Mao, also known as Mau, is a captivating card game belonging to the shedding family. The ultimate goal of the game is to be the first player to get rid of all the cards in their hand. The aim is to get rid of all of the cards in hand without breaking certain unspoken rules which tend to vary by venue. The game forbids its players from explaining the rules, and new players are often informed that "the only rule you may be told is this one". Specifics are discovered through trial and error.
A player who breaks a rule is penalized by being given an additional card from the deck. 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. Mao is most likely descended from the German game Mau Mau. Mao's name and rules are a reference to Chairman Mao Zedong's rule over China.
The exact set of rules divulged to new players varies between groups of players: some groups will say "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.
Each player is dealt an initial hand of the same number of cards; the exact number of cards dealt varies, but is generally either three 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, 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. The dealer may then say "this game of Mao has officially begun", "the game of Mao begins now", "Mao is a game of rules" or a variant thereof. A player may play any card from their hand matching the value or the suit of the top card currently face-up on the table.
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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. Rules vary widely between variants. For example, 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, they announce "have a very nice day" and the player after that draws two penalty cards.
Many times, this is simply that the winner of the last game is allowed to construct their own rule. The rules are typically changed between games, either at the beginning or with each successive game. 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. In another variant, players abandon all normal rules and have each player make up a rule of their 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.
Many of the rules of Mao involve speech. Mostly this means that the right thing must be said at the right time. In most variants of Mao, no unnecessary speech is allowed, and one may only speak when required to do so by the rules. For example, if one plays a 6 of spades (with the declaring spades rule active), one is required to say "six of spades" and will be penalized for not doing so. But if one says, "six of spades, I didn't forget this time" one will be penalized for the additional unnecessary speech.
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.
Some variants require the player to announce when they have only one card left in their hand. This can be with the statement of "last card", "zin", "one card left" or "Mao" itself (similar to Uno). If a player fails to announce their last card, they receive a penalty card. In some versions, they continue to receive penalty cards until they announce their last card.
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Upon playing their last card, a player must call out "Mao", "game over" or some other similar phrase to win. Should a player forget to say "Mao", or call it incorrectly, they are penalized. In some variants, playing a king requires the player to say "hail to the chairman" (alluding to Chairman Mao) or "all hail the chief", and playing a queen requires the player to say "hail to the chairwoman", "hail the chairman's wife", "all hail the chair lady", or "all hail her Mighty Majesty the Queen of Spades". Then the other players are sometimes required to say "all hail". Some versions of the game will require a player to tell the next player "have a nice day" upon playing a seven. For instance, if the next person was John, the player would say "have a nice day John".
In some variants, specific cards are given a name that is to be said instead of the real name of the card. Any player (or, in some variations, only the dealer) may at any time announce "point of order" (could also be "court of law", "point of information", "point of interest", "pevis", or "coffee break"), 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.
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.
Players are not allowed to say the phrase "point of order" during a point of order (this can usually be circumvented by saying abbreviations such as: "point of O", "P of order", "P of O", "point order", "POO", "P-Vo", "Piffo", etc. 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 their turn or gets another penalty every five seconds thereafter to either comply with any violated rules, or play a card.
In most cases, when a penalty is called, one card is given to the offender. 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. In a game with only one round, players who have gotten rid of all their cards may make a rule for those still in the game. Sometimes a new 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.
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Any new rules are allowed, but it must not be biased towards a player. 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.
Something fundamental about the gameplay changes (e.g. The triggering events in the example above can be anything. 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.