Tutorial 1 of 7
Mau-Mau rules and house rules
Beginner 6 min
Play Mau-Mau against the computer, learn what sevens, eights and Jacks do, and switch on the house rules your family plays with.
Mau-Mau is the card game most Germans learn first: play your cards onto the discard pile one at a time and be the first with an empty hand. Playcards deals a 32-card deck and lets you play against one to five computer players or against friends.
Start a game
- Open the Mau-Mau tab at the top of the page.
- Under How do you want to play? choose Against the computer.
- Under Seats, set the Number of players. Every computer seat has a Level: Easy makes the odd mistake, Medium plays carefully and Strong also counts which suits the others are missing.
- Press Deal the cards.
Everybody gets five cards. One card is turned face up as the discard pile; the rest form the draw pile.
Your turn
The table shows Your turn. above your hand. Cards you may play are raised; the others are dimmed and say why when you press them.
- Play a card of the same suit or the same rank as the top card of the discard pile.
- If you cannot or do not want to play, press Draw a card. If the drawn card fits you may play it straight away, otherwise press Keep the card and pass.
With the keyboard, move through your hand with the arrow keys and press Enter to play the chosen card. D draws a card.
Special cards
| Card | What happens |
|---|---|
| 7 | The next player draws two cards — unless they play another 7. Then the following player draws four, and so on. |
| 8 | The next player is skipped. |
| Jack | Can be played on any card except another Jack. You choose a suit under Wish a suit: and the next player must follow that suit (or play a Jack). |
Mau and Mau-Mau
When you play your second-to-last card, say Mau; with your last card, say Mau-Mau. Both buttons appear next to your hand at the right moment. If you forget, you draw a penalty card. If you would rather not think about it, open Help → Settings and tick Say “Mau” automatically.
Points and matches
The round ends when someone has played their last card. The others score the cards they still hold: Jack 20, Ace 11, 10 10, King 4, Queen 3 and 7 to 9 their face value — so it pays to get rid of Jacks and Aces early. The Points this round table shows each player's penalty.
Under House rules → Match ends at you can play a whole match: it ends when the first player reaches 100, 200 or 500 points, and the player with the fewest points wins. Single rounds means every round stands on its own.
House rules
Every family plays Mau-Mau a little differently. Under House rules you can switch on what your table knows:
- Sevens can be stacked (on by default) — turn it off and every 7 means “draw two” with no answer.
- Jack on Jack allowed — a Jack may then be played on another Jack.
- 9 reverses the direction — the turn order changes direction.
- Ace: play again — whoever plays an Ace plays another card.
- Cards per player — four to seven cards instead of five.
The house rules are part of the table: save it with Table → Save table file or share the set-up with Copy share link (set-up only).
Next steps
- Play Mau-Mau with friends on one device: Playing with friends on one device or online.
- The rules in short are always one click away in Help → Rules of this game.
Ready to try it?