# Can you give me some good Mao rules? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 12, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-give-me-some-good-mao-rules/254751 "2004-07-12T18:58:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mercury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e95f7d/32.png) [@Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mercury)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-give-me-some-good-mao-rules/254751/1 "2004-07-12T18:58:33Z")
My friends and I have taken to playing the card game [Mao](http://www.pagat.com/eights/mao.html) an awful lot. When you win, you get to make a new rule of your own, and everyone has to follow it. The only problem is that we seem to have trouble coming up with good rules. Most of our rules seem to involve saying something (like “Five alive” everytime you play a five), but I’m looking for some rules where you have to actually _do_ something. The sillier and the more ridiculous the rule, the better! 😃 Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-give-me-some-good-mao-rules/254751/2 "2004-07-12T22:17:54Z")
Purge the empire of intellectuals every time you play a (Gang of) Four. Organize mass proletariat rallies every time you play a face card. Cause mass famine, just for the hell of it. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-give-me-some-good-mao-rules/254751/3 "2004-07-12T22:40:50Z")
Every time you draw a red card, take a Great Leap Forward. ---
**Author:** ![Mercury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e95f7d/32.png) [@Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mercury)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-give-me-some-good-mao-rules/254751/4 "2004-07-14T17:32:48Z")
Sadly, mass famine and proletariat rallies aren’t really possible in my living room. I recently made a “pile-on” rule where the person who played the nine of spades would point at a random victim and shout “PILE-ON!” All the other players (in this case, only one) would attack the pointee. I gave up after the third time I ended up with the nine of spades. :smack: Basically, I’m just looking for silly things like that, which can be done with any number of people. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-give-me-some-good-mao-rules/254751/5 "2004-07-14T22:13:50Z")
I got a Mao rule for ya! Don’t get yourself tattooed on Mike Tyson’s shoulder 😃 Oh wait…too late! Mao’s dead, and Tyson already has the tattoo. Oh well, c’est la vie. ---
**Author:** ![Mercury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e95f7d/32.png) [@Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mercury)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-give-me-some-good-mao-rules/254751/6 "2004-07-15T22:03:17Z")
I guess that would be a “no” from the Teeming Millions, then. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![tisiphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tisiphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tisiphone)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-give-me-some-good-mao-rules/254751/7 "2004-07-15T23:25:29Z")
Anybody who plays a jack may “hijack” the seat of their choice? Occupant of said chair may have option to resist? Players of one-eyed jacks may delegate a person to “walk the plank” (heel-and-toe a previously designated straight line…)? Pick a card, any card, when it’s played everyone moves one seat over? ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-give-me-some-good-mao-rules/254751/8 "2004-07-16T00:36:47Z")
My favorite Mao rules were always the ones that changed the way the game was played. For example: You may now play a run of cards (ie, if the 9 of spades is a legally valid card, you can lay down the 9, 10, J of spades on one turn, with the Jack now showing). or Suit order must rotate (instead of playing spades on spades, you have to play according to C-\>D-\>H-\>S-\>C) or cards with prime number values can be played on any other prime number value card. Those are some relatively simple ones that can be really interesting to figure out. Of course, you have to play with pretty gaming-minded people or they might just get frustrated. My other favorite rules are those that build on themselves, even from round to round. Make people name a (unique) breed of dog, or type of fruit, or midwestern city every time they play some type of card. Or make people say the total of all spades played this round whenever they play one. Those are much harder than the “say x when you play y” rules because what you have to say keeps changing, and you’re very tempted to say whatever the last person said. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-give-me-some-good-mao-rules/254751/9 "2004-07-16T00:45:10Z")
Grasp firmly!\* \*As mentioned in the Little Red Book. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-give-me-some-good-mao-rules/254751/10 "2004-07-16T01:03:14Z")
…say “Something amusing.” …pass a card to the player on your… …swap hands with the player on your… …play the card with your left hand. …make a move in a subgame (eg. a game of chess). …swap direction of play …skip a player. All dimonds are clubs and vice-versa. When playing a card of the same value do… …of the successive suit… …jump up and touch the ceiling …tell the group a secret… ---
**Author:** ![praxim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@praxim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/praxim)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-give-me-some-good-mao-rules/254751/11 "2004-07-16T03:22:32Z")
> [@Shade](#): > > …make a move in a subgame (eg. a game of chess). We tried this one before, actually, and it didn’t work too well. Nobody was really interested in the subgame. Swap direction of play is one of the base rules. Skipping a player is done a lot. I like the idea of passing a card to another player—it was going to be my rule in the last game, but it ended too soon. ☹ I like the walrus’s rules.