Friday, September 13, 2013

Mao

A ludicresly complicated card game for all you fanatics out there. :) Enjoy!
"Borrowed from Wikipedia, and modified for your viewing pleasure.

Rules of Mao
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. New players are not given a list of rules, they have to discover on their own.
Public rules
·        "The only rule I can tell you is this one"
·        “Goal is to eliminate all your cards”
·        “Plays like uno (place a card which matches either suit, or number)”
·        “Point of Order”
Rules of play
·        Each player is dealt an initial hand of the same number of cards, (7 cards).
·        Use 1 deck for every 2 players.
·        Place deck in middle of table, and flip the top card face up.
·        The dealer says: "this game of Mao has officially begun".
·        Players cannot touch their cards until the game begins.
·        Players can play any card which matches either the suit or value of top card.
·        If the player has no cards he can play, he must instead draw until he gets a playable card.
Card Rules
·        Ace causes the next player to skip his turn.
·        7 causes the next player to draw a card. Player must announce “have a nice day” If the next player also plays a seven, he announces "have a very nice day" and the next player draws 2 cards.
·        8 reverses order of play when played
·        Jacks are wild, allowing any player to call out a new suit when a jack is played.
·        Spade cards must be named when played (player must say “2 of spades, or Ace of spades)
·        Players watching may be penalized, thus roping them into joining in. The penalty is 10 cards per 30 minutes of playing. A penalty can also be given when a bystander asks a question.
Speaking rules
·        Obsessive Verbosity. No talking, unless the card instructs you to.
·        Questions. No questions outside of Point of Order.
·        Point of Order. Any may at any time announce "point of order”, which is a signal for all players to put down their cards, while discussion takes place.
1.      No touching cards during a point of order.
2.      Point of orders may be stacked (calling point of order within another player’s point of order)
3.      Player must call end point to end the point of order.
4.      Players have to talk in the third person.
5.      Mao Master may end any point of order.
·        Thank You. Players must thank the dealer for each penalty card. In the event of multiple penalties in a row, a single thank you will suffice. Failure to say thank you will result in a penalty.
·        Last Card. Player must say “last card” when they play their second to last card.
·        End Game. Player must say “Mao” when they play their last card.
·        Swearing. Many variants prohibit swearing.
·        Have a Nice Day. Players must say “have a nice day” when playing a 7.
·        Special card names. Players must say “that’s the badger!” when playing a joker.
Penalties
·        The normal penalty for any offence in Mao is one card per offence.
·        Players turn must be no more than 10 seconds. Player gets a penalty card every 5sec  they don’t play.
·        If the call was wrong, the caller of a penalty can be given the card back with a reason of "bad call” or "frivolous card-giving", although it is not uncommon for that player to simply get the card returned to them for talking.
Adding rules
·        Winning player may add a new rule.
·        Accepted rule standards:
1.      When <something> happens, perform an action (say a phrase, knock on the table, etc.)
2.      When <something> happens, something about the game changes
3.      An action must always, or must never, be performed (don't straighten the pile, etc.)
4.      Something fundamental about the game changes (a king is treated as if it were a jack for rules)
5.      Multiple actions can be conditions, or one condition may have multiple effects.
Variant rules
·        In another variant, players 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".


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