Prší

Prší (raining/it’s raining) is a Czech variant of the card game Mau-Mau^A). The rules are quite simple to learn and remember. Consequently, I play this game a lot with family and friends.

To play, I recommend the use of german suited cards, although you can use French-suited cards provided you remove all the numbers lower than 7.
The cards are split into 4 suits, or colors, which are: Hearts (or Red), Bells, Acorns and Leaves (or Green). Each suit contains 8 cards, which are: Ace, King, Upper (equivalent to a Queen), Lower (equivalent to a Jack), Ⅹ, Ⅸ, Ⅷ, Ⅶ.
Although these are all the cards that you usually play the game with, you can theoretically play with more cards - although all you’d be doing is adding a number of useless cards to the deck.

One player needs to be selected as a dealer. There isn’t anything special to it, so you can pick at random. The dealer is to mix the cards up and deal them to the other players. Each player is to receive 4 or 5 cards^B). How the dealer distributes the cards is up to them - I tend to give each player two cards, then the next two once they circle around.
Once each player has received their cards, the remaining cards are placed in a stack in the middle of the play area. The top card is taken off, turned over (facing top up) and placed next to the stack.
The last thing to keep in mind is if the middle card is an Upper. If it is, then it’s necessary to check the card at the bottom of the stack. The card will then have that color.
The starting player is usually the one who sits to the right of the dealer. The order in which is players go is usually clockwise.

Each player’s goal is to reduce their number of cards to zero. The first player to do so wins the game.
This is achieved by placing the cards the player has onto the middle card (which will quickly resemble a pile). A card can only be placed if it matches the current color or number - so you can only place Bells onto Bells and Ⅷs onto Ⅷs.
If a player can’t place any card then they may take the top card from the stack. The player can also choose not to place any of their cards down, for whatever reason. A player cannot pass their turn without placing a card down or taking a card from a stack.

In addition to the normal rules, there are additional rules that govern special cards. These cards are what spices up the gameplay and makes playing the game particularly enjoyable.

If a player places a Ⅶ down, then the next player is forced to take two cards from the stack on their turn and forced to skip a turn. However, if the next player has a Ⅶ themselves, they can avoid having to take two cards by forcing the next player to take four cards. Each subsequent Ⅶ increases the number of cards the next player is forced to take by two. In total (in normal games) the number of cards a player can take is eight.

An upper card allows the player to change the suit that is currently being played. So if the current suit is Acorns, a player can place an Upper to change it to Bells. These Uppers can also be placed onto any card, regardless of their own suit.

An Ace can be used to block the next player’s turn. The next player won’t be able to place a card or take one from the stack. Similar to the Ⅶ, the next player can avoid this by placing down their own Ace, which then blocks the next player.

The rules I mentioned previously are basically the standard and apply everywhere in Czechia. However, these next few rules make the game a bit more interesting and are recommended if you’ve gotten bored of regular gameplay. These are non-standard and I picked them up over the years.
Once you and your friend group become familiar with these rules, it’s necessary to double-check what rules the games are being played under - to avoid potential arguments.

This rule grants additional power to the King of Leaves. When a player places this king down, the next player is forced to take three cards from the stack. There is no way to get out of doing this.
However, if, for whatever reason, you’re playing with multiple decks of cards, then the Green King can stack.

Normally, when a player disposes of all their cards they win. This rule prevents such players from savoring the taste of victory.
Once a player finishes their turn, it’s possible for the previous player to place down a Red Ⅶ, which forces them back into the game by making them take two cards from the stack. This only applies within one cycle, so if the player survives the first cycle after they win, then they’re out of the game completely and can’t be brought in again.
Based on experience, this is the most popular bonus rule.

Playing multiple games in a row can quickly get stale and this rule is meant to alleviate that.
When a player loses a game they’ll have one less card for the next game. So while everyone else may start with four cards, this player will start with three.

• When I first heard of Uno, I thought there were a suspicious number of similarities to Prší. Turns out, Uno is also a variant of Mau-Mau.