Arne Rulebook

Source note: English translation of a Russian-language translation of the original Arne (Arne Total) rules. The Russian text (tesera.ru, "Arne Total: the CORRECT rules") is a fan translation of the original rules, checked against the English and German originals and the "Arne Classic" rules; the translator added a few clarifications, and a table of card counts as an appendix. Card names printed only as icons in the source are described by their effect.

Contents

• First Game
• Goal of the Game
• Start of the Game
• White Cards
  • Point cards
  • Action cards
• Black Cards
• Your Turn
• End of the Game
• Variants
• Appendix: Deck Composition

First Game

If you are playing ARNE for the first time (a learning game), take only the following cards:

• For 2 players: the cards with a star in the center and the number "1".
• For 3-4 players: the cards with no star in the center but with the number "1".
• For 5-6 players: all cards with the number "1" in the center.

In a learning game for 5-6 players some colors will be balanced slightly differently from the others. However, objective results are not expected from learning games. Please study the enclosed example cards showing how ARNE can and cannot be played.

• ARNE for 2 players: use all the cards with a star in the center.
• ARNE for 3-4 players: use all the cards that do not have a star in the center.
• ARNE for 5-6 players: use all the cards.

Goal of the Game

Choose a color. There are two main ways to play ARNE: score the most points by the time the deck runs out (the normal game), or score the fewest points (the "losing" game, see Variants). Points are scored by laying point cards on the table in the color of the player whose color matches the cards. Point cards are laid next to one another (not on top of one another). Remember that the game has white and black cards. On your turn you may play only one white card (either a point card or an action card). Black cards, on the other hand, may be played by anyone at any time. Do not let the others win: spoil their game with white action cards and black cards. The game ends when there are no cards left in the deck.

Tip: if you are playing ARNE for the first time, limit yourself to the normal game and do not try the losing game (it is harder).

Start of the Game

Each player chooses a color card. Put it in front of you on the table so that everyone can see what color you are playing. Decide on the variant of the game (normal or losing). Shuffle the cards and deal 8 to each player. The cards are held in hand and not shown to other players. Put the rest of the deck in the center of the table. Discarded cards will be piled next to the deck. The right to the first move passes around the table among the players; the opening game of a series starts with the youngest player.

White Cards

White cards are divided into point cards and action cards.

You must play one white card on your turn, and only on your turn. Point cards (they are colored) are placed in your own color (normal game) or in the colors of other players (losing game), or into the discard pile. The colors of the cards on the table and of the players must correspond. If you have no white cards in hand, you are not obliged to play a black one. If you have no cards in hand at all, you are not out of the game; you simply wait for your turn, when you can draw a card from the deck.

Point cards

The point cards are the colored cards of the types 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, X2. They are placed on the table in front of the player who took the same color as shown on the card, or go to the discard pile. The "X2" card doubles the total score and is placed on the colored card showing the player's color. An "X3" card can be played on any point card. The combination of the "X2" and "X3" cards is especially interesting: it multiplies the final score by six! Point cards are laid out next to each other (not one on top of another); see the examples on the enclosed teaching cards.

Action cards

These cards are played to the discard pile, except for the "X3" card, which is always played onto one of the point cards.

The "X3" card is a special action card. It triples the value of the point card on which it is played. It can also be played on the black "-200" card. The "X3" card cannot be destroyed (because the CRUSH destruction card affects only a point card). "X3" cannot be placed directly on the table; it can only go on a point card or on a "-200". "X3" cannot be placed on another "X3". However, "X3" can be placed on a point card or on a "-200" even if that card has been destroyed, destroyed-and-restored, and/or lies together with a chameleon.

• Take one card at random from any player of your choice. Very convenient if that player has few cards or is known to have only black cards in hand. The card is not shown to anyone when taken, and is added to the hand of the player who played this action.
• Demand two point cards of any color, or two black cards (depending on the picture), from the hand of any player of your choice. If that player has only one such card or none, so be it. Point cards received are immediately played in your own color, and black cards are taken into your hand blind. In the losing game you may demand cards of the color of any player to whom you want to add points, including the player against whom this action is played.
• Take three cards from the deck. A very good card that can strengthen your hand and at the same time speed up the game. The three cards are taken from the deck blind and added to the hand of the player who played this action.
• Everyone passes cards from their hand to the next player in the direction in which the turn is currently passing. A very interesting card! When it is played, no one has the right to play black cards until the passing of cards is completely finished. That is, all your black cards also have to be passed.
• Swap places with any player of your choice. Take your hand cards with you, but the point cards already played stay on the table where they already lie. Just swap places with the leading player! This is perhaps the most interesting card in the game. Since the turn passes not by players but by the places they occupy, this card can give you two moves in a row.

Black Cards

Black cards have no restrictions. They can be played at any time, including out of turn. Several can also be played at once.

• "-200": 200 points are subtracted from the result of the player of the given color. It can be tripled by an "X3" card and/or played with a chameleon. It is placed next to the point cards in the opponent's color (normal game) or in your own (losing game). This card is black, it is not a point card, and therefore the colored "X2" cards do not affect it. The effect of this card is cancelled by a lock card, not by a destruction card.
• Chameleon. Changes the color of a point card or a "-200" card. It must be played together with the card whose color you want to change. This move counts as a black action and can be made at any moment; to remember this, it is recommended to lay the chameleon first and put the card to be changed on top of it. The card on a chameleon can always be destroyed/restored, stolen or tripled. When stolen, the chameleon is stolen together with the stolen card.
• Thief. Allows you to take the top card of the discard pile or to take from another player a combination of a card with a chameleon. If the stolen card with a chameleon has your own color, keep only that card and discard the chameleon. A played thief card always goes to the discard pile. Tip: do not hurry to play the thief; these cards are very valuable.
• Destruction (CRUSH). Cancels the point card (50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, X2) on which it is played, even if that card lies with a chameleon or an "X3" card. Any point card can be destroyed only once, and the destruction card stays on it until the end of the game. Reminder: the "-200" and "X3" cards are not point cards and cannot be destroyed.
• Lock. Cancels the effect of one destruction card or "-200". It cannot be played directly on a point card (because only an effect that has already taken place can be cancelled). It is placed on the card being cancelled and stays there until the end of the game. A lock played on a combination with a chameleon does not prevent that combination from being stolen by a Thief.
• STOP! When the current turn ends, the next turn is yours, and the game then continues from you in the usual order. This card goes to the discard pile. Yes, if you play the "STOP!" card on your own turn, it can give you the possibility of moving several times in a row.

When several players play "STOP!" or "REVERSE!" simultaneously, the right to move passes to the one who played his card last. The cards go to the discard pile in the order played. In a two-player game the "STOP!" and "REVERSE!" cards simply give the right to an extra turn.

Your Turn

Each turn begins with drawing a card from the deck and ends with an action with a white card. If you have at least one white card in hand (point or action), you must play it.

You may:

• Play a point card. Point cards are laid next to one another in your own color (normal game) or in another player's color (losing game).
• Play an action card. These cards go to the discard pile (except the "X3" card, which is laid on top of a point card or a "-200" card).
• Put a point card into the discard pile. This way you can get rid of points of another's color (normal game) or your own (losing game). But remember that they can be pulled out of there with a Thief card.

At the same time, everyone may play black cards whenever they like and as many as they like.

Remember: if you have no white cards in hand, you are not obliged to play a black card on your turn.

End of the Game

When there are no cards left in the deck, the final round begins. The player who took the last card makes his turn as usual. Then all players in order may play black cards, one each in turn. The "STOP!" and "REVERSE!" cards have no effect. White cards cannot be played in the final round. Then all cards remaining in hands go to the discard pile.

Each player counts his points. In the normal game, the winner is the one who has scored the most; in the losing game, the winner is the one with the fewest points.

Remember: all modifications count: destructions, locks, chameleons, doublings "X2" and triplings "X3".

Variants

• Losing game ("Giveaway"). 2-6 players. The goal is to score the fewest points. Play point cards into other players' colors, destroy your own points, play chameleon-and-point combinations of your color onto others, restore destroyed points for other players. Play "+2" cards to the detriment of others by demanding other colors. Play "-200" on yourself, including those of other colors with chameleons.
• Game with a "dummy." 2-5 players. There is a color on the table that belongs to none of the players. Anyone may play cards into this color, in order to try at a convenient moment to seize the dummy's cards. The "REVERSE!" card now changes meaning and gives the player who played it control of the dummy. This player takes the colored dummy card and puts it next to his own, marking his right to the neutral points. At the end of the game the controller of the dummy adds the neutral points to his own.
• Team game. An even number of participants: 4, 6, 8, 10 or 12. Two game sets are required. Two players play for each color; the team with the most points wins.

Appendix: Deck Composition

For each color there are the following cards:

• Point cards: 50 (two), 100 (three), 200 (two), 500 (one), 1000 (one).
• One doubling card "X2".
• One "-200" card. These cards act on a particular color but are themselves black.

In the learning game the "X2" card and some of the lower 50 and 100 point cards are removed.

In addition, the various decks contain the following neutral cards (counts by deck type: cards with "" in the center; cards with "" and "1"; cards with no symbols; cards with "1"):

Card	"*"	"*", "1"	no symbols	"1"
STOP!		2	2	2
CRUSH		2	3	2
REVERSE!		1	4	1
Chameleon		2	2	2
Thief		3	4	2
Swap places

(The column alignment in the source table is partly ambiguous; counts are reproduced as extracted.)