# General Mao: the online Mao card game where an AI makes the rules

> Free online Mao, refereed by an AI that invents the secret rules and never explains them. No signup, no downloads, 2 to 6 players per table, playable in any browser.

The house makes the rules. It won't tell you what they are. In General Mao the secret rules aren't invented by a smug winner. They're invented and enforced by **the General**: an AI that watches every play, issues penalties in cryptic form, and never, ever explains. Everyone sits down blind. You deduce the law one penalty card at a time.

**Convene a table:** https://general-mao.pages.dev/play

## How it works

1. **Play a card.** It looks like an ordinary shedding game: match the rank or the suit, empty your hand to win. That is the part you're allowed to know.
2. **Take the penalty.** Break a hidden law and a penalty card slides into your hand. The General names your sin, but only the category ("improper address"), never what address was correct.
3. **Crack the pattern.** The ledger fills. You argue in chat. Slowly, together, you infer the laws you're being punished by, until someone goes out and the record is finally read aloud.

## The General

A human rulemaster already knows the rules, which spoils it for them and makes it nearly impossible to play cold with strangers. The General removes the human. It is consistent to a fault: the same play in the same state draws the same penalty, every time. Mystery comes from hidden-but-fixed laws, never from randomness.

## Modes

- **Classic:** a complete, unknown ruleset. Nobody knows anything. The default.
- **Themed decks:** Victorian Court, Superstition, The Ministry. Pick the flavor; you still don't know the rules.
- **Practice:** the rules are shown. The on-ramp for anyone who has never shed a card.
- **Bring your own:** author a devious ruleset in plain English. The General structures and enforces it, and never reveals it.

## Questions

- **Do I need an account?** No. The host convenes a table, shares a six-character code, and friends join on any device with a browser.
- **Is it fair?** Yes, by construction. The rules engine is deterministic and tested, and every ruleset is validated for consistency before a match.
- **Can a player read the rules out of the page?** No. The secret ruleset lives only on the server and is never sent to any client during a match.
- **What does it cost?** Nothing. It is a free, open-source personal project with no ads during play.

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