The History of Mau Mau
A card game for the whole family, played in countless house-rule versions - and like many folk games, nobody knows who invented it.
One of Many Shedding Games
Mau Mau belongs to a large family of card games in which the aim is to get rid of all your cards by matching the suit or rank of the card on top. Relatives are played in many countries under their own names - Crazy Eights in the English-speaking world, Tschau Sepp in Switzerland, Pesten in the Netherlands, Prší in the Czech Republic and Makao in Poland, among others.
What sets them apart is mostly which cards have special powers: which card makes the next player draw, which one skips a turn and which one lets you choose the suit.
An Undocumented Origin
Mau Mau is best known in German-speaking countries, where it is usually played with the 32-card pack also used for Skat. Where the game comes from and how it got its name is not documented; the explanations that go around are guesses.
Because it was passed on by playing rather than in print, the rules differ from family to family - whether Sevens can be stacked, whether a Jack may be played on a Jack, or what happens if you forget to call "Mau".
This Version
PaperGames uses a common set of rules with an ordinary pack of cards: Sevens make the next player draw two and can be stacked, Eights skip, a Jack names the suit and an Ace gives another turn. The game calls "Mau" itself, without penalties.