Damn, I completely forgot about Mao. You just unlocked a vague memory from 15 years ago. I remember being incredibly frustrated while learning this, followed by the hilarity of introducing more players to the game.

Mao is UNO for smart people because the cards don't say what they do and everyone disagrees on what which card does. So your description is quite accurate.

I prefer the chess variant known as Scrabble. Where 2 to 4 players use wooden blocks with letters ok then instead of traditional chess pieces. The players must then compete to spell the best words.

Was the title of this autocorrected from cards to chess? Id still like to know how to play chess with cards

"Rule #1. It's forbidden to tell the rules of Mao.

Rule #2. There are two exceptions to rule #1, which are rule #1 and rule #2."

This is how Mao was introduced to me. Very fun game

(Actually I watched an ongoing game of Mao before I joined the party and started playing. As I was watching the game I understood a rule and said it out loud, not knowing I wasn't supposed to say the rules. This, of course, granted me a penalty at the beginning of my first game.)

I played this once. It's very fun

High school card game was either euchre or this exclusively. So much fun, way too long ago…

Sounds like Mornington Crescent with more steps...

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