What is Penalty points?
The standard game here is a single deal: the first player to go out and call Mau Mau wins. With penalty points, one game is a series of rounds. Each round is played exactly like the standard game, but when a player goes out, the others count the cards left in their hands and add them to their penalty points. The player who went out scores nothing.
Cards count their face value from Two to Ten, the Jack 20, the Queen and King 10 each and the Ace 11. Holding on to Jacks is risky: they are the most useful card in your hand and the most expensive one to be caught with.
You choose a limit of 100 or 150 points. After each round the cards are shuffled and dealt again, and the next player round the table starts. As soon as anyone's total reaches the limit, the game ends and the player with the fewest penalty points wins. If two or more are tied, the one who won the most rounds wins; if they are still tied, the game is a draw.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Mau Mau | Penalty points |
|---|---|---|
| Length | Standard Mau MauOne deal: the first player to go out and call Mau Mau wins. | Penalty pointsA series of rounds, each played like the standard game, until someone reaches the limit. |
| End of a round | Standard Mau MauThe game ends; the cards left in the other hands don't matter. | Penalty pointsEvery other player adds the points of the cards left in their hand to their total. The player who went out scores nothing. |
| Card values | Standard Mau MauCards have no points. | Penalty pointsTwo to Ten: face value. Jack 20, Queen 10, King 10, Ace 11. |
| End of the game | Standard Mau MauWhen a player goes out and calls Mau Mau. | Penalty pointsAfter the round in which anyone's total reaches the limit: 100 or 150 points, chosen in the setup. |
| Winner | Standard Mau MauThe player who goes out. | Penalty pointsThe player with the fewest penalty points. A tie goes to the tied player who won the most rounds; if that is tied too, the game is a draw. |
| Next round | Standard Mau MauThere is none. | Penalty pointsThe cards are shuffled and dealt again, play goes in the starting direction again, and the next player round the table leads. |
| Other options | Standard Mau MauThe 32-card deck, Nine reverses, Ace skips and no Mau penalty can be chosen. | Penalty pointsPenalty points work with all of them. With the 32-card deck, every card left in a hand is worth at least 7 points. |
History
Mau Mau is often played over several rounds. A German-language rule sheet published in Austria says that when several rounds are played, the winner can be found either by the number of games won or by the total of the cards left in hand, the fewer the better. It gives the card values used here: Seven to Ten their face value, Jack 20, Queen 10, King 10 and Ace 11. Some regions, such as Switzerland, also count the points of the cards left at the end of a round.
That sheet is written for the 32-card pack, so the Twos to Sixes of the 52-card pack used here simply count their face value. It sets no point limit; 100 and 150 are offered here as a short and a longer game.