I have never played Nomic, but I can say from experience that Mao is a very fun way to practice game design skills and troll new players at the same time
- turns go clockwise
- play one card per turn
- if someone breaks a rule, they take back their card and draw one extra
- first to shed all their cards, followed by saying "Mao!" wins
- saying "Mao" any other times means drawing three cards (so if someone broke a rule playing their last card and had to take back their card, they end up drawing three cards
- Similar to the previous rule: not saying "Mao" upon successfully playing the last card also means drawing three cards. And it is breaking the rules, so the player has to take back the card and draw a card.
- asking any question means drawing a card (be brutal: "WHAT?!" counts as a question)
- one player starts with making up two extra rules
- the winner of a round makes up a new rule, the old rules stay
... then grab a bunch of friends, say "you'll figure it out", come up with two rules of your own and start playing. You'll likely win the round (because they will all ask questions in confusion), and be allowed to add another rule.
Restart after a couple of rounds. Troll until they threaten to quit (at which point you explain the rules) or until they actually figure it out. Watch their expressions go from frustration to gleefully anticipation, and go look for a fresh victim together.