3 sind eine zu viel!
3 sind eine zu viel! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 90 Number cards, 4 "Intermediate Bonus" cards, 4 "Final Bonus" cards
The Goal of the Game
Two is the magic number! Play your cards at just the right moment to collect matching cards from the middle of the table. Taking one card of each color is okay, but taking the second one is perfect. But beware of taking the third card of the same color: All your lovely points will turn into negative points! And in the end, the player with the most points is the winner.
The Cards
Number Cards
Start cards. Three Start cards (0, 30, and 60) mark the beginnings of three rows of cards created during the game. They stay in place for the whole game.
Number cards. The other Number cards (valued 1 to 89 in seven different colors) will be placed in these rows during the game. There are 12 cards of each color.
The cards with the values 15, 45, and 75 don't belong to any of the colors, and are handled differently during play (see "How to Play").
Bonus Cards
| Card | Values | When scored |
|---|---|---|
| 4 "Intermediate Bonus" Cards | 10 / 7 / 5 / 3 | bonus points during the game |
| 4 "Final Bonus" Cards | 10 / 5 | bonus points at the end of the game |
Each Final Bonus card is double-sided: one side shows 10 (marked Front in the rulebook's illustration) and the other shows 5 (marked Back).
Getting Ready to Play
Remove the three Start cards (0, 30, and 60) from the deck and put them in the middle of the table, in a column. This creates the "display", which will grow as other Number cards are played to the right of the Start cards during the game. Pick three Number cards at random and add them to the display by following the Placement Rules:
Placement Rules
The rulebook's illustration shows the three Start cards (0, 30, 60) each heading a row of empty slots.
| Start card | Number cards from |
|---|---|
| 0 | 1 to 29 |
| 30 | 31 to 59 |
| 60 | 61 to 89 |
a) Number cards are placed next to one of the three Start cards, according to the card value. Cards from 1-29 go in the first row, cards from 31-59 go in the second row, and cards from 61-89 go in the third row.
b) Within each row, place the cards so their values increase from left to right. If you play a card that belongs between two cards that are already on the table, simply move the higher cards to the right.
Dealing and the Bonus Stacks
Shuffle the remaining cards and deal 20 cards to each player, face down. Don't look at your cards just yet! Put them in front of you to create your own personal draw pile.
You won't need the remaining cards (if any) for this round—put them back in the box.
Sort the Intermediate Bonus cards in descending order by their value, making a stack with the "10" card on top. Place this stack to the left of the Start cards. Set the Final Bonus cards aside for now—they are only used at the end of the game.
Example of a Three-Player Setup: The display stands in the middle of the table with the three Start cards in a column, each already extended to the right: the top row holds the 24, the middle row the 46 and the 57. The Final Bonus cards and the Intermediate Bonus stack (the "10" on top) sit to the left of the Start cards. The three players — Philipp, Bastian and Thomas — sit around it with their face-down draw piles.
Draw eight cards from your draw pile for your starting hand. Now you're ready to go!
Editor's note: the setup diagram spells this example player "Philipp"; the worked examples on page 2 spell the same name "Philip". Both spellings are reproduced as printed.
How to Play
The youngest player goes first, and turns are taken clockwise. When it's your turn, play exactly one card from your hand into the display in the middle of the table. If your card is the fifth one in its row, you will have to take one or more cards from that row and place them in front of you. Then it's the next player's turn, going to the left.
1. Playing Cards
Play exactly one card from your hand into the correct row on the table, according to the Placement Rules above. Do not draw a new card yet.
Bastian plays his 40 in the correct place in the second row. First, he moves the 46 and the 57 to the right to make enough space.
2. Taking (a) Card(s) from the Display
Each row can only hold four Number cards, including the Start card. If you place the fifth card in a row, you must take one or more cards from that row and place them in front of you. There are two possibilities:
a) You just played the card with the highest value in the row: In this case, you take the card immediately to the right of the Start card. Then move the rest of the cards in that row to the left, next to the start card.
Philip plays the 28 as the fifth card in the top row. Since it has the highest value of the five cards, he takes the 10 (next to the zero). The 19 and the 24 get moved to the left, next to the start card.
b) The card you just played does not have the highest value in the row: In this case, you take all the cards in that row with a higher value than yours. This could be one, two, or three cards.
Thomas plays the 37 as the fifth card in the second row. His card doesn't have the highest value, so, he has to take all the cards from this row (40, 46, and 57), because they all have values higher than his 37.
Place the cards you pick up in front of you, sorted by color. These cards are your Collection, which will be scored at the end of the game.
Note: Numerical values don't matter anymore at this point! In your Collection, it's only the colors that count.
The Third Card of the Same Color!
Picking up one card of any given color is okay. If you manage to get a second one, it's the best for your score at the end of the game. But beware of getting stuck with a third card of any one color! If you have to take the third card of a color, put it with the other two in your collection and flip all three cards so their backs are showing. At the end of the game, you will receive one negative point for each of them.
Thomas has to take a third green card. He flips it over, together with his first two green cards.
If you get a fourth card of a color during the game, treat it as if it was your first card of that color.
Thomas gets a fourth green card during the course of the game.
Note: The cards with the values 15, 45, and 75 don't belong to any of the seven colors. If you have to take them, put them back in the box immediately. They do not affect your score.
Intermediate Bonus
If you have cards of all seven colors face up in front of you at the end of your turn, you get a bonus! Take the top card from the Intermediate Bonus pile and put it in front of you.
Note: Each player can receive this bonus only once each game.
3. Drawing Cards
Keep playing cards from your hand, one per turn, until you only have two left. Only then do you get to draw six new cards from your personal draw pile. You will do this twice during the game before your draw pile is used up.
The End of the Game
The game ends when all players have used up their draw piles and are down to two cards (again). Put your two remaining cards back in the box: they will not be counted during scoring.
Final Bonus
If you have face up cards of six or seven colors in your Collection at the end of the game, you get a bonus! Take one of the Final Bonus cards and flip it to show the correct side: Six colors gives you a bonus of 5 points, seven colors gives you 10.
Scoring
Count the cards in your Collection, considering each color separately:
| In your Collection | Points |
|---|---|
| One card of a color | 1 point |
| Two cards of the same color | 5 points |
| Each face-down card | -1 point |
Add your result to the bonus cards you've won. The player with the most points wins the game! If you have a tie, you are both winners.
Scoring Example
Thomas's cards at the end of the game:
The figure lays Thomas's cards out left to right. The number printed under or over each card is the item of the tally below that it belongs to:
| Label | Card, as drawn |
|---|---|
| 2) | 26 (orange), a pair |
| 1) | 24 (purple), a single |
| 2) | 81 (blue), a pair |
| 1) / 3) | 14 (green) face up, with a stack of face-down cards behind it |
| 1) | 77 (red), a single |
| 1) | 40 (teal), a single |
| 3) | a face-down stack |
| 4) | an Intermediate Bonus card showing 7 |
| 5) | a Final Bonus card showing 5 |
- Four colors with one card each = 4 x 1 point = 4 points;
- Two colors with two cards each = 2 x 5 points = 10 points;
- Six face-down cards = 6 x -1 points = -6 points;
- Intermediate Bonus = 7 bonus points;
- Final Bonus for six different colors = 5 bonus points.
Thomas scores 20 points in total.
Editor's note: the figure draws only two face-down stacks and does not state how many cards are in either, while item 3) counts six face-down cards in total; the printed tally above is reproduced exactly as published. The arithmetic itself is consistent (4 + 10 - 6 + 7 + 5 = 20), and the six scoring colors, the Intermediate Bonus of 7 and the Final Bonus of 5 all match the cards drawn.