Mao is a particularly interesting variation on chess where one plays with cards rather then a board, all the rules are secret, people need to figure them out by playing often causing complete anarachy
Damn, I completely forgot about Mao. You just unlocked a vague memory from 15 years ago. I remember being incredibly frustrated while learning this, followed by the hilarity of introducing more players to the game.
I tried it with a group years ago and we played extensively for half a year but eventually had to split off. At max i get 3 people together who know it and most plain don't like it... But good memories indeed, i still think about new rules sometimes.
Mao is UNO for smart people because the cards don't say what they do and everyone disagrees on what which card does. So your description is quite accurate.
I prefer the chess variant known as Scrabble. Where 2 to 4 players use wooden blocks with letters ok then instead of traditional chess pieces. The players must then compete to spell the best words.
"Rule #1. It's forbidden to tell the rules of Mao.
Rule #2. There are two exceptions to rule #1, which are rule #1 and rule #2."
This is how Mao was introduced to me. Very fun game
(Actually I watched an ongoing game of Mao before I joined the party and started playing. As I was watching the game I understood a rule and said it out loud, not knowing I wasn't supposed to say the rules. This, of course, granted me a penalty at the beginning of my first game.)
Both uno and crazy eight are mentioned on the wiki as being related to mao.
Because these games have so many local variations people who play while traveling may not know the local rules, eventually shaping the existence of Mao. Many of the more common mao variations follow
similar rules and structure.
Mao is a particularly interesting variation on chess where one plays with cards rather then a board and all the rules are secret, people need to figure out the rules by playing often causing actually chaos and thus Anarchy. Anarchy Chess