Das NEINhorn
Das NEINhorn Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Material
120 cards (20 x NEINhorn, 20 x KönigsDOCHter, 20 x WASbär, 19 x NAhUND, 19 x HÄHmster, 19 x WARUMmel, 3 x Gegenwurm), 20 clover leaves and two surprises.
Object of the Game
Play your cards and call out quickly what the characters say. Whoever is FIRST to lay together A FOUR-LEAF CLOVER after several rounds wins!
You can also play together against the clock: read the cooperative game variant at the end of the rules!
Game Setup
The cards are shuffled well and dealt evenly as face-down stacks to all players. You must not look at your cards.
Tip for getting to know the game: Play your first game without Gegenwürmer. Leave the three Gegenwurm cards in the box.
Course of Play
The youngest player begins!
When it is your turn, turn over the top card of your stack and lay it face up in the middle of the table. This is where the discard pile forms.
You must always turn the card over QUICKLY FORWARD, toward the middle of the table, so that everyone sees the front at the same time.
After you have turned the card over, IMMEDIATELY say out loud what the card dictates:
- NEINhorn: "Nein!"
- KönigsDOCHter: "Doch!"
- WASbär: "Was?"
- NAhUND: "Na und?"
- HÄHmster: "Häh?"
- WARUMmel: "Warum?"
Now play continues immediately clockwise. Quickly lay the next card face up on the discard pile, quickly say the word, and so on ...
... and so on until someone makes a mistake, that is, misspeaks, says something wrong, stalls ("Uh ... uh ... uh ...") or thinks too long (agree on how long someone may hesitate before it counts as a mistake).
The player who made the mistake must now take the entire discard pile and lay it face up, as a penalty-point pile, next to their own face-down stack. The person sitting to the left of the player who just made the mistake now lays a new card from their own stack face up in the middle.
Further Rules
Same Card? Say "Meinetwegen"
If the top card of the discard pile is already a character and that same character is now laid face up again, you must not say what the character would normally say, but must say "Meinetwegen" ("Fine by me") instead.
Example: Astrid has played a KönigsDOCHter and said "Doch!". Marc-Uwe lays another KönigsDOCHter and must now say "Meinetwegen". Had he said "Doch!", that would be a mistake and he would have to take the entire discard pile as penalty points.
Gegenwurm Card Revealed? Say "Gegenwurm!" and Activate the Gegenwurm
When you turn over a Gegenwurm card, you must say "Gegenwurm!". The Gegenwurm card is laid face up at the edge of the play area. For the rest of the game, the characters printed on it swap their words!
Example: The Gegenwurm card with WASbär and NAhUND is active. Marc-Uwe plays a WASbär and must now say "Na und?". Had he said "Was?", that would be a mistake and he would have to take the entire discard pile as penalty points.
The "Meinetwegen" rule (same character twice in a row) still applies!
Example: The Gegenwurm card with WASbär and NAhUND is active. Astrid has played a WASbär and said "Na und?"; Marc-Uwe also draws a WASbär and must now say "Meinetwegen". Had he said "Na und?" (or even "Was?"), that would be a mistake and he would have to take the entire discard pile as penalty points.
Tip for the tidy: You can use the opened lid of the NEINhorn box to display the Gegenwürmer.
End of a Round
The round ends when the last card has been played. Now the penalty-point piles are compared. Simply lay the piles next to each other (if it is close, you can of course count them). The player with the fewest penalty points wins the round and receives two clover leaves. The player with the second-fewest penalty points receives one clover leaf. In case of ties, all involved receive two or one respectively. Everyone else gets nothing.
New Round
Shuffle the cards, deal them evenly again as face-down stacks to all players, and start the next round.
End of the Game
Whoever is FIRST, after several rounds played, to lay together A FOUR-LEAF CLOVER wins!
If several people can lay a four-leaf clover at the end of a round, the one with the most clover leaves wins. In case of a tie there are several winners.
Additional Rules
If you are already familiar with the game, add the following additional rules!
Additional Rule "KänguRUHE"
The KänguRUHE (kangaroo of silence, "Ruhe" = quiet) hides on 12 cards. If you turn over a card with the KänguRUHE, you must PUT YOUR INDEX FINGER ON YOUR LIPS. YOU MUST NOT SAY ANYTHING AT ALL, otherwise it is a mistake and you must take the entire discard pile.
Additional Rule "Petersilie"
Parsley (Petersilie) hides on 12 cards (not to be confused with the lucky clover!). The NEINhorn and its friends do not like parsley. If you turn over a card with parsley, you must say "BÄH!" ("Yuck!"), otherwise you must take the entire discard pile.
ATTENTION: THE "MEINETWEGEN" RULE TRUMPS ALL OTHER ADDITIONAL RULES!
Example: Astrid has played a WASbär with KänguRUHE, put her index finger to her lips and said nothing. Marc-Uwe lays a WASbär with parsley and must now say "Meinetwegen". Had he said "Bäh!", that would be a mistake and he would have to take the entire discard pile as penalty points.
The Cooperative Game Variant
Game setup and course of play remain exactly as described above (on pages 2 and 3). However, there are now no penalty-point piles! You try together not to make any mistakes!
If someone makes a mistake, the current discard pile is put back into the box.
Nobody may prompt (say the word for) another player during the game, but you may give each other tips by pointing (for example, to draw attention to KänguRUHE, parsley or Gegenwurm).
Decide on a difficulty level from the table ("doable", "fierce" or "almost impossible"). Set a stopwatch or use the digital timer: in the KOSMOS Erklär-App (explanation app), select the NEINhorn game. Within the chosen time you must manage to play out your card stacks completely, otherwise you have lost the game.
| doable | fierce | almost impossible | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | 5:00 | 4:30 | 4:00 |
| Level 2 | 5:30 | 5:00 | 4:30 |
| Level 3 | 6:00 | 5:30 | 5:00 |
(all times in minutes)
You Play Three Levels in Succession
Level 1: Play only with the "Meinetwegen" rule, without Gegenwürmer and without further additional rules. Leave the Gegenwürmer in the box.
Level 2: Play only with the "Meinetwegen" rule and the Gegenwürmer, without further additional rules. Shuffle the Gegenwürmer into the stack.
Level 3: Play with the "Meinetwegen" rule, the Gegenwürmer and the additional rules "KänguRUHE" and "Petersilie".
Clover Leaves
AT THE START OF EACH LEVEL YOU RECEIVE FOUR CLOVER LEAVES, which you lay out in front of you.
Each time one of you makes a mistake, the NEINhorn eats a clover leaf out of frustration. Put one clover leaf back into the box. If it wants to eat one but there are none left, it stops playing and you have lost.
If you have clover leaves left after a level, you may take them with you into the next level.
Team Result
Did you manage all three levels without running out of clover leaves in between? Congratulations! Here is your sugared-clover team result:
- 0-1: "That was close! So what? Done is done!"
- 2-3: "What? You did it and even have leaves left over? I am bear-ly impressed!" (original pun: "bäreindruckt")
- 4-7: "Yes, yes. That's pretty impressive. You may enter my service as subjects."
- 8-11: "No! Are you sure you didn't cheat? Oh well, fine by me. Really well done!"
- 12: "Not a single mistake!" ("Sie haben keinen einzigen Fehler gemacht!" - "You haven't made a single mistake!")
New Rules
Looking for even more challenges?
Who says you always have to stick to the rules? Just make up your own! What about the clover leaves, for example? Perhaps you have to say "Yummy!" when there is a clover on the card. Or perhaps you have to say how many clover leaves are already in the discard pile? Or, or, or, or ...
On other cards you can see the SCHLAUmeise (clever tit) fluttering around. What does she mean? Perhaps she corrects the Gegenwurm? As in: "No, but actually yes!" Or perhaps she doesn't say what the character on the card says, but repeats what was said last?
And have you ever counted the soap bubbles on the back of the cards? Perhaps you have to say the word as many times as there are soap bubbles on the back of the NEXT card? Or ... or ...
And what actually happens when you lay the same character for the third time?
You will surely come up with lots of great and funny rules. Have fun!