Learning Lab Meta Kit

A card-based kit designed to help players and instructors think more clearly

The Learning Lab Meta Kit helps players of American mah jongg slow down, think more clearly, and make better decisions—without being corrected or told what to do.

The cards don’t teach. They guide thinking.

Each card poses a focused question that helps players clarify the situation, test assumptions, read the table, explore alternatives, and consider timing and consequences. The questions work regardless of rule variations and can be used in any setting—casual play, lessons, leagues, or study groups.

You pick up a card when you feel unsure, stuck, or simply want a clearer line of thought. Read the question. Pause. Let it guide your next decision. That’s it.

There are no tricks, and no “right answers.” Just a repeatable way to shift perspective, deepen awareness, and build confidence one thoughtful moment at a time.

What’s in the Meta Kit

The Learning Lab Meta Kit Core Deck includes:

  • 48 Socratic Question Cards across six categories
    • Clarify the Situation
    • Test Assumptions
    • Read the Table
    • Explore Alternatives
    • Timing & Consequences
    • Strategic Focus
  • 8 Meta Cards that prompt reflection and perspective shifts
  • Player Guide — how to use the deck to self-coach your thinking
  • Instructor Notes — optional facilitation guidance for instructors

Each card addresses one kind of thinking question, keeping cognitive load low and decisions manageable while inviting players to notice how they are thinking, not just what they decide.

Designed to Support Thoughtful Play

The Learning Lab Meta Kit is more than a deck—it’s a structured way to cultivate awareness and refinement in your decision process. The Core Deck establishes a common way to think at the table. Specialty Labs Booster Packs narrow focus when a specific phase, perspective, or mindset needs attention without increasing complexity.

Specialty Labs Booster Packs

Specialty Labs are 8-card curated booster packs designed to extend the Learning Lab Meta Kit with intention and focus. Each pack narrows attention to a specific type of decision, helping players and instructors go deeper without increasing cognitive load.

Specialty Labs solve three problems at once:

  • They prevent content fatigue by concentrating on one kind of decision rather than cycling through every question type.
  • They support skill-level progression by matching focus to the player’s current challenge or stage of play.
  • They create ongoing value by expanding the system while keeping the Core Deck intact and familiar.

Think of the Core Deck as the shared thinking language. Specialty Labs are targeted extensions of that language. Use them on their own, pair them with the Core Deck, or rotate Specialty Labs over time to keep practice fresh and purposeful.

Each Specialty Lab contains carefully curated Socratic questions. The goal isn’t more information—it’s better focus.

Three Ways the Specialty Labs Bring Balance

Not sure where to start? These curated specialty labs are designed to work together—so you can choose the right support at the right moment.

Designed to support decisions made through the game.
This curated set follows the natural progression of play, helping you navigate uncertainty, commitment, pressure, and restraint—from early formation through resolution—without rushing judgment or forcing outcomes.

  • Charleston Lab — establishes early direction and protects information
  • Begin Game Lab — balances provisional commitment with flexibility
  • Middle Game Lab — manages option overload, attachment, and pivots
  • End Game Lab — supports clear push–fold judgment under pressure
  • Boundaries Lab — supports calm rule application, fairness, and continuity when errors, questions, or tension arise

What it supports:
Clear, grounded decision-making across all phases of play, with confidence in judgment, integrity, and flow—without panic, overcorrection, or disruption.

Shift perspective without changing the game.
These labs help you look beyond your own rack—reading the table, managing visibility, and adapting to player dynamics—no matter the phase of play.

  • Position Lab — balances advantage, leverage, and restraint based on relative position
  • Player Style Lab — adapts timing, pace, and pressure across the entire hand
  • Hand Reading Lab — balances self-focus with full-table awareness
  • Visibility Lab — manages what you reveal and when
  • Risk Awareness Lab — calibrates risk using table signals, tempo, and evolving information

What it supports:
Stronger awareness of opponents, information flow, and table dynamics—without paranoia, overreaction, or guesswork.

Shift awareness without changing the game.
These labs help you notice when visual, attentional, or decision pressure begins to affect clarity—how you take in the NMJL card, track tiles, and relate to your own thinking—no matter the phase of play.

  • Attention Variability Lab — balances focus and natural shifts in attention
  • Cognitive Overload Lab — balances visual scanning and information integration
  • Decision Paralysis Lab — balances option awareness and commitment when choices feel heavy
  • Mindset Lab — balances confidence, composure, and emotional regulation under pressure

What it supports:
Stronger awareness of personal cognitive patterns, reduced overwhelm, and increased confidence in noticing what’s happening at the table—without pressure, shame, or overcorrection.

These labs are designed to support light, well-timed facilitation when flow, fairness, or emotional tone drifts.

Facilitator-Based Labs help you step in only when needed, using restraint, clarity, and presence to stabilize play and protect learning—then step back out again.

Lead-Player Lab — supports table flow, reassurance, and shared confidence
Instructor Lab — supports intentional intervention, questioning, and restraint

What it supports:
Smooth table flow, psychological safety, and calm continuation of play—especially in moments of confusion, tension, or hesitation—without over-explaining, correcting, or taking ownership of player decisions.

Specialty Labs are offered as curated sets to keep focus clear, decisions supported, and practice purposeful.

For Players

The Learning Lab Meta Kit helps players:

  • Make clearer decisions under pressure
  • Reduce second-guessing and hesitation
  • Recover from mistakes without shame
  • Build confidence without being corrected

Players often discover that they are not a bad player, they just haven’t been asking the right questions.

For Instructors

The Learning Lab Meta Kit helps instructors:

  • Facilitate learning without performing or lecturing
  • Standardize language across tables
  • Reduce interruptions and energy drain
  • Let insight emerge without correction

The card carries the authority. The instructor holds the space.

Why This Matters

Many players know the game but struggle in real-time, when uncertainty, pressure, and distraction often take over. The kit gives players a calm, structured way to step back, think clearly, and choose with intention.

This isn’t a strategy deck, a rules quiz, or a replacement for instruction. It’s a thinking tool that helps players become aware of their decision processes so they can refine them in real time..

This kit is built with:

  • Content depth
  • Instructor empathy
  • Pedagogical integrity
  • Player psychological safety
  • Alignment with Socratic inquiry

Because how people learn matters as much as what they learn.

Designed to Adapt—Without Losing Its Purpose

Yes. Many instructors use the deck to support Socratic questioning during live lessons. The cards help instructors ask strong, neutral questions without defaulting to correction—especially helpful for newer instructors building confidence in facilitation.

Absolutely. Instructors often use the deck in role-play and professional development settings, practicing how to facilitate learning, manage silence, and guide thinking without over-teaching. It’s a powerful tool for building coaching skill—not just teaching content.

Yes. Players can draw a card during play when they feel unsure or stuck, then reflect on the question either quietly or with peers after the hand. This supports self-coaching and peer learning without judgment or hierarchy.

The deck can be curated around a workshop topic or phase of play using Specialty Labs Booster Packs. This allows facilitators to focus attention without overwhelming participants or introducing unrelated questions.

Yes. Cards can be used to frame discussion during a livestream or assigned as reflection prompts before or after a broadcast. This turns passive viewing into active thinking and deeper learning.

Not at all. Many players and instructors use the deck on their own between games as a reflection or journaling tool. It supports learning before, during, after, and between play.

Yes!

Pre-game intention
Some players use a single card before play to set an intention for how they want to think, decide, or show up during the game ahead.

End-of-session reflection
At the end of a session, a card can be used to reflect on what the game revealed, helping players turn experience into insight without critique.

Instructor self-calibration
Instructors sometimes draw a card before teaching to center their facilitation, ensuring their questions support thinking rather than correction.

Easy to Use

Pick a card when you want better clarity.
Read the question.
Answer it.
Let that answer inform your next play.

No judgment. No pressure.
Just better thinking.

The Learning Lab Philosophy

The question does the work.

Pricing & Purchase Options

Curated by design. Built to work together.

The Learning Lab Meta Kit is designed as a system. Rather than offering individual booster packs, Specialty Labs are grouped into curated sets that support specific kinds of thinking and decision-making. Each set is intentional, balanced, and ready to use—no guesswork required.

Choose the level of support that fits where you are right now. Every option builds on the same shared thinking language.

This will give you access to the Fake or Fact House Rules Showdown doashboard.
Choose the level of support that fits where you are right now. Every option builds on the same shared thinking language.