Blindes Huhn extrem
Blindes Huhn extrem Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Material
- 50 number cards (values 0 to 49), of which 10 show a hen, 3 show pigs, and 1 shows a pig (the "Sau", 0).
- 7 penalty cards (front: -3/-6 and -10/-15).
- 3 reward cards (front: +3; back: an overview of the card distribution and setup).
Setup
- Have a sheet of paper and a pencil ready for scoring.
- With fewer than 5 players, the following number cards are not needed and go back into the box:
- with 3 players: the cards numbered 1 to 14;
- with 4 players: the cards numbered 1 to 2;
- with 5 players: all cards are used.
- Note: never set aside the 0.
- Shuffle the number cards well and deal them out evenly to all players.
- Place the reward and penalty cards as the "general supply".
- The player to the left of the dealer is the starting player.
Gameplay
The game is played clockwise. The game consists of several deals (Durchgänge). A deal proceeds as follows.
A) Arranging your hand
First, each player takes their number cards into hand and sorts them. This is an important phase, because once the deal has begun, cards may no longer be turned over. Only the card at the far right or the far left may be played.
The starting player then asks whether everyone is finished sorting. When this is the case, the starting player begins the deal and is first to play.
B) The actual game
The player whose turn it is plays, from their hand, the card at the far right or the far left, face up in front of themselves.
The next player to the left then plays. Once every player has played a card, a round is over.
The player who played the highest card receives the cards played in that round and stacks them face down in front of themselves. This is called "winning the trick" (den Stich machen).
Afterwards, that player is first to play and begins the next round.
The deal ends when all hand cards have been played. Then scoring follows.
Further important rules
Playing face down (verdeckt ausspielen): A card with this symbol may exceptionally be played face down, and is only turned face up at the end of the round. If you are the last player of a round, you may naturally play the card face up straight away.
Receiving a penalty card (Strafkarte bekommen): If a player wins a trick that contains several number cards with hens, that player immediately receives a penalty card from the general supply. Depending on how many cards with hens are in the trick, the player takes the penalty card with the matching side facing up and lays it face up in front of themselves. Penalty cards should be kept separate from the player's own stack.
Example: If a player wins a trick with 3 cards showing hens, they receive a penalty card that shows three hens on top and brings 6 minus points.
Receiving a reward card (Belohnungskarte bekommen): If a player wins a trick that contains one number card with pigs, that player immediately receives a reward card from the general supply. If several reward cards are still available, the player may choose one.
Each reward card carries a yellow symbol, and each symbol stands for a different "instant advantage" (Sofort-Vorteil):
- Face-down symbol: The player begins the next round with a card that they exceptionally play face down. At the end of the round, it is turned face up.
- Ear symbol: The player begins the next round exceptionally with any card from their hand.
- Hand symbol: The player may freely decide which player begins the next round.
Important: an instant advantage applies only to this player and only to the directly following round.
Note: if a player wins a trick that contains several number cards with pigs, that player receives no reward card.
Note: the 0 ("Sau") is not relevant for receiving reward cards.
Reward cards should be kept separate from the player's own stack.
Last trick: In the last trick of a deal, the 0 wins the trick by exception, if the 49 was also played in that trick.
The last trick of a deal also plays a special role during scoring, see below.
Scoring (Abrechnung)
Each player now receives points as follows:
- For each hen in their own stack, the player receives 1 minus point. All other cards in the stack are worthless.
- For each penalty card received, the player receives the minus points shown on it.
- For each reward card, the player receives 3 plus points.
- If a player has no hens at all in their own stack, that player receives 3 plus points.
The points are added up, and the result is noted for each player.
Last trick (scoring option): The player who made the last trick may choose one of the following two options, if possible:
a) The hens in their stack bring no minus points. Note: this does not apply to the hens of the last trick, which do count.
b) Their penalty cards bring no minus points. Note: this does not apply to a penalty card that the player received through the last trick, which does count.
If the player made the last trick with the 0 ("Cool Pig"), they have one further option:
c) They may cross out one of their own results from an earlier deal.
Next deal
Before the next deal, the setup is repeated. The player may skip the first two points of the setup. The new dealer should be the player to the left of the previous dealer.
End of the game
Usually, before the first deal, the players agree how many deals will be played. It is recommended to play as many deals as there are players.
The player with the most plus points in total then wins. If all players have minus points, the player with the fewest minus points wins.
Example of the start of a game (4 players)
- After each player has sorted their cards, Bernd begins the game.
- Bernd plays his right card, the 19.
- Tim likewise plays his right card, the 32.
- Ulf plays his left card, the 30.
- Marianne plays her right card, the 20.
- Tim has played the highest card and wins the trick.
- Because Tim has won the trick, he plays the first card in the next round.
Tactics
Since the hens bring minus points at the end, the natural aim is to take as few tricks with hens as possible. Beyond that, there is plenty of room for strategy, and everyone develops their own, which they swear by. Some suggestions:
- Already while sorting, consider who will drop out. If you are the last player in a round, you can often get rid of a bad card in the first trick at the start. Or, if you play first, surprise the opponents who expect a low card at the start.
- Or put bad cards in the middle, so that they only fall at the end, when the often "thick chunks" come.
- Or sort all bad cards to the left and all good ones to the right.
- Or sort in ascending order.
- Or simply leave the cards as they were dealt (this is rarely successful).
Variant for two players
It is quite possible to play with two players, even though some things do not work out. In that case, before the game, set aside the cards numbered 1 to 26.