Mao

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Teaching the game
3. Setup
4. Playing a turn
5. The basic secret rules
6. Penalties
7. Point of order
8. New rules
9. Winning the game
10. Tips for beginners
11. Variants

Overview

Mao is a shedding game like Crazy Eights: you try to be the first to get rid of all your cards. The twist is that the rules are secret. New players are not told them – they have to work them out by watching, guessing and being punished. Every broken rule costs a penalty card, and the player giving it only says what you did wrong, never why. After each round the winner secretly adds a new rule, so the game keeps changing.

• Players: 3 or more – best with 5–8, including at least one or two who know the rules.
• You need: standard 52-card decks, no jokers – roughly one deck for every 2–3 players, shuffled together. The backs don't have to match.

A word of honesty: Mao is a folk game passed on by word of mouth. There is no official rule book, and every group plays it differently. What follows are the rules that the sources describe most often. This page is for the person who runs the game (the dealer, sometimes called the "Chairman"). If you are about to play Mao for the first time, the traditional way is to stop reading here.

Teaching the game

When new players join, the old hands tell them only this:

"The only rule I can tell you is this one."

Some groups also reveal that the goal is to get rid of your cards. That's all. Everything else is learned from penalties. That sounds cruel, but it's the whole fun: after a few rounds, newcomers start to spot patterns ("every time someone plays a seven, they say something…") and catch up quickly.

The rules must stay consistent – the dealer must never make things up on the spot.

Setup

1. The dealer shuffles and deals 7 cards to each player, one at a time – including themselves: the dealer plays along like everyone else. (Some groups deal 5.) Don't touch or look at your cards until the dealer has picked up theirs.
2. The rest of the cards go face down in the middle as the draw pile (stock). The dealer turns the top card face up next to it to start the discard pile.
3. The dealer announces: "The game of Mao begins now." From this moment all rules apply.

Playing a turn

The player to the dealer's left starts; play goes clockwise.

• On your turn, play one card that matches the top card of the discard pile in suit or rank.

  Example: On the 6♦ you may play any diamond or any 6.

• If you can't (or don't want to) play, draw one card from the stock. Your turn is over.
• Play quickly: if you take longer than about 5–10 seconds, you get a penalty card.
• If the stock runs out, the dealer shuffles the discard pile – except its top card – into a new stock.

The basic secret rules

These are the special cards and phrases most often described. Many groups start with all of them; some with only a few.

• Sevens in a row: if the next player answers a 7 with another 7, they say "have a very nice day" and the player after them draws two cards – one more "very" and one more card for each extra 7.
• Last card: when you have one card left, say "last card".
• Winning: when you play your last card, say "Mao". Forget it, and you get a penalty card instead of winning.

Penalties

Whoever notices a broken rule hands the offender one card from the stock and names the offence – but doesn't explain the rule. Typical calls:

• "Talking" – any word that the rules don't require. Mao is played in silence.
• "Misplay" – a card that doesn't match. Take it back and take a penalty card.
• "Playing out of turn" – take your card back, plus a penalty card.
• "Delay of game" – too slow.
• "Failure to say …" – "have a nice day", the name of a spade, "last card", "Mao".
• "Bad call" – someone gave a penalty that wasn't deserved: they take the card back.

Several broken rules in one move earn one card each.

Example: Anna plays the 7♠ on the 2♠ and says nothing. The dealer gives her two cards: "Failure to name a spade. Failure to say have a nice day." The next player, Ben, draws his card for the 7 and groans "Oh no." He gets another one: "Talking."

Point of order

Anyone may call "point of order" to pause the game – to settle a dispute, to reshuffle, or to fetch a drink. Everyone puts their cards face down and may talk freely, but not about the rules. Touching your cards during the pause is a penalty. The player who called it ends it with "end point of order".

New rules

Each round ends when someone goes out with "Mao". That player wins the round and makes up a new rule, which they tell only the dealer (so it is enforced consistently). The new rule applies from the next round on, and nobody explains it. The dealer stays the same (they are the one who knows all the rules), and every round starts with a new deal.

Good new rules are fair and fun: they must not target one particular player. Typical examples:

• When a Queen is played, say "all hail the Queen".
• After a 3, the next player must knock on the table before playing.
• When someone plays a King, the next player may play any card.

Winning the game

Each round has one winner – the first to say "Mao". There's no overall score: play as many rounds as you like. The real achievement is working out all the rules.

Tips for beginners

• Watch before you act. Listen to what others say when they play certain cards, and copy it.
• Remember every penalty call – "failure to say…" tells you a phrase exists.
• Keep quiet. Most newcomers' penalties are for talking.
• Play steadily: hesitating costs cards too.

Variants

Optional – every group has its own.

• Thank you: you must say "thank you" for every penalty card – forgetting it earns another one.
• Hail to the Chairman: playing a King requires "hail to the Chairman", a Queen "hail to the Chairwoman".
• Different specials: the 2 reverses instead of the 8; the 8 skips instead of the Ace.
• People's Democratic Dictatorship (also called Dutch Mao): no dealer knows all the rules – each player invents one rule at the start and enforces only that one.