# Mao — the rules nobody will tell you

- From: Mao, a card game played in many versions
- Players: 3–7 players
- Time: 10 min
- Made by: Traditional, with no fixed rules
- This version: A short form: 5 cards each and two or three secret rules

Made with boardgameBuilder 0.14.4. To design from it, open boardgameBuilder and choose Open game: its blocks go on the canvas, and the feelings are left for you to pick.

The dealer knows a few extra rules and nobody else does. Break one and you get a penalty card, with only the name of what you broke. You learn the rules by breaking them.

## What it shows a designer

Hidden rules turn every penalty into evidence. It shows how players build a model of a game from feedback alone, and how much frustration a design can carry before it stops being fun.

## What you need

- one standard deck of cards

## How to play

1. **Before you start.** The dealer chooses two or three secret rules, such as 'say "have a nice day" when you play a 7' or 'an Ace skips the next player', and tells nobody. The only rule anyone may say out loud is this one.
2. **Deal.** Deal 5 cards each and turn one card face up as the start of the pile.
3. **Play.** Going clockwise, play a card that matches the top card by number or suit. If you can't, draw one card.
4. **Penalties.** When someone breaks a rule, secret or not, the dealer gives them one card from the deck and names the rule broken, without explaining it: 'Failure to say "have a nice day"'.
5. **Mao.** Say 'Mao' as you play your last card. The first player to get rid of all their cards wins and becomes the next dealer, and may add one more secret rule.

## After playing, talk about

- When did you work out a secret rule, and what gave it away?
- How did it feel to be penalised for a rule you didn't know?
- As dealer, which rule caused the most confusion, and why?

## Where the rules are written down

- https://lynnfieldmao.com/rules/
- https://gamerules.com/rules/mao-card-game/

## Its blocks

- Core mechanic: hand management
- Victory condition: race to finish
- Chance or skill: skill with luck
- Information visibility: rules you discover
- Timing: take turns

## Saved state

boardgameBuilder reads this part back when the file is opened.

```json
{"mechanics": {"core-mechanic": ["hand-management"], "victory-condition": "race-to-finish", "information": "rules-you-discover", "chance-skill": "skill-with-luck-tempering", "timing": ["take-turns"]}, "chosenFeelings": [], "previousMechanics": {}, "previousFeelings": [], "turnNumber": 0, "locked": false, "turnHistory": [], "answers": {}, "tests": {}}
```