The core of Mahjong Island honor tiles strategy is one rule. An honor tile that none of your best hands uses is one of the easiest tiles to pass or discard.
What are honor tiles?
Winds and Dragons are the honor tiles. They make Sets (three matching tiles) and Pairs (two matching tiles), never numbers in a row. There are three Dragons: the Red Dragon, the Green Dragon, and Soap.
When should you keep Winds and Dragons?
Keep honors when the 2 or 3 hands you are closest to share them. After the deal, look at the Island Card and find those hands first. Then ask one question about each honor: does any of these hands use it?
Say you hold a Red Dragon, a Green Dragon, and Soap. If one of your best hands asks for a Set of Soap, keep Soap. If none of them uses the Red Dragon or the Green Dragon, those two are easy passes.
When should you let them go?
In the Charleston, pass the tiles your best hands need least. A lone Wind that fits no hand is often the right pass.
Watch Pairs closely. A Joker can fill a Set, but never a Pair. So a Pair of Winds or Dragons needs two real matching tiles.
Learn more about each tile in the guide to Mahjong Island tiles: suits, Winds, and Dragons, or read what the Charleston is in Mahjong Island.