Steepwise

Steepwise is a small teahouse above the clouds. Guests climb up for one quiet pour, and you decide which mahjong tiles land on the tray and in what order. The set is real mahjong. Bamboo, Dots and Characters running one to nine, plus a handful of flower tiles. Nothing is ever wagered here. Tiles are only ever poured for the room. Order is the whole puzzle. Only tiles that sit side by side fold into a shape. Two of the same face make an Echo. Three of one suit climbing by one make a Stream. Three of the same face make a Chorus. Four of the same face make a Bloom, and the whole room hushes for a moment. A tile poured out of place is never a failure, it is simply a plain beat, and the evening keeps going. Before the first pour you can arm one call and make one vow. A call lets you claim the tile a guest sets down, if the tiles you kept back can answer it. A vow is a promise about the shape of the whole evening, such as pouring one suit only, or climbing higher with every tile. Kept vows nearly double the warmth of the night. Broken ones only cost you the bonus. Eighteen guests visit the teahouse and every one of them reads the evening differently. One collects flower tiles and forgives everything else. One only warms to long streams. One waits all night for a call to land. Learn what they love and the same hand of tiles can play out in a completely different way. Four ways to spend an evening. Service opens a room, meets its regulars and earns its lanterns. Night Market runs wave after wave, adding one more guest each time. Daily Steep gives everyone the same hand once a day. Quiet Hour has no patience and no failing, just pouring.