Take a seat.
Five cards. Five rounds. Learn the hidden rules from your penalties.
HAND COMPLETE
Waiting for the host to deal.
FREE ONLINE CARD GAME
Nobody tells you the rules.
The penalties do.
Play Mao, the secret-rules card game, free against two to seven computer opponents with no download or sign-up. This is Mao, not Mau-Mau: match rank or suit, draw one if you can't, say "Mao" on your last card, and work out every other rule from the penalties the game hands you. Win a round and add a rule of your own. Choose Easy, Standard or Expert.
Secret-rules Mao · 3–8 seats · 5 rounds
Updated
New to Mao? Learn the public rulesHOW TO PLAY
Mao is the secret-rules shedding game, not Mau-Mau. Three to eight players receive five cards each. Here the computer acts as the Chairman: it enforces hidden rules fairly and tells only the offender what they missed.
Play one card matching the top discard's rank or the current suit. For example, 9♣ goes on 9♥ by rank or 4♣ by suit. The starting discard triggers no hidden rules. A wrong card stays in your hand, costs one penalty card and ends your turn.
A shared rank makes this a public match.
You may draw instead of playing, even if you hold a match. The turn ends immediately. If stock runs out, discards except the top card are shuffled back. If there is nothing left to recycle, a draw passes without adding a card.
One card, then pass.
After a play leaves one card in your hand, press Last card. After playing your final card, press Mao. Use any other phrases you have deduced, then Finish speaking. Each missing phrase costs one card. An unnecessary or repeated phrase costs one too.
Mao is a public rule, even when hidden rules are off.
Your penalty list shows exact offences; other players see only that you were penalised. All possible phrase buttons stay on the table, so a new button never gives a rule away. Speaking happens after your play; Finish speaking hands the turn on. The computer waits for this control. Saying every required phrase closes the window early. A 10-second timer, off by default, can close it or penalise a slow play. Point of order pauses both play and the timer. Whoever opened it presses Resume play.
Win a round and pick one of three inactive rules. It stays in the match. With Reveal rules on, read the full list after each round. Switch it to Never to keep rules hidden until the five-round match is finished.
FIVE ROUNDS
There are no card points. The first player to empty their hand while satisfying their final-card speech wins one round. Missing Mao puts a penalty card back in their hand; there is no round win yet.
After five rounds, the player with the most rounds won wins the match. A tie goes to the player with fewer total penalties. Equal round wins and equal penalties share the place. The scorecard shows both counts, and Review hand shows the cards left at round end.
Options offers 3–8 players; Classic, Random or no starting hidden rules; reveal after each round or only at the end; and an optional ten-second penalty timer. Classic starts with six hidden rules plus Last card and Mao. Random draws five hidden rules plus those two public ones. New rule choices never duplicate an active rule.
PAY ATTENTION
The message names what you missed. Test one guess at a time and use Point of order to read the list without a ticking clock.
Other players' offences are private, but their spoken phrases are public. A phrase after a particular card is evidence; an unrelated penalty is not proof of a rule.
Where the rule is active, a jack can name your strongest remaining suit. Holding it until late can help you out. Easy chooses random matches and learns from three own offences; Standard learns from two, Expert from one and remembers its own added rules. No opponent reads your hand or the stock.
QUICK ANSWERS
No. Mao keeps rules secret so players deduce them from penalties. Mau-Mau is a relative of Crazy Eights with fixed public power cards. Crazy Eights is the closest game in this collection if you wanted Mau-Mau.
Deducing them is the game. You are told to match rank or suit or draw one, announce Last card, and say Mao on your final card. Exact private penalty messages teach you the others.
Classic rules include a nice-day phrase on a seven, a stronger greeting after consecutive sevens, eight reversals, ace skips, jack suit naming and spoken spade names. The live active set can differ. Open Rules this round after a round ends if reveal is on.
It pauses the table and the optional timer for reading public rules, hand counts and your penalties. It is free here. The player who opened it resumes play.
Empty your hand while saying Mao and any other required phrases. Most rounds won after five rounds wins the match, then fewest penalties breaks a tie.
After winning a round, choose one of three inactive rules from a sixteen-rule list. Ideas include Thank you on a queen, All hail on a king, Two on a two, a nine making the next seat draw, and silent hearts. The chooser describes exactly when your chosen rule applies.
Yes. Practice against two to seven opponents, choosing Easy, Standard or Expert. The Chairman enforces every seat by the same rules. Bots learn from private penalties and successful public speech; they never read the hidden rules.
The engine leaves it in your hand, draws one penalty card and passes your turn. The table highlights public matches to help avoid this mistake.
Use the phrase buttons after your card lands. Press Finish speaking when done. Extra phrases, repeated phrases and omitted required phrases each cost a penalty card.
By default all active rules appear after every round. Set Reveal rules to Never to wait until the match ends. Your own added rules are still shown in your chooser when you select them.
Practice is free with no download or sign-up. To play with friends, open a HopLobby lobby and send one link: our party games run in the browser too.
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