“Our Mau-Mau rules” can refer to several different rulesets. Here we compare explicitly identified published versions. These short profiles highlight decisive differences; consult the linked complete instructions for edge cases. App rules are not universal national rules.
In this guide
Schmidt Spiele: sevens and eights
A specific published ruleset.
Expand rules and explanation
As an optional variant in the 150-game collection, a seven makes the next player draw two without discarding; an eight skips the next player. Forwarding the seven is not described as a response. Do not infer automatic penalty stacking from the name Mau-Mau.
Further reading: Schmidt Spiele: 150 Spiele-Sammlung, Mau-Mau (S. 26)
LITE Games: Mau-Mau preset
A specific published ruleset.
Expand rules and explanation
The app preset uses five-card hands, wild jacks, and forwardable seven and eight actions. Missing Mau costs two cards. Remaining-card penalties accumulate until the 100-point threshold; the lowest total wins. This is one app mode rather than a requirement for every private Mau-Mau table.
Further reading: LITE Games: Mau-Mau preset
LITE Games: 101 with wild queens
A specific published ruleset.
Expand rules and explanation
This preset uses five-card hands and ranks six through ace. Queens are wild; six draws one and seven draws two, including mixed penalty chains. Aces skip and can be forwarded; tens reverse. Special cards cannot finish. When someone reaches 101 penalty points, the lowest total wins.
Further reading: LITE Games: 101 preset
LITE Games: Pesten—tens pass one card
A specific published ruleset.
Expand rules and explanation
The Pesten preset deals seven cards. Jacks are wild, twos draw two and jokers five; draw penalties can stack. Eights skip without forwarding; aces reverse. Sevens or kings require follow-ups. A ten makes everyone pass one card left. Special cards cannot finish; two round wins decide the match.
Further reading: LITE Games: Pesten preset
Tschau Sepp: the Lengnau school handout
A specific published ruleset.
Expand rules and explanation
The school handout uses Jass cards and five-card hands. The jack chooses suit, seven draws two and eight skips. A player unable to play draws one; if it matches, it must be played. This obligation differs from the optional immediate play in our study agreement. This source specifies no extra ace action.
Further reading: Schule Lengnau: Anleitung Tschau Sepp
Mau-Mau to 100: the mau-mau.ch version
A specific published ruleset.
Expand rules and explanation
This particular community describes seven chains followed by a normal turn, eights skipping, nines starting suit runs, tens copying and aces requiring follow-ups. Jack-on-jack is forbidden. The target is 100 winning points, not penalties: normally one per round, two for a final jack. This is not a binding Swiss national ruleset.
Further reading: mau-mau.ch: Mau-Mau auf 100, rules of this community
Same rank, different decision
A ten can skip, reverse, pass a card or copy.
Expand rules and explanation
Our proposed ten-skips house rule is one possible agreement. In the named 101 app preset a ten reverses, in the named Pesten preset everyone passes one card left, and at mau-mau.ch a ten copies. These effects do not apply simultaneously. Choose a package and check its instructions for the exact continuation.
Crazy Eights, Switch and UNO have their own guides. Their rules support comparison but do not replace a Mau-Mau agreement. In particular, a private seven chain does not make defensive draw-card stacking legal in classic UNO.