Mao: a Sample Second Game

Alex has won the first game, so he makes up a new rule. Unbeknownst to the others, he decides that his new rule is: when a Queen is played, the next player loses a turn and play proceeds to the player after.

Alex was dealer before, so dealership passes to the left. Ben shuffles the entire deck of cards, then deals five cards to each player, putting the remainder in a face-down stack.

Dawn picks up her cards. Alex takes a face-down and slides it to her, saying, "Touching cards in a P of O!" Dawn immediately puts her cards down; she will start the game with six cards.

Chris and Alex look at Ben expectantly. Ben takes the top card from the face-down pile and places it face up on the table, starting a face-up discard pile. The card is a 7 of Hearts .

"Have a nice day," says Ben, picking up his cards.

Immediately, Alex and Chris pick up their cards. Dawn does the same.

"Penalty card," sighs Chris as he draws a card.

Dawn plays a 4 of Hearts.

Alex plays a 8 of Hearts.

Ben hums and haws a bit, looking at his cards. He reaches out for a face-down card, then hesitates, his hand hovering over the stack.

Five seconds pass . . .

Ben takes the face-down card and slides it to Dawn, penalizing her for "Failure to Play Within Five Seconds." Dawn glares at Ben.

Chris plays a Queen of Hearts. Alex notes this.

Alex plays a 9 of Hearts.

Ben looks at him in surprise. He takes a face-down card and slides it to Alex, saying, "Playing out of turn."

Alex slides that card back to Ben. "Bad call," he says. "New rule."

Ben sighs resignedly and takes the face-down card.

Dawn plays an 9 of Clubs.

Chris plays a 2 of Clubs.

Ben plays a 7 of Clubs. "Have a nice day!" he says.

Alex smirks. He plays a 7 of Spades, and says, "Have a very nice day!"

"Penalty card," says Dawn, drawing a card.

Chris plays a Queen of Spades, and says, "Queen of Spades!"

Ben begins to reach for a face-down card, but then looks at the cards in his hands, pondering.

Alex isn't fooled by this delaying tactic. He plays the Ace of Spades, and says, "Ace of Spades! Last card."

Dawn can't play any of the cards from her hand, so she draws a card. Unfortunately, Chris slides her a face-down card and says, "Playing out of turn!"

Chris plays a 3 of Spades and says, "Three of Spades!"

Ben plays a 2 of Spades, and says, "Two of Spaces!"

Alex has only one card left in his hand. He plays that card, a 7 of Spades, and says, "Seven of Spades!" He has emptied his hand of cards. "Mao!"

The next instant, he realizes the gross error he has committed, but it is too late. "Failure to say, 'Have a nice day!'," says Dawn, smugly sliding a face-down card to him. Then Ben slides him another one, saying, "Taking the name of our Great Leader in vain!" Alex now has two cards.

And the game continues . . .

(Note: new rules added by winners of the game don't need to be used after a session is over. But if a session lasts an afternoon, for example, there can be as many as twenty or more new rules to keep track of.)


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