Anno Domini: BLACK
Anno Domini: BLACK Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Cards
The front side (black) names an event of world history, though not always a world-shaking one. The back side (coloured) names the Year of the Lord, ANNO DOMINI, in which this event took place.
ANNO DOMINI is an expandable game. You can buy further series and mix them with this one. We warmly recommend the Wild Mix. Every new colour in the mixture will increase the fun of the game. But of course ANNO DOMINI can also be played with the cards of a single series.
Deal
Now deal 9 cards to each player. Randomly, of course; choosing is strictly forbidden. And one more thing is strictly forbidden: looking at the back sides.
Everybody lays their cards face up in front of them, with the black-printed event side showing. The rest of the cards are placed as a stack in the middle. Here too: events facing up, the coloured solution year (back side) not visible.
Important: leave the cards on the table during the game! When you move them, slide them; do not wave them about in the air. Otherwise your fellow players will unintentionally learn solution years that you had better keep secret.
A Chain of Unholy Events
The chain begins with the top card of the stack. Event 1 is read out loud and the card is placed on the table, visible to everybody; its back side remains secret for everybody.
The owner of the game begins. They choose one of their cards, read it out, and place it above the first card if they believe their event 2 took place before event 1. They place it below the first card if they believe their event 2 took place after event 1.
Going around, the players add one of their cards to the chain of events in this way. They may insert their card anywhere in the chain, including between cards that have already been laid out, if they believe their event fits chronologically there.
Doubt
Doubt is often better than blind trust. Whoever is on turn and believes that they have found errors in the existing chain of events may correct them before they insert their new card and pass the chain on.
They may also decide to add no further card and instead to publicly doubt the chronological order of the events. In that case the round of play ends.
All cards of the chain are turned over, from top to bottom.
- If the chronological order is correct, the doubter is punished: they must take four new cards from the stack (as always, without looking at the back sides).
- If the chain of events has any error whatsoever, the doubter's predecessor, the player who last laid down an event, takes two new cards from the stack.
Be it even a single little year, and entirely independently of who laid the chronologically faulty card: the last one gets bitten by the dogs.
Whoever expresses no doubt and lays a card into the row thereby accepts the whole chain of events, and may under some circumstances have to answer for it to the distrustful next player.
After the round of play, the cards of the chain are cleared away. They have done their duty for today and may go (after Schiller, 1783).
A New Round
A new round begins with a new starting card from the stack. The first player is now the doubter. Then it goes around again.
Special case: the new beginning is somewhat harder for a player who has only one card left. Instead of one card, they must take two cards from the stack, put them in order, and insert their last card.
Reversal of the Direction of Play
The direction of play reverses immediately and only once, as soon as a player has only two cards left.
Winning
The winner is whoever first gets rid of their last card, naturally in a correct chain. The following player will surely express doubt again. If an error comes to light, there are two new cards and the game goes into extra time.
Explanations and Examples
The Decisive Year
The decisive year is clear and printed in bold on the back side of the card.
Supplementary comments, including month and day indications, have no influence on the game.
Some cards offer a span of years as the solution, for example '1903 – 1907' or '5th century BC' (5. Jh. v. Chr.).
Explanations:
- Jh. (Jahrhundert) means century. A century runs from the year 01 to the year 00. Example: the 20th century began in 1901 and ends with the year 2000.
- um (around) means that the event cannot be dated exactly. For the purposes of the game, 5 years before and after are accepted as correct. Example: in the case of 'um 1900' (around 1900), the years 1895 to 1905 count as correct.
Whoever therefore expresses no doubt and places a card in the row accepts the whole chain of events, and may have to take responsibility for it towards the distrustful next player.
The First Appearance
The first appearance of a thing, the beginning of an event, is decisive, unless a span of time is clearly asked for.
Examples:
- A) 'Humans on the Moon' asks for the first Moon landing by Apollo 11. An answer such as '2025' is wrong, even though it cannot be ruled out that humans will again be on the Moon at that time.
- B) 'Sweetened condensed milk on the market' asks for its market launch. That it is still available today is fine, but it has nothing to do with the matter.
Simultaneous and Overlapping Events
Simultaneous and chronologically overlapping events are handled according to the principle 'In dubio pro reo' (in doubt, for the accused). The chain counts as correct.
Examples:
- A) One event took place in the 8th century BC, a second in 805 BC, and the third in the 1st millennium BC. No. 2 took place before No. 1, because the 8th century BC lasted from 800 to 701 BC. No. 3 overlaps chronologically with the two other events, and may be placed among them in any position.
- B) Two events took place in 1987, the third 'around 1990', and a fourth in 1991. If No. 4 was placed after Nos. 1 and 2, the order is correct. No. 3 means 'between 1985 and 1995', so it overlaps with the other three events and may be placed among them in any position, including between the two 1987 cards. Month and day indications within the year 1987 are irrelevant; the two cards are of equal value.
Place Names
Place names without a direct connection to the event are simply place names, not cryptic hints about the year being sought.
Example: 'Neanderthals live in the Neandertal near Düsseldorf' does not mean that the fashion centre of Düsseldorf already existed in the epoch being sought.
Tactical Hints
Well, self-assurance is a virtue, above all when you know nothing. Your successor will think twice about whether to doubt your chain if you declare your event a clear-cut matter and insert it quickly, decisively and reasonably sensibly.
As a devious variant, you can also play the uncertain one now and then while you place a rock-solid event in a correct chain...
Psychology and a certain feeling for sequences are far more important in ANNO DOMINI than specialist historical knowledge. Do not let your ignorance discourage you! You can safely assume that your fellow players do not have all the dates of these strange events stored in their little grey cells either, and that, like you, they often have to guess.
Use your common sense, estimate, and sell your solutions well. Never forget: what you lay down does not necessarily have to be right. Above all, it has to seem credible to the table neighbour who plays after you.
If you have completely lost track in the face of a long chain, go ahead and doubt. Usually there is a nasty surprise lurking in it somewhere.
If possible, keep back an event that you can place well in time as a safe closing card. Conversely, place the little cards that cause you great worry, to the best of your knowledge and conscience, in short chains, which are certainly doubted less often than the tapeworms.
Who Plays ANNO DOMINI?
In principle the game is suitable for 2 to 10 players; the ideal number is 3 to 6. With large groups, we recommend dealing out fewer than the usual 9 cards at the start.
Children can join in as soon as they read fluently. Experience shows that they soon make up for their smaller historical knowledge with clever tactics, and they learn quickly. Once the used cards are shuffled back into the game, their learning pays off. The group may also decide to deal children fewer cards at the start.
The Series Published So Far
Church & State / Switzerland / Sex & Crime / Lifestyle / Nature / Inventions / Women / Seafarers & Aviators / Sport / Art / Flops / Germany (with Uwe Rosenberg) / Coins / In the Name of the Law / VIP / Game of the Year (with Bernward Thole) / Austria / Words, Writing, Books / Showbiz / America / Europe / In the East / South / Football (with Mämä Sykora) / Science & Research / Bern / Travel & Transport / Health (with Konrad Bochennek) / Food & Drink / Curiosities / Machines
A Note on Sources
We are aware of one thing: even usually reliable sources can be wrong. Facts can change, and research brings new findings to light. We are open to criticism, corrections and new questions (whenever possible with a citation of the source!). Where corrections are necessary, we will make them in future printings. A corrigenda for ANNO DOMINI is maintained by the publisher and kept at the latest state of knowledge.
Have fun with bluffing and half-knowledge!