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Mao (game)

Mao (also sometimes called Mü, Maw, Mile, 5-Card Mao, Chairman, Dictator, Bjorn, Maul, Maui or King Mao) is a card game. Since it is forbidden to say Mao's rules, new players are often told only "the only rule you may be told is this one. As such, the rules of the game are discovered by playing or watching the game. 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, but must not say the rule itself. Should the card be given in error, it will be kept by the person incorrectly trying to give it.

As one might suspect, with a game of this nature, there are many variants of Mao in existence. While beginners sometimes assume that the dealer 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 more 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":

I must not write down the real names of the days and months which I found out a year ago, nor the way to make the Aklo letters, or the Chian language, or the great beautiful Circles, nor the Mao Games, nor the chief songs.

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

Mao is a card game of the Shedding family (also called the Stops family) in which the objective is to get rid of all of the cards in your hand. It is very similar to the card game Uno or Crazy Eights. Each player is dealt an initial hand with an equal 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 terribly important to gameplay. Two or more combined decks is common; matching card backs is not important, either. 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 hands, or looking at their hands before the game begins or before the dealer looks at his or her hand.

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.

Most variants share a few basic types of special cards. These include:

A face value that reverses order of play when played (commonly eight, but not always)
Aces 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 playedSometimes 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 (eg, 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.
Playing a card upon a card of the same value (effectively changing suits, in single-deck games) is acknowledged, in some variants, by knocking on the table, or whatever playing surface is being used.
In some variants in which multiple decks are used, any player who has a card in his or her hand which is identical to the card just played may play that card, whether or not it is his or her turn. Play will then proceed with the player whose turn it would have been had not the interruption occurred.
In some American variations a player is required to say \\"Baseball\\" when they play a two.

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

Hearts indicate the person must knock on the table.
Spades- Playing 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\\".
Diamonds- require all players to remain silent.

Telling of the Rules 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.

Rules usually vary depending on region.

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.

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.

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. Something as basic as "Let the glorious game of Mao begin" 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," which is a signal for all players to put down their cards, while discussion takes place. A common abbreviation is "P of O". This time period basically is an intermission to game play, and often comes with its own set of rules.

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 (you can of course go into the bathroom alone). This is usually to enforce the last 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 be circumvented by saying "Point of O", "P of Order", "P of O", "Point Order", "POO", "P-Vo" 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," 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' or, in other varieties saying '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.

Alternate End Game In some versions of the game, you, at the beginning of the game, say to your players, "The only rule of this game is that you cannot say the word 'Mao'". At this point, most players fear that if they say Mao then they will get a penalty card, but in this version of the game, saying "Mao" will actually win you the game instantly, no questions asked. This way of playing can only be played once per crowd usually, as people obviously catch on, even if you don't tell them why they just won the game.

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.

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

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 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.

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."

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.

Praise Jesus. Some variants require a player to say or yell "Praise Jesus" when three 6's are played in subsequent order. Other variants require the player who played the final six in a triad to say "Hail Satan", or "Hail the Father of Lies" etc.

P-H-A-T. Some variants require a player to spell out the word "Phat" whenever a six of any suit is played.

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.

Chanting. Some variants require all players to chant phrases required by other rules (ie. 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.

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.

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. 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 happens, perform an action (say a phrase, knock on the table, etc)
When 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 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 a face card on top of a non-face card", "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.

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

References

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