Crazy Eights and Mau-Mau rules: the classic shedding game

01Crazy Eights and Mau-Mau in one minute

Both games are shedding games: the goal is to get rid of all your cards before anyone else. There is a draw pile in the middle and a discard pile next to it. On your turn you put down one card that matches the top card of the discard pile, either by suit (hearts on hearts) or by rank (a 9 on a 9). If you cannot, you draw.

One rank is wild. In Crazy Eights it is the 8, which is where the name comes from. In Mau-Mau it is the Jack. A wild card can go on anything, and the player who puts it down chooses the suit that must be followed next. That single rule is what turns a simple matching game into a game of timing and nerve.

Crazy Eights is the name used in the United States and in most English rule books. Mau-Mau is the German game, played with a shorter deck and a few extra special cards. If you grew up in Britain you may know the family as Switch or Last Card.

02What you need: cards, players and the deal

Crazy Eights uses one ordinary 52-card deck. It is best with 2 to 6 players. With two players, deal 7 cards each; with three or more, deal 5 each. Put the rest face down as the draw pile and turn the top card face up to start the discard pile.

Mau-Mau uses a 32-card deck: 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace of each suit, the same short pack used for Skat. If you only have a full deck, simply take out the 2s to 6s. Deal 5 cards each. With six players that leaves very few cards to draw, so it makes sense to deal 4 each instead.

If the first card turned up is a special card, such as a wild, it is usual to put it back into the pile and turn another. Nobody should start the round facing a penalty they did nothing to earn.

03A turn, step by step

Play moves to the left, starting with the player next to the dealer. On your turn:

• Play one card that matches the top card by suit or rank, or play a wild card.
• If you cannot play, draw from the pile. In classic Crazy Eights you keep drawing until you find a card that fits. In Mau-Mau you draw one card only.
• If the card you drew fits, you can play it straight away or keep it and end your turn.
• In many homes you may also draw on purpose, even when you could play. It can be worth taking a card to keep a wild or a 7 for later.
• If the draw pile runs out, keep the top card of the discard pile, shuffle the rest and turn it over as a new draw pile.
• The first player with no cards left wins the round.

04The wild card: 8s in Crazy Eights, Jacks in Mau-Mau

When you play the wild card, you name a suit. The next player has to play a card of that suit, or another wild. The rank of your wild does not matter after that. If you play the 8 of spades and say hearts, the next player needs a heart or another wild card. A spade will not do.

Families disagree about wild on wild. In classic Crazy Eights you can usually play an 8 on top of an 8 and name a new suit. In Mau-Mau the common rule is Bube auf Bube is not allowed: you cannot play a Jack on a Jack. Agree on this before you deal, because it changes how safe your wild card really is.

Some families also say you may not finish the round on a wild. That is a house rule, not part of the basic game, so again, agree first.

05Action cards: draw two, skip and reverse

Classic Crazy Eights has no other special cards. Most families add a few, and Mau-Mau has them built in.

• Draw two. The next player picks up two cards and loses their turn. In Mau-Mau this is the 7. In British Switch and many Crazy Eights homes it is the 2. With stacking, the next player can answer with their own draw-two card and pass on a bigger penalty. Germans call this 7 auf 7.
• Skip. The next player misses a turn. In Mau-Mau it is the 8 (aussetzen). In many Crazy Eights homes it is the Queen.
• Reverse. Play changes direction. Usually the Ace or the 9. With only two players a reverse works like a skip, so you play again.

06Calling Mau or Last card

In Mau-Mau, when you put down your second-to-last card, you must say Mau. When you put down your last card, you say Mau-Mau, and the round is yours. In Switch the call is usually Last card. If you forget and someone notices before the next player moves, you pick up a penalty card. Some families make it two.

Classic Crazy Eights has no call at all, which is one reason it is the gentlest version for small children.

07When nobody can play: blocked rounds

Very rarely, especially with six players and a 32-card deck, the draw pile and the discard pile both run dry while players are still holding cards. If nobody can play and there is nothing left to draw, everyone passes. When a full round of passes goes by, the round is blocked. The usual way to settle it is that the player holding the fewest points wins the round, as if they had gone out.

08How scoring works

You can play a single round and stop, but the classic way is to keep score. The winner of each round scores the value of the cards left in everyone else's hands. Nobody else scores. The first player to reach an agreed total, often 100, 200 or 500, wins the match.

Crazy Eights card values with a 52-card deck:

• Each 8: 50 points.
• King, Queen and Jack: 10 points.
• Ace: 1 point.
• 2 to 10: the number on the card.
• In Mau-Mau with 32 cards, a common table is Jack 20, Ace 11, 10 is worth 10, King 4, Queen 3, and 9, 8 and 7 their number.

09Crazy Eights vs Mau-Mau vs Satti

In Pakistan and India many families play Satti, which belongs to the same family. Here is how the three compare:

• Deck: Crazy Eights and Satti use 52 cards. Mau-Mau uses 32.
• Wild card: the 8 in Crazy Eights, the Jack in Mau-Mau and in Satti.
• Draw two: none in classic Crazy Eights. The 7 in both Mau-Mau and Satti, and both allow passing it on with another 7.
• Skip: none in classic Crazy Eights. The 8 in Mau-Mau and Satti.
• Drawing: classic Crazy Eights draws until you can play. Mau-Mau draws one. In Satti you may only draw when nothing fits.
• Calling: Mau-Mau needs a Mau call. Classic Crazy Eights and Satti do not.
• Winning: Crazy Eights and Mau-Mau are usually scored over many rounds. Satti ranks players by the cards left at the end of each round.

10Beginner tips that win rounds

You do not need a memory like a computer to play well. A few habits go a long way:

• Save your wild card. It is the one card that always fits. Spend it when you are stuck, not on the first turn.
• Name your longest suit. After a wild, pick the suit you hold most of, not the suit printed on the wild.
• Switch suit with a matching rank. Playing a 5 of clubs on a 5 of hearts moves the game to clubs without spending a wild.
• Watch who draws. If a player draws when spades are showing, they are probably out of spades. Name spades when it is their turn next.
• Shed heavy cards late in the round. When someone is close to going out, get rid of your 8s and picture cards so they score less.
• Count your call. In Mau-Mau, say Mau every time you play down to one card. It is the easiest penalty to avoid.

11Play Crazy Eights and Mau-Mau online free

The fastest way to learn is to play a few rounds. Play now: play Crazy Eights online free in your browser on phone or PC. Choose classic Crazy Eights, Eights with action cards, or Mau-Mau, or build your own house rules. You can play 2 to 6 players against the computer at Easy, Normal or Hard, or invite friends with a room code or a WhatsApp link, with chat and voice while you play.

Once you have the hang of matching games, try something different. How to play Durak explains the Russian game where you attack and defend instead of matching, and our comparison of Bhabhi, Getaway and other shedding games shows how other games about emptying your hand differ.