Macau card game rules (Polish crazy eights)

The deck and the deal

One 52-card deck is enough for two to four players. With five or more, shuffle two decks together.

The plain cards are the fives, sixes, sevens, eights, nines and tens. The king of clubs and the king of diamonds are plain too. All the other cards are power cards: they do something when you play them.

1. The dealer shuffles and deals five cards to each player.
2. The rest of the deck goes face down in the middle of the table. This is the draw pile.
3. The dealer turns over the top card and puts it beside the draw pile. It starts the discard pile.
4. If that card is a power card, the dealer slips it into the middle of the draw pile. They turn up the next card instead. Play always starts on a plain card.
5. The player to the dealer's left goes first. Play passes clockwise.

Your turn

Play one card onto the discard pile. It must match the top card in suit or in rank. For example, on the seven of hearts you can play any heart or any seven.

You may play several cards of the same rank at once, such as three nines. The first one must match the top card. The last one you lay down goes on top, and the next player must match that one.

If you cannot play, or would rather not, draw one card from the draw pile. If it matches, you may play it straight away. If it does not, your turn ends.

Power cards

A power card is played like any other card: it must match in suit or rank. The queen is the exception. Still, a queen cannot stop an attack, a missed turn or a request that is already in play.

Attack cards and missed turns

The attack cards are the twos, the threes, the king of hearts and the king of spades. These two kings are the attacking kings. When someone plays an attack card on you, you have two choices.

• Fight back. Play another attack card that matches in suit or rank. Its penalty is added to the total, and the total passes on.
• Take the penalty. Draw the full total and play nothing this turn.

For example, someone plays the two of hearts, and you add the three of hearts. The next player must now draw 5 or fight back. The king of hearts on the two of hearts makes 7 cards. An attacking king on another attacking king makes 10.

The last card played sets the direction. A two, a three or the king of hearts sends the penalty on to the next player. The king of spades sends it back to the previous player, who must answer at once. If they fight back, the penalty goes where their card sends it. If they draw, play returns to normal order. The next turn goes to the player after the one who played the last king of spades. Sometimes that is the player who has just drawn, as in a two-player game. They then lose that turn, just as they would after the king of hearts.

Fours work the same way. If a four hits you, you can answer with a four of any suit. The missed turns then pass to the next player, one more for each four. A player with no four misses as many turns as there are fours in the chain. While they wait, they neither play nor draw. Power cards do not affect them either. An attack, a missed turn or an ace's request skips them. It passes to the next player in the same direction. The same goes for a player who has already gone out.

Once a player takes the penalty or accepts the missed turns, the card on top loses its power. This happens at once, even when they must miss several turns. The player whose turn it is then just matches that card in suit or rank, as usual.

Jacks and aces

A jack lets you ask for one rank: fives, sixes, sevens, eights, nines or tens. You may also ask for nothing. The jack then works as a plain card. The request lasts one full round of the table, and you must follow it too.

In that round, each player plays the rank asked for (one card or several) or another jack. A new jack of any suit changes the request and starts a new round. A player who has neither draws one card. If it is the rank asked for or a jack, they may play it at once.

An ace changes the suit. As you play it, name a suit: hearts, diamonds, clubs or spades. The next player must play that suit or another ace. A new ace names a new suit. A player who can do neither draws one card. If it is of that suit or an ace, they may play it at once. The suit request applies to the next player only.

Calling Macau

When your turn leaves you with one card, call out "Macau". If you forget, any other player may call "stop Macau" to catch you. They must do it before the next move at the table. You then draw 5 penalty cards.

When you play your last card, say "after Macau". In Polish this is "po makale". You can also go out with several cards at once, such as two eights. Then you never had just one card left, so you make both calls together: "Macau, after Macau".

End of the game

The first player to get rid of all their cards wins. The others may play on for second place, third place and so on. The last player still holding cards loses. You may go out on a power card. Agree before the game whether its power still affects the next player. If you have not agreed, it does not. The basic game has no scoring.

When the draw pile runs out, leave the top card of the discard pile where it is. Shuffle the rest of the discard pile and lay it face down as the new draw pile. If there are still not enough cards to draw, take as many as there are.