The classic German shedding game, a cousin of Crazy Eights: play a card of the same suit or rank as the top card and be the first to get rid of your whole hand. Sevens make the next player draw, eights skip a turn, nines reverse the direction and the Jack is a wild card that changes the suit. Quick, fun and perfect for the whole family.
Goal: Be the first to get rid of every card in your hand.
The game uses a 32-card deck (7 up to Ace) and 2 to 5 players. Everyone is dealt 5 cards face down. The next card is turned face up to start the discard pile; the remaining cards form the draw pile.
If the turned-up card is a special card (7, 8, 9, Jack or Ace) its effect does not apply. The first player starts and play goes clockwise.
You must play a card of the same suit or the same rank as the top card of the discard pile (for example, on the 8 of hearts you may play any heart and any 8). If you can play, you must.
If you have no playable card, draw one card from the pile: if it can be played you may play it at once or keep it; otherwise your turn ends. When the draw pile runs out, the discards (except the top card) are shuffled to make a new draw pile.
7: the next player must draw 2 cards and loses their turn. They may instead answer with another 7 (of any suit): the cards to draw add up (4, then 6, then 8…) and the penalty moves on to the following player. Whoever cannot, or does not want to, answer with a 7 draws all the cards owed and loses their turn. While a penalty is pending, only a 7 may be played.
8: the next player skips a turn. With two players you play again right away.
9: reverses the direction of play. With two players it works like a skip: you play again right away.
Jack: a wild card. It can be played on any card, and whoever plays it chooses the suit the others must follow.
Ace: an ordinary card (with the matching option it makes the next player skip a turn, like the 8).
When you are down to a single card the game announces “Mau!” for you: there is nothing to say and no penalty to fear. Whoever plays their last card wins, shouting “Mau-Mau!”.
The first player to play their last card wins; any effect of that card no longer counts. The others are ranked by the number of cards left in hand (fewer is better) and, if tied, by the points of those cards: Ace 11, ten 10, King 4, Queen 3, Jack 2; 9, 8 and 7 count their number.
If the game gets stuck (nobody can play or draw any more) or lasts too long, it ends anyway with the same ranking.
Ace: normal, or “skip” (the next player skips a turn, as with the 8).
Penalty of the 7: normally whoever draws the cards also skips their turn; with “Draw, then play” they play normally right after drawing.
No Jack on a Jack: a Jack cannot be played on top of another Jack, and the chosen suit stays valid.
No winning with a Jack: if your last card is a Jack you may play it, but you do not win; you draw one penalty card and the game goes on with the suit you chose.
The Jack is your best weapon: save it for tough moments or to pick the suit of your last card. Watch the suits: if an opponent draws, they have no card of the required suit. And a 7 in hand is also a shield against everyone else’s 7s.