Damn, I completely forgot about Mao. You just unlocked a vague memory from 15 years ago. I remember being incredibly frustrated while learning this, followed by the hilarity of introducing more players to the game.
this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2023
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Holy hell
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I tried it with a group years ago and we played extensively for half a year but eventually had to split off. At max i get 3 people together who know it and most plain don't like it... But good memories indeed, i still think about new rules sometimes.
I played it at a summer camp in middle or high school. We had ~25 playing one game at one point
Mao is UNO for smart people because the cards don't say what they do and everyone disagrees on what which card does. So your description is quite accurate.
I prefer the chess variant known as Scrabble. Where 2 to 4 players use wooden blocks with letters ok then instead of traditional chess pieces. The players must then compete to spell the best words.
Was the title of this autocorrected from cards to chess? Id still like to know how to play chess with cards
I dont know if theres an official way to play chess with cards but there enough cards to assign one to every piece and they come in 2 colors.
"Rule #1. It's forbidden to tell the rules of Mao.
Rule #2. There are two exceptions to rule #1, which are rule #1 and rule #2."
This is how Mao was introduced to me. Very fun game
(Actually I watched an ongoing game of Mao before I joined the party and started playing. As I was watching the game I understood a rule and said it out loud, not knowing I wasn't supposed to say the rules. This, of course, granted me a penalty at the beginning of my first game.)
Ours was “the only rule i can tell you is this one” but usually people did need more context. I prefer yours.
Mao Club Rule 1: You don’t talk about mao club.
Mao Club Rule 2: YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT MAO CLUB.
Mao Club Rule 3: Someone yells stop, goes limp, taps out, the game is over.
Mao Club Rule 4: Only two guys to a game.
Mao Club Rule 5: One game at a time Fellas.
Mao Club Rule 6: No Shirts, No shoes.
Mao Club Rule 7: Games will go on as long as they have to.
Mao Club Rule 8: If this is your first night at mao club, you have to play.
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Both uno and crazy eight are mentioned on the wiki as being related to mao.
Because these games have so many local variations people who play while traveling may not know the local rules, eventually shaping the existence of Mao. Many of the more common mao variations follow similar rules and structure.
I played this once. It's very fun
High school card game was either euchre or this exclusively. So much fun, way too long ago…
Sounds like Mornington Crescent with more steps...
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