Learn Mau Mau: Tutorial

On your turn, play a card that matches the suit or rank of the top discard card.

The discard pile shows the 9 of Hearts. You can play:

- Any hearts card (matches suit)

- Any 9 (matches rank)

In this hand, the 5 of Hearts and Q of Hearts match by suit, and the 9 of Clubs matches by rank. If you cannot play any card, you must draw from the draw pile.

After drawing, if you still cannot play, your turn ends and play passes to the next player.

The Jack is the wild card in Mau Mau! You can play a Jack on any card, regardless of suit or rank.

When you play a Jack, you get to choose the suit that the next player must match. This is a powerful move that lets you control the game.

For example, if you play the Jack of Diamonds and declare "spades," the next player must play a spade, another Jack, or draw a card.

Jacks can be played at any time -- even when you have other playable cards. Use them strategically!

The 7 is the draw card! When someone plays a 7, the next player must either:

- Play another 7 to stack the penalty (adding 2 more), or

- Draw cards equal to the pending count

Stacking is what makes 7s exciting. If Player 1 plays a 7 (draw 2), and Player 2 plays another 7, the count becomes 4. If Player 1 plays yet another 7, it becomes 6!

When a player cannot or chooses not to stack, they draw all the accumulated cards and their turn ends.

In this example, the pending draw count is 2. Player 2 must play a 7 or draw 2 cards.

Two more action cards give Mau Mau its strategic depth:

8 -- Skip: When you play an 8, the next player's turn is skipped. In a 2-player game, this means you get to go again!

Ace -- Reverse: Playing an Ace reverses the direction of play. In a clockwise game, it switches to counterclockwise, and vice versa. In a 2-player game, Reverse acts like Skip (you go again).

These action cards combine powerfully with suit matching. You can chain action cards to keep control of the game and deny opponents their turns.

This is what makes Mau Mau unique! When you play a card and are left with one card in your hand, you must call "Mau!"

After playing your second-to-last card, a Mau call window opens. You must call Mau before making any other action. If you forget to call Mau and try to play or draw instead, you receive a penalty of 2 cards drawn from the draw pile!

The Mau call is mandatory -- it alerts other players that you are about to win. Pay attention to your hand size and always remember to announce it!

When you play your last card, you must call "Mau Mau!" to actually win the game. Simply emptying your hand is not enough!

After playing your final card, a Mau Mau call window opens. You must call it to claim victory. Until you call Mau Mau, the game is not over.

This two-step announcement system (Mau at one card, Mau Mau at zero) is the signature mechanic of the game. It creates tension and excitement -- even when you are about to win, you must remember the call!

When you cannot play any card (no matching suit, rank, or Jack), you must draw one card from the draw pile. After drawing, your turn ends.

If the draw pile runs out, the discard pile (except the top card) is reshuffled to form a new draw pile. This ensures the game can always continue.

Remember: even if you can play a card, you are not forced to -- you may choose to draw instead if you prefer. But once you draw, your turn passes to the next player.

The game ends when a player plays their last card and successfully calls "Mau Mau!"

Here Player 1 has emptied their hand and called Mau Mau to win the game.

Key strategies for Mau Mau:

- Save Jacks for when you need to change suits

- Stack 7s to force opponents to draw many cards

- Use 8s and Aces to control turn order

- Always remember to call Mau (1 card) and Mau Mau (0 cards)!

- Watch opponents' hand sizes -- when they have 2 cards, expect a Mau call

Good luck!