Mao (game)
_Game|
subject_name=Mao|
image_link= |
image_caption= |
players=2+ (best played with 4+)|
ages=10+ |
setup_time= none |
playing_time=20 minutes upwards|
complexity=variable |
strategy=variable |
random_chance=variable |
skills=invention, deduction }}
Mao (also sometimes called
Mü,
Chairman,
Dictator,
Bjorn,
Maul,
Maui,
King Mao or, in
Mongolia,
Mangarti) is a
card game that is popular among
hackers. 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."
[ (offline, see Internet Archive)] As such, the rules of the game are discovered by playing or watching the game. A player that 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.
As one might suspect, with a game of this nature, there are many variants of Mao in existence. While beginners sometimes complain 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.
Groups that frequently play together sometimes have universally accepted, differentiated sets of rules by which to play Mao. These can be stated at the beginning of the game, and in fact some groups have a rule that at the beginning of a game the dealer (or "dictator", or "Mao") must state the name of the variation being played.
The Mao Page at John Macleod's card games site
also points out an interesting link to a passage from an
Arthur Machen short story written in
1899 called
The White People, which may be the earliest reference to Mao the game:
"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."The name is often taken, probably spuriously, as a reference to
Mao Zedong. (This is under the theory that the game of Mao is a parody of the
People's Republic of China, where nobody purportedly knows the laws until they break them and are penalized. The idea of changing the rules without telling anyone is also part of this parody.)Another apocryphal story is that Chairman Mao played this game with his prisoners, but instead of penalty cards, they lost a finger when violating the rules.
Mao is more probably 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 which share similar principles.
Mao began gaining popularity in the
Universities of Cambridge and
Oxford around
1975, though it was probably first invented some time before then. Mao is also popular at
Center for Talented Youth camps,
Canada/USA Mathcamp, and in high school theatre groups and bands.
Other inductive games in which not all players know the rules include
Eleusis,
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. The game of Mao has a distinct aesthetic and sense of humor, so that some players consider its charm similar to that of Calvinball, from the
Calvin and Hobbes comic strip.
The game of Mao is a key plot device in the
The Mao Game, a
1997 novel written by (and a
1999 film written and directed by)
Joshua Miller.
Most Mao players feel that the enjoyment of players everywhere is enhanced both by the fact that the rules are not known in advance to new players, and by the growth and variety of differing versions through the oral and demonstrative tradition. Both of these are inhibited by the wide circulation of written sets of the rules. These players would argue that the rules should not be written down and disseminated publicly. On the other hand, some Mao groups have used (or abused) the secrecy of the rules as a way to humiliate players unfamiliar with game, and these players may wish to disseminate what they've learned to prevent it from happening to others. Finally, a description of the rules may be used by an individual who is unfamiliar with Mao to start a game when no experienced players are available. Some people feel that while a description of the rules is inappropriate, describing an example game would be a reasonable compromise.
In any case there cannot be such a thing as an authoritative written description of the rules, so any descriptions or example games that are publicly available may be inaccurate or suboptimal.
Ideally, a new player will learn the game from another the way it was meant to be learned. The following is intended for those who are interested in creating their own Mao variant or who are otherwise interested in the game without the desire to play it "as intended."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", some groups reveal the goal of eliminating cards, and some groups might outline the "meta-rules".
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.
[ (offline, see Internet Archive)]Once all players in a certain area know the ruleset, it may be interesting for them to 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, especially if multiple rules concerning turn order are in effect simultaneously.
Another variant is Mini Mao,
which starts with "no rules" (just turn-taking play-one-card-or-draw) and has a nominated player make up one secret rule, for the first round.
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.
[ (offline, see Internet Archive)] 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 decks combined is common; matching card backs aren't 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 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 either the value 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" or "Penalty Card".
Usually, his turn is lost and he cannot play after he draws a card.
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 played
*Spade cards must be named when played (eg, playing an ace of spades requires the player to say "ace of spades")
*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.
Further rules
As noted above, in many variants an additional rule is silently and secretly added to the game with each round. 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. The rules will vary from group to group, and possibly 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 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 amongst sneakier players, the triggering conditions can become quite complicated. Such more complicated 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 even "playing an odd numbered card on top of an even numbered card".
To "create" a rule, one could pick a triggering condition, and then one or more action and/or game effect. The spirit of the rule is generally something in good fun, and may make more sense when in context; such as saying "He's dead, Jim" when playing what is known as "the
suicide king". While rules that unfairly sway the game in favour of one player or to the detriment of one specific player are possible and quite easy to concoct, ("Everytime James plays a ten, he gets a penalty") they are generally frowned upon as unsportsmanlike.
In many variants, during the game, no speech is allowed other than that required by the rules. Some players feel that this rule reduces the amount of fun had while playing the game (especially for new players) and allow speech not required by the rules, as long as that speech does not conflict with any other rules in play. Others feel that unnecessary speech can cause unnecessary obfuscation of speech-oriented rules, making it even more difficult for new players to pick up on subtle rulesets.
Examples of particular speech rules include:
Point of Order. Any player (or only the dealer, in some variations) may at any time announce
"point of order,",
at which point all players must put down their cards while discussion takes place. This time can be used to go to the bathroom, discuss a ruling, or to ask whose turn it really is. The point of order ends when the player that called point of order announces "end point of order," or "pick your cards up" at which point the cards are picked back up and play resumes. Players may not pick up their hands until the dealer picks up his own hand, or in some variations until the player who called point of order picks up his hand. This rule is often enforced by penalties such as "fondling the cards" or "premature peeking". Additionally, there may be a penalty for saying the phrase "Point of Order" during Point of Order; this may be circumvented by saying "Point of O", "P of Order", "P of O", and etc. In many variants, during a Point of Order, no players (including the dealer) are permitted to touch their cards at all. Another very common name that is used is "Pivo," possibly coming from "P of O" shortened to one word.
Questions. In some variants, all players (sometimes including the dealer) are prohibited from asking questions.
. Many variants prohibit swearing.
. Many variants prohibit blasphemy (including taking in vain the name of
God,
Jesus,
Christ, or (in some variants),
Chairman Mao.)
Last Card. Some variants require the player to announce when they only have one card left in their hand.
. Upon playing their last card, a player must call out "Mao" to win.
Should they forget to say "Mao", or call it incorrectly, they are penalized. Stacking penalties at this point can cause much grief to a player who has gleefully placed his/her last card down and proclaimed "Mao", only to discover that he has broken some rule.
Required order of speech rules. In some variants, where multiple speech rules apply to a particular situation, the calls that the player is required to make must be made in the correct order. One typical order of operations is: calls resulting from the card's suit, then calls resulting from its rank, then calls resulting from the card's suit and rank simultaneously, and finally "last card" or "Mao" when applicable. For example, assume a variant where the "announce names of all played cards that are spades", "special 'have a nice day' rules for sevens", and "required call of 'thank you' upon playing a card with the same suit and rank as the top card". A seven of spades is the top card, and the player whose turn it is plays his last card, which is also a seven of spades. That player must call "Seven of spades, have a very nice day, thank you, Mao", in that order. Any variation is a penalizable offense (which would then bring the "Last card" rule back into play, etc.)
Cumulative effect of speech rules. In many variants, violations of speech rules are cumulative. Thus, if a player were to ask a question that contained a swearword, this would constitute a violation of both the "Question" and the "Swearing" prohibitions, and the player would be penalized for both.
In some variants, particular players are assigned particular titles, and particular rights or duties accrue to that player by virtue of that title. Examples:
*The dealer might have the title "Chairman Mao," "Mao Leader," "Mao Master," or "Game Master" and be the ultimate authority over whether a rule was broken.
*A player other than the dealer might have the title "Custodian of the Deck" and be the only player entitled to touch or handle cards during a Point of Order. (Typically, the Custodian of the Deck is charged with ensuring that piles of cards on the table are tidy.)
*A player other than the dealer might have the title "Minister of Foreign Affairs", and be the only player authorized to speak to people who are not playing the game.
There may be a time limit of approximately five seconds for each turn;
if exceeded, the player gets a penalty card and either loses their turn or gets another penalty every five seconds thereafter.
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".
If the name of the game is mentioned at any time during play, the offender is penalized with at least two cards and sometimes a ridiculous number of cards, like thirty or fifty. Alternatively, this may only apply for the last card a player discard
There are often many additional details and rules involved in a particular game of Mao, as the game lends itself quite readily to mutation. When playing multiple rounds of Mao, 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; after many rounds, many new rules will accumulate. Some players argue that having the player that won the previous round create new rules is unfair because that player will have an advantage in the next game and will be the most likely to win again, and suggest using a method which is fair to all players (such as simply rotating every deal). When playing with new players, some variants have a short period, generally 2 or 3 games, where no new rules are introduced to prevent the new players from being overwhelmed. Naturally, only the person who created the rule will initially know what it is.
Some Mao players insist that two players know the new rule, so it can be consistently enforced. In that case, the winner tells another player about the new rule when it is created.
Keep in mind that these rules apply to only some variants; the game of Mao has mutated into a wide variety of forms, and each version will be unique in some ways and similar in others. In addition, newly introduced rules can totally change the nature of the game and can often take into account many unusual aspects - such as if a card is symmetrical or if it is a prime number. Like many role-playing games, the game will be much more fun if there are some experienced players present who have an appropriate attitude.
The rule-changing nature of Mao makes it a relative of
Nomic, especially
Imperial Nomic.
*
Bartog*
Fizzbin*
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
*http://web.archive.org/web/19990428134042/
*http://www.compulink.co.uk/~catbells/mao.htm
