Macao, Makao, Crazy Eights: one family, three tables

One family

Macao, Polish Makao and Crazy Eights share one idea: match the top card by suit or rank, and be the first to empty your hand. The special cards are where they part ways.

Romanian Macao

The rules every public table plays. 54 cards (two jokers), five each, play goes counter-clockwise.

+2+3JOKER+5JOKER+10CancelsSit outNames the suit

Attacks stack and are answered with a 2, a 3 or a joker; a 7 cancels the whole attack. A 4 makes the next player sit out, unless they pass it on with a 4. An ace or a joker goes on anything.

Polish Makao

The second rule set, played at tournaments for now. 52 cards, no jokers, five each, play goes clockwise.

+5 to the next+5 to the one beforeDemands a rankGoes on anything

The 2, the 3 and the 4 work as in Romanian, but an attack is answered only with an attack card of the top card’s suit or rank, and a 7 cancels nothing. The king of hearts hits the next player for +5, the king of spades the player before you. A jack demands a rank from 5 to 10: everyone, the one who played it included, plays that rank or a jack, or draws. A queen goes on anything, and anything goes on a queen, unless an attack, a skip, an ace’s suit or a jack’s demand is open. The ace names the suit but has to match like any card.

Crazy Eights

Not at our tables. In its common form the 8 is wild and names the suit, and there are no attacks: a quieter game, the one most English speakers grew up with.