Auf falscher Fährte
Auf falscher Fährte Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
Players: 3–4. Age: from 10 years. Playing time: 20–30 minutes. Contents: 52 playing cards, 4 joker cards, 2 info cards, 4 trump chips, 8 game rules cards.
Set-up
The joker cards are only required for the variant. They remain in the box. The info card corresponding to the number of players is placed face-up in the middle of the table. The red chip is also placed in the middle of the table (next to the info card). It indicates the trump color (red is thus trump). The remaining 3 chips are set aside for the moment.
All 52 playing cards are used with 4 players. With 3 players, only the cards with values 0 - 9 are used. The remaining cards are separated out and put back in the box.
The cards are shuffled and then dealt. Each players gets 13 cards for his hand. One card will be left over with 3 players; it is briefly shown to everyone and then set aside (it will not be used in this round).
The first decision
After sorting their cards, players must choose one to place face-down in the middle of the table. If you think that your hand will allow you to take lots of tricks, you should choose a high card. If you have a weak hand, however, you would do better to chose a low card. It works like this:
In a 3 player game, if the total value (sum) of all the face-down cards is less than or equal to 13, then the round is a Minus round. A Minus round is won by the player who takes the least tricks. In a 4 player game, a Minus round is played if the total value of the face-down cards is less than or equal to 23.
In a 3 player game, if the total value (sum) of all face-down cards is 14 or higher, then the round is a Plus round. A Plus round is won by the player who takes the most tricks. In a 4 player game, with 4 players, a Plus round is played if the total of the face-down cards is 24 or higher.
Once each player has played a face-down card, these cards are shuffled and set as a face-down pile in the middle of the table (as a result, no one will be able to tell which card was played by which player).
Course of the game
The player to the left of the dealer starts by playing any card of his choice face-up. The other players then do the same, following suit if they can. If a player cannot follow suit, he may play any color, including trump.
The highest trump wins the trick. If no trump was played, the highest number in the initially lead suit wins the trick. (This is true for all tricks in the game.) Note: a 0 can win a trick.
The winner takes the trick and sets it in front of himself. He then leads the second trick, playing any card of his choice. The other players must, again, follow suit if they can. The winner again takes the trick, sets it in front of himself, and leads to the next trick. All tricks continue in this fashion. If a player wins several tricks, he must set them in front of himself in such a way that everyone can easily tell how many he was won.
Important note: In a 3 player game, after the 3rd, 4th, and 5th tricks, the top card of the face-down pile is turned over. In a 4 player game, this is done after the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th tricks. You will know no later than the end of the 5th trick whether or not this is a Plus or a Minus round.
Example of play at the start of the game (4 players, trump is red)
1st trick: Peter plays a yellow 3 (yellow is now the suit to be followed). Sabine plays a yellow 10. Frank plays a blue 12 (he doesn't have any yellow). Julia plays a yellow 8. Since there is no trump played in the tricks, Sabine wins it with the yellow 10. She sets the trick in front of herself.
2nd trick: Sabine won the previous trick and plays a green 12 (green is now the suit to be followed). Frank plays a green 2, Julia a green 5. Peter doesn't have any green, so he plays a red 0. Peter wins the trick with this card and sets it in front of himself. Now the top card of the face-down pile is turned over. It's a red 1. That's pretty low - maybe this is a hint that this will be a Minus round? Frank grins suggestively. Peter now leads the next trick, etc.
Changing the trump color
The trump color can be changed 4 tricks before the end of the hand (that is, everyone will still have 4 cards in their hand). Though the trump color may be changed, it is not required.
The player who is doing the worst in the current round, (that is, the player who has taken the fewest tricks in a Plus round or the most tricks in a Minus round), may (if he wishes) take the trump chip from the middle of the table and replace it with one of the other trump chips.
Example of a trump change (4 players, Plus round, red is trump)
After the 8th trick, with 4 tricks remaining, the situation is: Peter has 3 tricks, Sabine and Frank each have 2 tricks, and Julia has 1 trick. Julia is doing the worst in this round. She decides to make a trump change: she takes the red chip from the middle of the table and replaces it with a blue chip - from now on trump is blue. The rest of the round is played as normal. The player that won the 8th trick now leads to the 9th trick, etc.
If several players are tied for worst performance in the current round when the trump change opportunity arises, none of them get to do it and the opportunity is skipped.
Scoring a round after the last trick
4 players: The player with most tricks in a Plus round gets 4 points, second most gets 3 points, third most gets 2 points, and the player with fewest tricks gets 0 points. The reverse is true in a Minus round: the player with the fewest tricks gets 4 points, second fewest gets 3 points, third fewest gets 2 points, and the player with the most tricks gets 0 points.
3 players: Point distributions: 3 - 2 - 0 points (Minus round and Plus round).
If several players should tie for the same place, they all gets the points corresponding to that place. Note: if several players are tied for last place, they all get 0 points! Thus, if all players take exactly 3 tricks, they get no points.
2 examples (4 players):
Plus round: Peter has 6 tricks, Julia has 4 tricks, Sabine and Frank each have 1 trick. Peter gets 4 points, Julia gets 3 points, Sabine and Frank each get 0 points.
Minus round: Sabine and Julia each have 2 tricks, Frank has 3 tricks and Peter has 5 tricks. Sabine and Julia each get 4 points, Frank gets 2 points, Peter gets nothing.
The points for each player are written down. The start player from the previous round becomes the new dealer. The trump chip from the previous round remains in the middle of the table and indicates the trump-color of the new round. Play twice as many rounds as the number of players. The player with the highest total score is the winner.
Variant
With 3 players, add 3 jokers; with 4 players, add all 4 jokers. The jokers are shuffled in with the other cards (see Set-up). Everyone gets 14 cards as their hand. Play of the game is as already described. Players first play a face-down card (no jokers!), then the trick-taking begins. Jokers can be played at any time instead of a color card (even if you could follow suit). Jokers have no trick-taking value and can never win a trick. A second joker may not be played in the same trick (with exception of the last trick). If a trick is opened with a joker, the next player must play any color card of his choice, which will become the suit to follow. Important note: The player who played the joker may change the trump color at the end of the trick (he is not required to do so, however).
Example (4 players, trump is blue):
Julia plays a red 9 (red is now the suit to be followed). Peter plays a red 6. Although Sabine has red cards in her hand, she decides instead to play a joker. Frank plays a red 2. Julia's red 9 wins the trick. After Julia has taken the trick and set it in front of herself, Sabine changes the trump color. She replaces the blue chip in the middle of the table with a yellow chip. From now on, trump is yellow.
Trump changes now take place only by the playing of a joker and not when there are only four tricks left in the hand, as before! Important note: only the first two jokers played in a hand may be used to change trump. The third and (with four players) the fourth joker played may not be used to change trump. After the last trick has been played, scores are counted as before.