Mao (card game)

Mao

Jacks are commonly wild, allowing any player to call out a new suit when a jack is played.
Alternative names	Mau
Type	Shedding-type
Players	2+ (best 4+)
Skills	Invention, induction, memory
Cards	52
Deck	Anglo-American
Rank (high→low)	A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Play	Clockwise Counter-clockwise
Playing time	60 minutes upwards
Chance	Variable
Related games
Switch

Mao (also sometimes called Mü, Maw, Mile, 5-Card Mao, Chairman Mao, Chairman, The Chairman's Game, Dictator, The Great and Glorious Game of Mao, Point of Order, Bjorn, Maul, Maal, Maui, Mauii, Peebo, Mau, King Mao, Meow, or Moneyclip) is a card game of the Shedding family, in which the aim is to get rid of all of the cards in hand without breaking certain unspoken rules. The game is from a subset of the Stops family, and is similar in structure to the card game Uno or Crazy Eights.

The game forbids its players from explaining the rules, and new players are often told only "the only rule you may be told is this one." The ultimate goal of the game is to be the first player to get rid of all the cards in their hand. Specifics are discovered through trial and error. A player who breaks a rule is penalized by being given an additional card from the deck. The person giving the penalty must state what the incorrect action was, without explaining the rule that was broken.

There are many variants of Mao in existence. While beginners sometimes assume that the dealer (sometimes called the "Chairman" or the "Mao") and other experienced players are simply making up possibly inconsistent rules (as in the game Mornington Crescent), the rules of Mao are consistent within each game and can be followed correctly.

History

Mao is most likely descended from the German game Mau Mau, or from Eleusis, which was published in Martin Gardner's column in the Scientific American in June 1959. Both of these games share similar principles of inductive reasoning.

Other inductive games in which not all players know the rules include Penultima and Zendo; however, the secret rules in those games are made up at the start of play and disclosed at the end of each round, and the scope and subject matter of Eleusis, Penultima or Zendo rules may be more explicit and closely circumscribed.

An Arthur Machen short story written in 1899 called The White People contains what may be the earliest reference to a game called "Mao".

Rules of Mao

Part of the traditional experience of Mao is a new player being forced to learn some or all of the rules of the game through observation and trial and error. Thus new players are not usually presented with a list of rules, as part of the game is to discover the rules through gameplay.

Mao rules can vary widely between different groups with no individual set of rules being canonical. This is one representative version containing more common elements.

Public rules

The exact set of rules divulged to new players varies between groups of players: some groups will say only "the only rule I can tell you is this one", others will reveal the goal of eliminating cards, and some might outline the basic rules and, in most cases, no rules are revealed at all. However much information is revealed, the players will explain that they are "not allowed" to reveal any more, and that the new player must deduce the full rules during play.

Rules of play

Each player is dealt an initial hand of the same number of cards; the exact number of cards dealt varies, but is generally either five or seven. The size of the deck also varies; it is good to have approximately one 52-card deck for every two or three players (or, in games with new players, one deck for every player), but missing or extra cards are not important to gameplay. Two or more combined decks is common; matching card backs is not important. Once the cards are dealt, the remaining cards are placed face down in a stack in the middle of the table, and the top card from the stack is turned over and placed next to it. In some variants, play commences with the player to the left of the dealer and proceeds clockwise; in others, the dealer chooses who begins and which direction it proceeds. Many variants penalize players for touching their cards, or looking at their cards before the game begins or before the dealer looks at his or her cards.

A player may play any card in his hand which matches the value and/or the suit of the card currently lying face-up on the table. The card played must be placed on top of this card, and the next player will have to play a card that matches the new one. If the player has no cards he can play, he must instead draw a new card from the top of the stack lying face-down and, in most variants, say something such as "Pass", "Penalty Card" or knock on the table to indicate inability to play a card. Usually, his turn is lost and he cannot play after he draws a card, though in some varieties, you can play the penalty card, or are forced to draw until you get a playable card. Finally, in some varieties this rule is only a 'suggested' rule, and you can simply pass. Usually, this is not done until a couple of games later in order to confuse new players.

Rules vary widely between variants, and usually vary depending on region. Some documented rules include:

• A face value that reverses order of play when played (commonly eight, but not always)
• Aces commonly cause the next player to skip his turn
• Jacks are commonly wild, allowing any player to call out a new suit when a jack is played. Sometimes Jacks are also "slapped". If the player that puts the Jack down forgets to "slap the Jack" they are dealt a penalty card.
• Spade cards must be named when played (e.g., playing an ace of spades requires the player to say "ace of spades"). Some variants will randomly nominate one particular suit to be constantly named when played, up to the discretion of the Dealer.
• A seven forces the next player to draw a penalty card and requires the person who played it to announce "have a nice day." If the next player also plays a seven, he announces "have a very nice day" and the player after that draws two penalty cards. The number of "very"s and penalty cards can increase as long as sevens can be played. In some variants, a red seven requires the player to announce "have a nice day", and a black seven requires the player to announce "have a very nice day". In others, the player who picks up the card(s) must say "Thank you.", or receive an additional penalty card. Some play it "Thank you very much", "thank you very very much", etc., depending on how "nice" a day it is.

In some versions of Mao, special actions or phrases are given to the suit of a card, rather than the number.

• Spades- Player must say the name of card ("Seven of spades, king of spades" etc.). In some variants, when playing the king of spades the player must say "All hail Chairman Mao, the King of Spades!"
• Clubs- The player must say "Have a nice day!". If the next player puts down a club they must say "Have a very nice day!". As long as clubs are continually played you must add on a "very" to the phrase or if a club is put down the player must say "Switch to clubs".

Usually the dealer of Mao plays as the dealer for quite a while, as no-one else knows the rules. If the other players pass along the rules they picked up, and the dealer is aware of this, the dealer should not allow the players who discussed the rules to play any game of Mao while he is the dealer.

In some regional variations, "watching without playing" earns a person a penalty of several cards, normally equal to the number of cards given at the start of the game. This, in effect, ropes bystanders into playing the game.

Variant rules

As might be expected in a game where the rules are unknown to many of the players, a wide variety of rulesets have developed.

In some variations of the game, the rules are changed, either at the beginning or with each successive game. Many times, this is simply that the winner of the last game is allowed to construct their own rule. This new rule is made known to the dealer or not, depending on the game, though in many varieties it is required for the dealer to know the rule in order to confirm its use, and to enforce it. Often the winner of the last game is also made the new dealer.

In other variations, the dealer does not receive a hand and is called "the Mao." The Mao is in charge of handing out all penalty cards. Also, the Mao can talk at any time and is the only player who can start the game by telling the others to pick up their cards. In these versions, the winning player whispers a new rule to the Mao before the next round begins.

In another variant, players abandon all 'normal' rules and have each player make up a rule of his own at the very beginning of the game. This variant is known as "Dutch Mao", or "The People's Democratic Dictatorship", and probably several other names. It has no restrictions on what cards to play (other than those made by the players) and can get very confusing when rules conflict.

In one form of the game, a player who plays a seven must say "Have a nice day; Have a very nice day; Have a great day; Have an excellent day," progressively as sevens are placed on each other. Also in this game, there is no talking and each time a player wins, they can add a new rule to any event in the game as long as it doesn't interfere with rules that are already in place.

A similar variant is Mini Mao, which starts with "no rules" (players just take turns to play a card onto a discard pile) and has a nominated player make up one secret rule, for the first round.

Speaking rules

Many of the rules of Mao involve speech. Mostly this means that the right thing must be said at the right time. Saying the wrong thing, or speaking at the wrong time, will usually incur a penalty.

No Talking. In most variants of Mao, no unnecessary speech is allowed, and you may only speak when required to do so by the rules. For example, if you play a 6 of spades (with the "declaring spades" rule active), you are required to say "six of spades" and will be penalized for not doing so. But if you say, "six of spades, I didn't forget this time" you will be penalized for the additional unnecessary speech.

Some varieties of the game deem this rule as cruel and unnecessary (especially for new players), and thus eliminate it from the rules. Others enforce it beyond this point, penalizing any sound, including coughing and laughing. There are variations in between these two extremes. Most varieties of Mao have an exemption to this rule confined to a Point Of Order, to be discussed later. Some varieties allow only necessary speech and profanity.

Opening Speech. At the beginning of each new game, in some variants, players are forbidden from picking up their cards until the dealer gives a ceremonious commencement speech in praise of Mao. A popular variation is "Mao is like the game of life; you learn as you go. Let us begin." Something as basic as "Let the glorious game of Mao begin," " Mao is now in session," "The name of the game is Mao," "Let the game of Mao start now" or "The game of Mao begins now!" will suffice, but embellishment is encouraged.

Point of Order. Any player (or, in some variations, only the dealer) may at any time announce "point of order," (could also be "Court of Law" or "Point of Information") which is a signal for all players to put down their cards, while discussion takes place. A common abbreviation is "P of O". In some versions, the Point of Order is known as a "coffee break." This time period basically is an intermission to game play, and often comes with its own set of rules. Some versions penalize for abbreviating Point of Order to P of O, which often confuses new players into thinking only the Dealer or Chairman is permitted to call a Point of Order.

The objective of a point of order is to clarify uncertain aspects of gameplay: particularly to allow disputes over penalties to be resolved. A point of order may also be used to accommodate out-of-game necessities such as eating, shuffling the discard pile to form a new draw pile, etc. Some variants may impose restrictions or penalties on a player's activities during a point of order:

• Players have to talk in the third person.
• Players may not talk to anyone not playing the game.
• Players can not go anywhere without another player. This is usually to enforce the previous rule.
• Players may not touch their cards (some varieties allow touching of other players' cards)
• Players are not allowed to say the phrase "Point of Order" during a Point of Order (this may or may not be circumvented by saying abbreviations such as: "Point of O", "P of Order", "P of O", "Point Order", "POO", "P-Vo", "Piffo", etc.).

The point of order ends when any player (or, depending on local rules, only the dealer, or only the player that called point of order) announces "end point of order," "point taken," "point of disorder," or "pick your cards up," at which point the cards are picked back up and play resumes.

Thank You. It may be required to thank the dealer for each penalty card. Usually a player is given a reasonable amount of time to say 'thank you' before being penalized. Failure to say "thank you" after a penalty card will usually result in another penalty card. One 'Thank you' will usually cover for all occurrences where it was required.

Last Card. Some variants require the player to announce when he only has one card left in his hand. This can be with the statement of 'last card,' 'zin,' or 'Mao' itself (similar to Uno). Some varieties allow other players to try to call said phrase first, thus forcing the player with one card left to draw 2 cards.

End Game. Upon playing his last card, a player must call out 'Mao', 'Game over' or some other similar phrase to win. Should he forget to say 'Mao', or call it incorrectly, he is penalized. Stacking penalties at this point can cause much grief to a player who has gleefully placed his last card down and proclaimed 'Mao', only to discover that he has broken some rule. Required phrases like 'Game over' are particularly effective on new players as it can be unnoticed from previous games that the winner had to actually declare this, thus getting many 'no talking' penalties for all players that start talking when the 'winning' player fails to declare the win.

Cumulative effect of speech rules. In almost all variants, violations of speech rules are cumulative. Thus, if a player were to utter a swearword, this would constitute a violation of both the "Talking" and the "Swearing" prohibitions, and the player would be penalized for both separately.

Questions. In some variants, all players (sometimes including the dealer) are prohibited from asking any questions. Others require that all speech be in the form of a question. Speech rules that require certain phrases are naturally exempt. Some variants that do not generally prohibit speaking but that do prohibit questions will nonetheless permit a player to make a statement not in the form of a question, but inviting a response. Thus, although asking "What time is it?" would be a violation, stating "I do not know what time it is, and I wish someone would tell me" would be permitted. Other variations allow for the asking of yes or no questions during Point of Order, allowing for new players to confirm rules for themselves and others.

The next group of speech related rules are more regional speech rules, or rules added to later games;

Swearing. Many variants prohibit swearing.

Hail to the Chairman. In some variants, playing a king requires the player to say, "Hail to the Chairman," and playing a queen requires the player to say, "Hail to the Chairwoman", "Hail the Chairman's wife," or "All hail her Mighty Majesty the Queen of Spades." Then the other players are sometimes required to say "all hail."

Special card names. In some variants, specific cards are given a name that is to be said instead of the real name of the card. For example, if Bob plays the nine of diamond or a joker, he might say, "that's the badger!" Failure to say this would result in a penalty card.

No Mao. Some variants will penalize players for saying "Mao" during game play, often severely. Though usually just a 2 card penalty, a penalty of 30 or 50 cards, or even the entire draw pile, is not unheard of, making the rule hard to forget after the first offense. Alternatively, this may only apply for the last card a player discards. But this is often the only rule that results in more than one penalty card.

Chanting. Some variants require all players to chant phrases required by other rules (e.g. Have a nice day), with penalties given out to those who fail to do so.

Penalties

The normal penalty for any offence in Mao is one card per offence, though as previously stated, offences are consecutively applied, making some offences harsher than others. Some rules may have heavier penalties attached, such as getting the entire deck and running laps.

There is usually a time limit of approximately 5 to 10 seconds for each turn. If exceeded, the player gets a penalty card for 'delay of game' or 'late play' and either loses his turn or gets another penalty every five seconds thereafter to either comply with any violated rules, or play a card. Ruthless players who are familiar with the rules sometimes exploit this rule to confuse new players who are unfamiliar with game mechanics that change the order of play: for example, ruthless players might look expectantly at a particular player other than the one whose turn it is as if waiting for him to play, then penalizing that player for "Playing out of turn" if he plays, then immediately penalizing the player whose turn it actually is for "Delay of game".

For each penalty, unless the rules have been changed appropriately, the penalty card is given with the declaration of the rule violated.

If a player refuses a penalty, they receive another penalty and so on until they take the penalty. In certain cases, most notably a violation of a no touching rule, the player may get multiple cards at a time by attempting to return a card, then getting another touching penalty along with the refusal penalty.

Most times a penalty is called, one card is given to the offender. If the call was wrong, the caller of a penalty can be given the card back with a reason of "bad call" or "frivolous card-giving", although it is not uncommon for that player to simply get the card returned to them for "talking."

For example, if a player plays an ace of spades and does not declare the spade within an appropriate amount of time, a player may give them a card, saying "Failure to declare 'ace of spades.'" If after another appropriate amount of time they simply stare blankly at you, they are given another card perhaps saying "Continued failure to declare 'ace of spades.'" This may continue indefinitely, until finally they say "Ace of Spades".

Adding rules

As noted above, in many variants an additional rule is silently and secretly added to the game with each round. It is customary for a player (often the winner of the previous round, sometimes the next person to deal) to add one new rule to the game. Sometimes this rule is explained to one other player (sometimes the dealer, sometimes a runner-up winner of the round), both to ensure consistency of the rule and consistency of its enforcement. There may also be additional rules that are already in effect at the beginning of the game, just to get things moving, and these rules may be known to all players, or perhaps only to the dealer. After many rounds, many new rules will accumulate. Naturally, only the person who created the rule will initially know what it is. The rules will vary from group to group, and from game to game, but most rules fall under one of the following four categories.

• When <something> happens, perform an action (say a phrase, knock on the table, etc.)
• When <something> happens, something about the game changes
• An action must always, or must never, be performed (don't straighten the pile, etc.)
• Something fundamental about the game changes (a king is treated as if it were a jack for all game purposes)

Note that the <something> listed above can be absolutely anything. Common examples include playing a specific card ("the ace of spades") or a specific type of card ("any red three"), but triggering conditions can become as complicated as their creator wishes. Further examples might include "when someone plays the fourth card of the same suit", "when you place the card on the table with your left hand, say 'one'. With your right hand say 'two' " , "when someone plays a nine with their right hand" or "playing an odd-numbered card on top of an even-numbered card".

To create a rule, one could pick a triggering condition, and then an action and/or game effect. The spirit of the rule is generally something in good fun; while rules that unfairly sway the game in favor of one player or to the detriment of one specific player are quite easy to concoct ("Every time James plays a ten, he gets a penalty of ten cards"), they are also generally frowned upon as unsportsmanlike. Rarely do rules have a penalty of more than one card, but certain rules have a large penalty attached to them, usually the result of a cumulative rule.

Also, in some variants, after a person goes out, they may then at any point silently deal themselves back in (commonly 5 cards) and introduce a new rule.

See also

• Bartok (game), in which new rules are announced to all players when they are added
• Nomic, a game in which all rules are subject to change
• Calvinball, a fictitious game in which the rules change each time
• List of games with concealed rules
• Mao, a film directed by Thomas Rudolph revolving around the game

External links

• A JavaScript Mao opponent, playing a simplified version of the game (which starts with no real rules), and capable of generating secret rules for a human opponent to guess.
• http://www.pagat.com/eights/mao.html