Mau Mau

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Setup
3. Playing a turn
4. Special cards
5. Saying "Mau"
6. Running out of cards
7. End of a round
8. Scoring
9. Winning the game
10. Tips for beginners
11. Variants

Overview

Mau Mau is a fast shedding game: everyone tries to be the first to get rid of all their cards. You play one card at a time onto a shared pile, but it must match the card on top – either in suit (♠ spades, ♥ hearts, ♦ diamonds, ♣ clubs) or in rank (the value, such as 7, 10 or Queen). A few special cards make your opponents draw, skip their turn or change the suit.

• Players: 2–5 (with more players, shuffle two decks together).
• You need: one standard 52-card deck.

Setup

1. Cards: remove the jokers and all 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s and 6s. You play with the remaining 32 cards: 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace in every suit. With 5 or more players, or for a longer game, use all 52 cards.
2. Deal: pick a dealer. The dealer shuffles and deals the cards one at a time, face down, clockwise, until everyone has 5 cards. This is your hand – keep it hidden from the others.
3. Draw pile: the remaining cards go face down in the middle. This is the draw pile (also called the stock).
4. Discard pile: the dealer turns the top card of the draw pile face up next to it. This starts the discard pile – all played cards go on top of it.

The player to the dealer's left starts. Play then continues clockwise (to the left).

Playing a turn

On your turn, look at the top card of the discard pile and do one of the following:

• Play a card from your hand onto the discard pile. It must match the top card in suit or rank. On a 9♥ you may play any heart (e.g. K♥) or any 9 (e.g. 9♣).
• Draw one card from the draw pile, if you cannot play or don't want to. If the drawn card fits, you may play it straight away. Otherwise your turn is over.

You never play more than one card per turn.

Example: The top card is 10♦. Anna holds 7♣, 10♠, Q♦, K♥. She may play 10♠ (same rank) or Q♦ (same suit). She plays Q♦. Ben has no diamond and no Queen, so he draws a card. It is Q♣, which fits (same rank), so he plays it at once.

Special cards

Example: The top card is K♠. Ben plays J♥ and says "I want clubs". Carla must now play a club (any ♣ card) – or draw one card.

"Jack on Jack" is not allowed – a standard rule almost everyone plays by.

A player who has to draw because of a 7 draws the cards and their turn ends; they do not play a card that turn.

Example: Carla plays 7♠. Dan has 7♥, so he plays it – now Emil must draw 4 cards. Emil has no 7, draws 4 cards and his turn is over. Anna continues and must match the 7♥.

Special card as the first upcard: if the card turned up at the start is a 7, the first player draws 2 cards. If it is an 8, the first player is skipped. If it is a Jack, the first player may play any card (free choice of suit).

Saying "Mau"

• When you play your second-to-last card and have one card left, you must say "Mau!".
• When you play your last card, you say "Mau-Mau!".
• If you forget to say "Mau" and another player notices before your next turn, you draw 1 penalty card.

Common house rule: you may not play a Jack as your last card. Agree on this before you start.

Running out of cards

If the draw pile runs out, leave the top card of the discard pile where it is. Shuffle all the other discarded cards and place them face down as the new draw pile.

End of a round

The round ends as soon as a player plays their last card – that player wins the round.

Scoring

For a single round no scoring is needed. For several rounds, every other player adds up the points of the cards still in their hand:

With 52 cards, the 2–6 also count their face value.

Example: Anna goes out. Ben still holds A♣ and 8♥ = 11 + 8 = 19 points. Carla holds J♦ = 2 points. Anna scores 0.

Simpler alternative: the winner of each round gets 1 point; whoever first reaches an agreed number (e.g. 5) wins.

Winning the game

Play several rounds and keep a running total. When someone reaches 100 points (or another agreed limit), the game ends. The player with the lowest total wins. For a single round, the first player to go out simply wins.

Tips for beginners

• Save a Jack for when you are stuck – it fits anywhere.
• Keep a 7 in your hand to defend against an opponent's 7.
• When you name a suit, choose one you hold several cards of.
• Watch players with only one or two cards left and play 7s and 8s against them.
• Get rid of Aces early if you are scoring – they are worth 11 points.

Variants

All of these are optional – agree on them before the game.

• No stacking 7s: a 7 cannot be answered with another 7; the next player always draws exactly 2.
• Ace = play again: after an Ace, the next player is skipped (you play again with 2 players).
• 9 reverses direction: after a 9, play continues counter-clockwise (or back again).
• 2 = draw 2: in games with 52 cards, the 2 sometimes works like the 7.
• Harsher "Mau" penalty: forgetting "Mau" costs 2 cards instead of 1.
• No Jack to finish: your last card may not be a Jack (see above).
• 6 cards each: deal 6 cards instead of 5 for a longer round.
• Jack worth 20: when scoring, a Jack left in hand counts 20 points.