Mau-Mau

How to play Mau-Mau

Mau-Mau is one of Europe's most-loved family card games — fast, chatty and full of little ambushes. You may know it as Mau-Mau in Germany and Austria, Pesten in the Netherlands, Makao in Poland or Ólsen-Ólsen in Iceland; it is also the close cousin of Crazy Eights and the ancestor of UNO. Here you play against three bots and race to empty your hand — or take the table online against real people.

Play Mau-Mau online with friends

Choose Play online to be matched with real opponents for a live game, or share a private invite link so your own group can play together. It all runs in the browser — no account, no app — and the server keeps every card, draw and wild suit in sync for all four players.

The goal

Be the first to get rid of all your cards. Each round, the winner banks the value of the cards still stuck in everyone else's hands, and the first player to reach 200 points wins the game.

Playing a card

One card starts the discard pile. On your turn you must play a card that matches the top card by suit or rank — or you can play a Jack on anything. If you can't (or don't want to) play, you draw one card from the stock and your turn ends.

The action cards

• 7 — draw two: the next player must pick up two cards… unless they have a 7 of their own to stack, passing an ever-bigger pile along.
• 8 — skip: the next player loses their turn.
• Jack — wild: play it on any card and wish for a suit; the next player must follow your chosen suit.
• Ace — reverse: the direction of play turns around.

Scoring

When a player goes out, every other player counts the cards left in their hand: a Jack is 20, an Ace 11, the King and Queen 10 each, and the number cards their face value. The winner adds that total to their score. First to 200 takes the match.

Strategy

Hold a Jack for when you're stuck — it always plays and lets you swing the suit to one you hold. Save your 7s to answer an attack rather than spend them early. An 8 or a reversing Ace can rob a dangerous opponent of their turn just as they're about to go out. And watch the suit you wish for: don't hand the next player exactly what they want. Tap a card to play it; legal cards are highlighted, and the stock pile draws a card. N starts a new game.