🃏 Mau-Mau

A card game for two to four people with an ordinary deck. In turn everyone plays a card matching the top card of the pile — either the suit or the rank. Whoever runs out of cards first wins.

You can play on your own against one to three computer opponents (that works offline too) or with two, three or four real players. A round takes five to eight minutes with two players, eight to twelve with four.

Contents
  1. The deck
  2. What “matching” means
  3. The seven: the next player draws two
  4. The ace: the next player misses a turn
  5. The jack: you name a suit
  6. “Mau” — and the two penalty cards
  7. When the draw pile runs out
  8. How to play it
  9. On your own against the computer
  10. Two, three or four players
  11. The server shuffles — nobody sees your cards
  12. If someone leaves
  13. Talking at the table
  14. Points and levels

The deck

We play with 32 cards: 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace in the four suits Hearts ♥, Diamonds ♦, Spades ♠ and Clubs ♣.

Everyone gets 5 cards. One card is turned face up — that is the start of the discard pile. The rest sits face down as the draw pile.

What “matching” means

You may play a card if it shares a suit or the same rank with the top card of the pile.

If nothing fits you draw one card. If it fits you may play it right away; otherwise it is the next player’s turn. You cannot draw twice in a row.

The seven: the next player draws two

Play a 7 and the next player has to draw two cards — unless they play a 7 themselves. Then it moves on and adds up: 2, then 4, then 6, then 8 cards.

The first player without a 7 takes the whole pile at once and their turn ends there. While a seven chain is running you may play nothing else, not even a jack.

Example: Anna plays the 7 of hearts, Ben plays the 7 of spades, Clara has none — Clara draws 4 cards.

The ace: the next player misses a turn

Playing an ace skips the next player. An ace cannot be blocked with another ace — otherwise nobody would ever finish in a two player game.

With two players that means: you go again straight away.

The 8 is an ordinary card here — it has no special effect.

The jack: you name a suit

A jack fits on any card. When you play it you name a suit — and the next player has to follow it.

No jack may be played on a jack. Otherwise naming a suit would be pointless: the next player would simply overwrite it.

On a phone you get a window with four large fields — hearts, diamonds, spades, clubs.

“Mau” — and the two penalty cards

Before you play your second to last card you call “Mau”. There is a button for it; it appears as soon as you are down to two cards.

Forget it and another player may call you out — then you draw two cards. But only until the next card is played. After that it is too late and you got away with it.

That is why the “forgot to call Mau” button only stays for five seconds — you have to pay attention, just like at a real table. The computer always pays attention.

You can still call “Mau” late as long as nobody has called you out. The very last card needs no call at all.

When the draw pile runs out

If the draw pile is used up, the discard pile is shuffled except for the top card and becomes the new draw pile. So the game does not run dry.

Only if every card really is in someone’s hand and nobody can play does the round end in a draw — that happens very rarely.

How to play it

On your own against the computer

You choose how many computer opponents you face (1 to 3) and how strong they are:

The solo game runs entirely on your device — even without a connection. It saves at the end of a game, not in between: close the page mid round and you start over.

Two, three or four players

At the top you pick “two”, “three” or “four”. That opens the lobby: you see who is waiting for players and can join them — or wait yourself.

If nobody turns up, the computer fills the empty seats. You can do that any time with a button, and it happens by itself after ten minutes. So a round always comes together.

Sometimes all guest seats are taken. Then you can join the queue, come back later — or just play against the computer, that always works.

The server shuffles — nobody sees your cards

In a multiplayer game the deck is not in your browser but on the server. It shuffles, deals and sends everyone only their own hand plus how many cards the others hold.

It also checks every move: whether it is your turn, whether you really hold that card, whether it fits, whether the seven chain is correct and whether “Mau” came in time. A browser that invents cards gets nowhere.

That is also why card games have no spectators — a spectator would see everyone’s hand.

If someone leaves

If a player goes quiet for 90 seconds, the game asks the others: “the computer takes their seat” or “new game”. For the person who left the round counts as lost.

A short loss of signal is no problem: come back and you are in your seat again — the game state lives on the server, you can even switch devices.

Talking at the table

There is no free chat, just ready made sentences and a few emojis: “Good luck!”, “Nice move!”, “Back in 2 minutes”, “Well played!” … They appear in the reader’s own language — you write German, your guest reads English.

One sentence every five seconds. Anyone behaving badly can be reported.

Points and levels

What counts are games against other players: 10 points for a win, 4 points for second place (with three or four players), 1 point for taking part — kept separately by week, month and year.

Your level ⭐ is the number of milestones you have reached, plus one. There are five: your first game against another player, your first win against another player, playing against 3 different people, 5 wins and 25 wins against other players.

Practice against the computer does not count towards points or milestones. It is not lost, though: your record keeps it separately so you can see how much you have practised.

Whatever level and points you had before 19 August 2026 stay exactly as they were — nothing is recalculated.