each tile has a fixed score value, and here’s an easy way to remember them:
  • Character, Bamboo, and Dot tiles: 1 & 9 = 9 Fu, 2 & 8 = 8 Fu, 3 & 7 = 7 Fu, 4 & 6 = 6 Fu, 5 = 5 Fu
  • Honor tiles (East, South, West, North, Red, Green, White) = 10 Fu

(Don’t worry if you can’t memorize this! You can always hover over tiles in-game to check their Fu value.)


[h3]Multipliers (番, Fan)[/h3]
Fan comes from specific tile combinations—these are called Patterns (番种, Yakus).
You might recognize famous ones like Full Flush (清一色) and Thirteen Orphans (十三幺)—the rarer and harder a pattern is to complete, the higher the multiplier!

Unlike traditional mahjong, in Aotenjo, you can upgrade your patterns by purchasing Pattern Books, increasing their fan and boosting your score potential!


To sum it up:
  • Discard low-value or unwanted tiles
  • Keep high-Fu tiles
  • Aim for high-Fan pattern

Master this, and you’ll be on your way to victory!


[h3]Gadget Guide: “Rigging” Your Hand (Legally!)[/h3]
Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, your tiles just won’t come together. That’s where Aotenjo's special items come in!
These items can temporarily modify tile values, suits, or even grant unique effects—making them invaluable for crafting powerful hands. For example:
  • "Cooked Rice": Temporarily reduces the number value of a Dot or Bamboo tile by 1.

Use these wisely to turn the tide in your favor!


[h3]Money Power 1: Map Locations[/h3]
Another way to optimize your deck is by making permanent changes to your wall (your entire deck of tiles). At the end of each round, you can choose different locations to visit, each offering unique benefits:
  • Malice-Sawmill: Spend money to remove unwanted tiles from your deck.
  • Bamboo Forest: Buy new tiles to add to your deck.
  • Howling Mountain: Spend money to enchant tiles with special effects.
  • Wan's Treasure Shop: Purchase useful gadgets for your run.

Your currency is key to shaping your deck—so choose your path carefully!


[h3]Money Power 2: The Store[/h3]
Artifacts are powerful items that provide permanent buffs throughout your run. They can:
  • Boost Pattern multipliers
  • Increase overall scoring potential
  • Evolve specific tiles

At the Artifact Shop, you can buy various Artifacts—rarer ones cost more but provide stronger effects!
Additionally, Pattern Packs are a great way to level up your patterns, unlocking rare multipliers and enhancing your strategy. We recommend prioritizing the Pattern Packs that match your preferred playstyle!


[h3]Final Developer Tips[/h3]
Unlike traditional mahjong, where you need to form a complete 14-tile hand, Aotenjo breaks it down into four rounds. In each round:
  • You play a Triplet/Sequence + a Pair per turn.
  • The previous Pair is replaced each turn—use this to cycle out unwanted tiles.

Some pro strategies to keep in mind:
  1. Your final move is crucial! Each turn scores points, but the last turn includes ALL previous tiles, so set up for big Pattern early and cash in at the end!
  2. Use the Pair slot strategically—discard unwanted tiles by playing them as Pair in early turns to set up a strong hand for the final Play.
  3. You don’t necessarily need Malice-Sawmill to remove tiles! Some items and artifacts can shrink your deck, helping you focus on key tiles faster.

[h3]Join the Community[/h3]
To all our closed beta and open test players—thank you for your support! We’d love for you to share your own gameplay tips in the comments and in our Official Discord.

[h3]Launch Discount![/h3]
Aotenjo: Infinite Hands will launch with a 12% discount for the first two weeks at $8.71 USD!