Mao
Mao is, in my humblish opinion, the best card game yet devised. It is intellectually and creatively stimulating, self-balancing and potentially limitless, and the only reason that it doesn't spread like wildfire is this:
There is only one rule that you are allowed to be told about Mao - and this is it.
Sorry! The best thing to do is just find me, or someone else that knows how to play, and to play it with them. There is one other thing I think it is good to tell people: the rules are symmetrical (in the version I usually play anyway), that is to say that all the rules affect all of the players equally.
(Now, if you don't know the rules, then some things will be a little different, but that’s inevitable.)
In short, I can't recommend this game highly enough. I wish I could play it for the first time again!
Here are some pictures to convince you how great it is.
Here we see the aftermath of a particularly fantastic game:
This picture was taken in the sports hall of the EJC 2001: Rotterdam. Spot the Mao players!
