In a small, dark room above Baba's House restaurant in downtown Oakland, a centuries-old pastime is getting a whole new glow.

Here, under black light, hands swirl through a sea of blue and green tiles as twenty-somethings aren't just going out—they're going all in.

"It's a fun social activity," said Jenn Lui, the co-owner of 13 Orphans, a speakeasy entirely dedicated to mahjong. "It makes it a little easier to make friends."

Mahjong—a Chinese game of tiles, luck, and strategy—was once popular mainly with older generations.

"I feel like it's kind of trickling," Luis said, "and now it's like at its peak where everyone's like, 'What is mahjong?'"

Now, the game is drawing in a younger crowd looking for a night out that doesn't revolve around phones.

Angel Lin, 24, is one of them. She said she never played growing up, and initially, she only came to Baba's House for the karaoke. The mahjong was an afterthought. But after trying it for the first time last fall, she was instantly hooked.

"I was always really intrigued by the idea," Lin said. "I think there's a lot of sexy allure to mahjong. There are different pieces—it feels like there's a secret code and language happening here."

Mahjong's resurgence isn't limited to the Bay Area. Between 2023 and 2024, the number of mahjong events on ticketing platform Eventbrite surged nearly 180% nationwide.

Sort of like gin rummy or poker, the goal is to build a winning hand—four sets of three tiles and a pair.

Mahjong coach Agnes Lee explained that sometimes winning depends on more than just luck. "Normally, you have to keep a straight face," Lee said with a laugh. 

Or maybe you can just call it "mahjong face."