ABspecken Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Includes
• Game Preparation
• How to Play
• Discarding Cards (= "ABspecken")
  • The Colour Die
  • Example
• Discarding Is Not Possible?
• End of a Playthrough
• End of a Round
• Scores
• End of the Game
• Extension Piggy Die
  • How Do You Play the Piggy Die?
  • What Is on the Piggy Die and What Does It Do?
  • The Characters on the Piggy Die
    • 1. Numbers From 1 to 3 With +/- Signs
    • Example
    • 2. The Piggies
      • Smiling Piggy
      • Grim Looking Piggy
  • Example for the Usage of the Piggy Die

Game Includes

• 120 cards
• 2 eye dice
• 1 colour die
• 1 number die
• 1 Piggy Die (see Extension Piggy Die)

Game Preparation

Each player takes 24 cards, 4 cards of each colour/each number from 1 to 6. Arrange the cards in 6 piles in front of you so that each pile consists of 4 cards with one and the same colour/number. These are your draw piles.

The two eye dice and the colour die are placed in the middle (for the number die see the annotation at the end of the rules; for the Piggy Die see EXTENSION Piggy Die).

Get something to note the points.

Picture 1: game preparation for 2 players. Each player has a discard pile and hand cards in front of them, and their six draw piles (Serdar's draw piles and Elfi's draw piles) are laid out in front of each player.

Editor's note: the rules refer to "the annotation at the end of the rules" for the number die, but the publisher's English rules document contains no such annotation. The number die's use is therefore not described in this transcription.

How to Play

The game is played in several playthroughs and rounds. Before a playthrough starts players pick up 5 cards from their draw piles and take them in one hand. Players can freely choose which cards they pick. After you have chosen your 5 hand cards you do not change them.

The youngest player rolls the two eye dice and the colour die in the middle. As soon as the dice are cast all players take one of the following actions:

• Discard one or several of your hand cards on your personal discard pile,
• or, when a player cannot discard cards, take one card from another player.

Then, all players complete their hand cards to the number of five cards by taking up cards from their draw piles.

Note: A player who has received a card from another player does not complete his hand cards; he has now 6 cards on his hand.

Note: It is not possible to change hand cards against cards from the draw piles!

Discarding Cards (= "ABspecken")

Discarding is your preferred move, as the players' aim of the game is to be the first to get rid of all of their cards. For this action the following rules apply:

• You may only drop cards which you hold in your hand, and
• You may drop only such cards that correspond to the dice that were thrown.

There are two options to discard in correspondence with the eye dice:

1. You sum up the number of pips that are shown on the upper side of both dice and put down cards that match this sum. Depending on the sum this can be 1 to 5 cards.
2. Or you put down only one card, the number of which corresponds exactly to the number of pips shown on the upper side of one of the dice.

The Colour Die

Unfortunately, you are not free to choose cards for discarding. The colour shown on the upper side of the colour die tells you that you must not put down a card with that colour.

Example

The sum of the two eye dice (2+4) is 6. The color die shows blue which means that blue cards (with the value 4) must not be discarded.

Picture: Elfi's hand cards and Serdar's hand cards. In correspondence to the sum of both dice (= 6), Elfi puts down two cards, yellow 5 and green 1. Serdar decides to discard one card, pink 2. By doing so he discards corresponding to one eye die.

Picture: Both players had options for discarding other cards. Elfi could have discarded purple 6 to match the sum of both eye dice. Serdar could have discarded purple 6 to match the sum of both eye dice. Just like Serdar, Elfi could also have discarded pink 2 to match one eye die.

Important: As the example shows there are often several different possibilities to discard. Players must alsways choose ONE of these possibilities, they may not play two or more possibilities at the same time.

When discarding, players put down their cards before them and by doing so they form their personal discard pile.

Note: To discard correspondingly to ONE eye die means that you are allowed to put down only ONE card. Thus, Serdar cannot put down both of his 2 cards pink 2.

Discarding Is Not Possible?

It happens that players cannot discard any of their hand cards because the dice do not allow for doing so. In this case, they say aloud "I cannot ABspecken!". After that, they wait until the other players have discarded correspondingly to the dice. After doing so, the other players do not immediately stock up their hand cards to the number of five. Because the players who could not discard now choose one of them to receive one card of that player's remaining hand cards. The receivers add that card to their hand cards.

In case more than one player cannot discard, the procedure is as follows: The player who was first to say "I cannot Abspecken" is the first to choose a player from whom he takes a card. Then follows the player who was next after him to say that he cannot discard, and so on.

End of a Playthrough

When all players have discarded or taken a card from another player the playthrough is over.

For the next playthrough, all players who were able to discard fill up their hand cards by taking as many cards from their own draw piles as they have discarded during the previous playthrough, so every player has again 5 hand cards. Players who could not discard now have 6 cards in their hand (or even more, if they were not able to discard in the playthrough before the last), they do not pick up cards from their own draw piles.

Then the next playthrough starts.

End of a Round

You play as many playthroughs until one player was able to put down his last card and does not have to take a card from another player. The round is over and the scoring is done.

Scores

When a round is over, all players who have cards in their hand and/or in their draw piles get negative points. Each of these cards scores with as many negative points as the number on them shows. Thus, the card green 1 scores 1 negative point, the card purple 6 scores 6 negative points.

Players cannot gain positive points. So, the player who ended the game receives no points at all, whereas all other players score negative points.

It can happen that 2 or more players put down their last card(s) simultaneously and thus terminate a round together. In this case, none of these players receives negative points, and both are the winners of that round.

End of the Game

Play as many rounds until one player has received 33 negative points in total. When this happens the player who scored the least number of negative points is the winner.

When you want to have a shorter playing time you can agree on a lower number of negative points to end the game.

Extension Piggy Die

The Piggy Die is the extension of the game ABspecken. It adds new possibilities for players' actions to the game. The rules of the main game remain unchanged when using the Piggy Die.

How Do You Play the Piggy Die?

When you play with the extension Piggy Die, players roll the dice one after the other. A player whose turn it is to roll the dice may use the Piggy Die as soon as he has previously discarded at least one card and thus started his personal discard pile.

Players may decide whether or not to use the Piggy Die. So they weigh up the opportunities and the risks of using this die in the given situation (see the TIP below). If players decide to use the Piggy Die, they roll it together with the two eye dice and the colour die. If they decide not to use it, they just put it aside.

Note: The opportunities and risks of the Piggy Die only affect the player rolling the dice!

What Is on the Piggy Die and What Does It Do?

The Piggy Die has a great influence on the chances of the respective player rolling the dice. It can bring both advantages and disadvantages to that player.

The Characters on the Piggy Die

The Piggy Die shows 2 different types of motifs, namely numbers and piggies.

1. Numbers From 1 to 3 With +/- Signs

The number faces show ±1, ±2 and ±3.

When, after rolling the dice, one of these sides is on top of the Piggy Die, the caster may add or subtract the value in question from the sum of the eyes of both eye dice, and then discard cards with corresponding values. So, that player has more opportunities to discard.

Example

Karin has rolled the dice including the Piggy Die. They show: two eye dice with 1 eye each, a pink colour die, and the Piggy Die showing ±2. Karin has 5 cards in her hand with the values 2, 2, 3, 4 and 6 (picture: pink 2, blue 2, yellow 3, blue 4 and purple 6).

If Karin hadn't rolled the Piggy Die, she wouldn't be allowed to discard at all, because:

• Karin is not allowed to discard any of the two pink cards with the value 2, because the colour die shows the color pink and thus prohibits this.
• The eye dice both show 1 eye. So Karin, having no card with a value of 1 in her hand, is not allowed to discard because she has no card with the value 1 on her hand.

However, having used the Piggy Die, Karin now has an opportunity to discard. The Piggy Die shows +/- 2, so Karin may add 2 to the sum of the eyes of both eye dice (subtracting 2 makes no sense in this case). Karin may therefore discard the card blue 4.

2. The Piggies

The Piggy Die shows a smiling piggy on one side and a grim looking piggy on two sides.

Smiling Piggy

When you roll the dice and the piggy smiles at you, you can consider yourself lucky. Because you may now give one of your hand cards to a fellow player of your choice. You have to do this before you place one or more of your cards on your discard pile. Also, you must do this if you cannot discard.

You may freely choose to which player you give one of your hand cards. The selected player must accept this card and add it to his own hand cards. That player may discard the accepted card immediately, just like any other card in his hand that matches with the dice thrown. If, on the other hand, the player is unable to discard, or if he still has five or more cards in his hand after discarding, he may not pick up any cards from his draw piles.

Grim Looking Piggy

When you rolled the dice and the piggy looks grim – bad luck! Then you must pick up the top card from your discard pile and add it to your own hand cards. You must do this before you discard! A small consolation: You may immediately discard this card, if the dice display allows this.

TIP: Before it is your turn to roll the dice next, it is advisable to make sure that you place a card with a low value last on your discard pile so that it is on top. The lower the value of this card, the less potential negative points you will have to take if you have rolled the Piggy Die and it shows the grim little pig. If you have only been able to play a card with a high value before, you should think twice before taking the risk of using the Piggy Die.

After a player has rolled the dice and all players have discarded and replenished their hand cards to 5 cards, it is the clockwise next player's turn to roll the dice. This player may now decide whether or not to roll the Piggy Die together with the other dice.

The Piggy Die remains in play until the end of the game.

Example for the Usage of the Piggy Die

Mic rolled the dice and got lucky: he used the Piggy Die and after the roll the piggy smiles at him. He has the following cards in his hand: 1, 1, 3, 5 and 6. The eye dice show 2 and 6 eyes, the color die shows yellow.

Mic gives the yellow 5 to a fellow player. (He is not allowed to discard it anyway, because the color die shows yellow. So, discarding 5 + 3 together to reach the sum of 8 is not possible.) After that, Mic discards the cards 6 + 1 + 1 according to the sum of the values of the eye dice.