How to Play Mau-Mau: Rules & Free Online Game

Objective

Get rid of your hand before anyone else does. Whoever plays their last card first wins at once; everyone else loses.

There are no points. If you play several games in the same room, the scoreboard counts each player’s wins.

Setup and Deal

We use a standard 52-card deck: Clubs, Spades, Hearts and Diamonds, 2 through Ace. After shuffling, everyone is dealt five cards.

One card is turned face up to start the discard pile – never a 7, an 8 or a Jack, so nobody is punished before the first move. The rest forms the face-down draw pile (the stock).

Play goes around the table in seat order. The first seat starts the first game in a room; in each new game, the next seat goes first.

How to Play Mau-Mau: Match Suit or Rank

On your turn, play exactly one card that matches the top card by suit or by rank. On the 9 of Hearts you can play any Heart or any other 9.

If you can’t or don’t want to play, draw a card – even when you hold a playable one. If the drawn card fits, you may play it right away (only that one) or keep it; otherwise your turn ends. You never draw more than one card by choice.

When the stock runs out, the discard pile is shuffled, except for its top card, and becomes the new stock. If there’s nothing left to draw at all, you pass.

Special Cards: 7, 8 and Jack

Only three ranks do something special – and unlike in Crazy Eights, the Jack is wild, not the 8. A 7 or 8 still has to match suit or rank; all other cards, Aces included, are ordinary.

• 7 – draw two: the next player draws two cards unless they play a 7 of their own (any suit). Then the player after them draws four, then six, and so on. While a 7 penalty is open, only a 7 helps – not even a Jack.
• Taking the penalty ends your turn. After that, the 7 on top is matched normally by suit or rank.
• 8 – skip: the next player misses a turn. In a two-player game, you go again right away.
• Jack – wild: a Jack goes on any card, and you name a suit (its own suit is fine too). The next player must play that suit or another Jack – or draw. The request stands until someone plays a card; drawing doesn’t change it.

“Mau” and “Mau-Mau”: How the Game Ends

When a player is down to one card, it’s “Mau!” – much like calling “Last card” or “Uno”. At Tavern Jack the game announces it automatically, so you can’t forget it and there’s no penalty.

Playing your last card is “Mau-Mau” and wins the game. Any card can be your last, including a 7, an 8 or a Jack – its effect no longer matters. The host can hit “Play again!” to start a new game in the same room.

Example: A Two-Player Game

You’re playing against Kalle, with the 9 of Hearts on top. In this practice game you start with seven cards instead of five: the King of Hearts, 7 of Spades, 7 of Clubs, 8 of Clubs, Jack of Spades, 4 of Diamonds and 2 of Hearts.

Our interactive tutorial walks you through exactly this game.

• You play the King of Hearts (same suit); Kalle plays the King of Spades (same rank).
• Your 7 of Spades, his 7 of Diamonds, your 7 of Clubs: Kalle has no 7 left and draws six cards.
• Your 8 of Clubs goes on the 7 of Clubs and skips Kalle, so it’s your turn again.
• You play the Jack of Spades and ask for Diamonds. Kalle has no Diamond or Jack, draws, and the card doesn’t fit.
• You play the 4 of Diamonds – “Mau!” Kalle plays the 4 of Spades.
• Your 2 of Hearts doesn’t fit, so you draw the 4 of Hearts – a rank match – and play it at once. After Kalle’s Queen of Hearts, your 2 of Hearts makes it “Mau-Mau”!

Variants and House Rules

Almost every family plays Mau-Mau a little differently. Common house rules – and what applies here:

• 32 cards: in Germany it’s often played with a Skat deck (7 to Ace); with German-suited cards, the Unter takes the Jack’s role. We use all 52 cards.
• You must play if you can, or keep drawing until something fits: here you may draw instead of playing, but never more than one card per turn.
• The Ace skips, or an 8 can be passed on with another 8: here only the 8 skips, and it takes effect immediately.
• Playing a card after taking the 7 penalty: here your turn ends once you’ve drawn.
• No Jack on a Jack, no going out on a Jack: here both are allowed.
• Scoring the cards left in the losers’ hands: here only wins count.