Dinner for One Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Game Overview
• Phase 1: The Starting Player Reveals a Card
• Phase 2: Acting Out the Scenes
• Mistake Made?
• End of the Game
• Card Text Note

Components

• 7 × 4 bottles (sherry, white wine, champagne, port)
• 1 James figure
• 1 tiger's head
• 5 table settings
• 1 flower vase figure
• 4 glasses
• 4 dishes of food
• 5 name plates
• 2 stand feet
• 15 tipsy chips (Schwips-Chips)
• 16 guest cards
• 4 drink wish cards (white back)
• 4 food wish cards
• 4 blank cards (removed from the game during setup)

Note from the publisher: there are several stage performances of the "Dinner for One" sketch with slightly different texts, and therefore different transcriptions. To ensure smoother play, the quotes on the cards have been minimally adjusted.

Note: to ensure an authentic experience, the publisher recommends playing with the original English texts from the film, but players may also call out the freely and loosely translated German texts.

Setup

Before the first game, carefully punch the cardboard parts out of the punch sheets. Fold the name plates along the dashed line. Carefully insert the James figure and the flower vase figure into the stand feet.

1. Set up the table at which you will play for the birthday dinner. First place Miss Sophie's table setting at one side of the table. Just as in the film, Mr. Winterbottom sits to Miss Sophie's right, and to his right sits Mr. Pommeroy. To Miss Sophie's left sits Sir Toby, and to his left sits Admiral von Schneider.
2. Place the 5 name plates in the upper left corners of the respective table settings. Place the 4 glasses to the right of the table settings of the 4 gentlemen. Tip: you can fill the glasses with water. When pouring, take care that the game components do not get wet.
3. Place the flower vase at Mr. Winterbottom's place. At the opposite end of Miss Sophie's place, lay out the food. It does not matter whether you sit at a place with a table setting or without one. The 5 table settings are shared game material and are used equally by all players.
4. Place the tiger's head on the game box and position it at any point on the circular path around the table. Because you will often walk clockwise around the table during play, make sure you have enough room. Tip: if you do not have a freestanding table, you can also skip walking around the table. Instead, go directly to your destination. If your path crosses the tiger's head, you must "stumble" over it!
5. Each player receives a set of four bottles: sherry, white wine, champagne and port. Place them in front of you. With fewer than 7 players, return the remaining bottles to the box.
6. Place the 15 tipsy chips and the James figure within reach in the middle of the table.
7. Prepare the draw pile last. Remove the 4 blank cards from the game. Find the 4 drink wish cards (white back) and set them aside. Sort the remaining cards by their backs, which gives 4 card stacks, one per course. Shuffle each of the 4 stacks separately. Place one drink wish card with the matching course face up on each stack. Combine the 4 individual stacks into one large draw pile by placing the stacks on top of one another (course 4 at the very bottom, then course 3 on top of it, course 2 above that, and course 1 at the very top). Place the draw pile next to Miss Sophie's table setting in the middle of the table.

Game Overview

Whoever has celebrated the most birthdays becomes the starting player. The game is played over several rounds, and the role of the starting player passes on from round to round.

Each round consists of two phases:

• Phase 1: the starting player reveals the top card
• Phase 2: the scenes are acted out

Phase 1: The Starting Player Reveals a Card

At the start of Phase 1, the starting player takes the James figure and places it in front of them.

The starting player then reveals the top card of the draw pile, reads the text* aloud and shows the card to all other players. Look closely at the symbols on the card. They stand for the respective actions, which are explained on the following pages.

Was a drink wish card revealed? Drink wish cards introduce a new course and restrict your movements over the course of the game, to the amusement of the other players. Carry out the card's actions together, and then place it on a separate discard pile.

Drink wish cards

The actions of these cards apply to everyone and are carried out immediately after the card is revealed and read aloud:

• Take a bottle from your set that matches the picture on the card.
• Place the bottle on your body. The text on the bottle describes the exact spot. The bottle stays there until the end of the game.
• The starting player calls out the question on the card loudly, and everyone answers together in chorus with the corresponding answer.

After each drink wish card, the starting player may reveal a second card, as an exception.

Was a food wish or guest card revealed? Food wish and guest cards show typical scenes from the sketch, which you must act out in the second phase. Memorise the texts and actions of the cards well!

Now the starting player turns the card face down again and places it face down next to the draw pile. Once placed, the card may not be looked at again.

Important! The first card placed next to the draw pile forms the start of a face-down card row. In each further round the row is extended by 1 card. This builds a unique "script" over the course of the game, with a random sequence of scenes. The cards stay in place until the end of the game, unless a player makes a mistake (see: "Mistake Made?").

Tip: remember not only the text and actions of the cards, but also their order!

After the starting player has placed a card at the end of the card row, the first phase ends.

Phase 2: Acting Out the Scenes

"Curtain up!" In Phase 2, you take turns in clockwise order slipping into the role of James and acting out the scenes shown on the cards.

The starting player goes first. They place the James figure on the 1st card in the card row and carry out the card's actions.

If there are already several cards in your "script", the next player is the starting player's left-hand neighbour. They move the James figure to the 2nd card and carry out the matching actions. Then the third player in turn carries out the actions of the 3rd card in the card row, and so on.

Example: Sarah, Markus, Claudine and Stefan are playing. Sarah is the starting player of the 4th round and places the 4th card at the end of the "script" face down. Now Phase 2 begins:

a) Sarah places the James figure on the 1st card in the "script" and acts it out. b) Next is Markus, Sarah's left-hand neighbour. He moves the James figure to the 2nd card and acts it out. c) Then Claudine, Markus's left-hand neighbour, is up. She moves the James figure to the 3rd card and acts it out. d) Last is Stefan. He moves the James figure to the last card and acts it out.

Can you not reach the glasses or the food from your place? Walk clockwise around the table until you arrive at your destination. Important: if your path leads past the tiger's head, "stumble" over it!

The second phase, and therefore the current round, ends immediately as soon as a player has acted out the last card in the row.

At the start of the game, the round ends once the starting player has carried out the action of the 1st card, and the starting player changes. The new starting player draws another card and places it in the row. Then they carry out the action of the 1st card. Their left-hand neighbour then carries out the action of the card just placed as the 2nd card, and so on.

The round also ends if someone makes a mistake while acting out the scenes (see page 7). The left-hand neighbour of the player who ended the last round becomes the new starting player.

Food wish cards

Fulfil Miss Sophie's food wish! Carry out the following actions one after the other:

• Stand up and reach for the food with your right hand.
• Walk clockwise around the table with the food in your hand to Miss Sophie's place.
• Place the food on Miss Sophie's table setting and walk on to your place.

If the desired food or a different dish is on Miss Sophie's place? Clear away the food and, if necessary, place the new food there. Return the cleared food to its place of origin. Continue until you reach your place.

Guest cards

As in the film, you must stand in for Miss Sophie's guests in the role of James. Carry out the typical actions of the four gentlemen one after the other:

• Stand up and reach for the glass of the respective guest with your right hand.
• Raise the glass in your hand towards Miss Sophie's place and speak the toast printed on the card.

Attention! The Admiral von Schneider cards show an additional third action: after you have spoken the toast, click your heels together.

Attention! In the last course, take hold of the flower vase instead of the glass and then speak the toast.

Mistake Made?

Do you feel that the player whose turn it is has made a mistake? Then you may challenge them in that same moment. Call "Stop!". To check, turn over the card on which the James figure currently stands. There are then two possibilities:

The player whose turn it is has not made a mistake The challenger receives a tipsy chip as a penalty. The current round is played on as usual. If there were several challengers, all of them receive a tipsy chip.

The player whose turn it is has made a mistake The accused receives a tipsy chip as a penalty.

Possible mistakes:

• The player whose turn it is carries out the actions of the wrong guest.
• The player whose turn it is acts out the correct guest with the wrong actions.
• The player whose turn it is reaches for the food and glasses with the left hand instead of the right.
• The player whose turn it is serves the wrong dish.
• The player whose turn it is does not stumble over the tiger's head.
• The player whose turn it is walks around the table anticlockwise.
• The player whose turn it is deliberately delays.
• A player drops a bottle.

After a mistake, the current round ends immediately and the left-hand neighbour of the accused becomes the new starting player.

The new starting player does not, however, begin the round with the first phase, and does not reveal a new card from the draw pile! The James figure stays on the card on which the mistake was made. Instead, the starting player removes all cards in the card row that lie behind the card on which the James figure currently stands. They place them on the discard pile.

Now you may look at the remaining cards in the row once more. To do so, the starting player reveals the cards one at a time, one after another, and turns them face down again, beginning with the card on which the James figure currently stands (= the new first card in the row).

Once you have memorised the cards once more, you may carry out Phase 2 as usual. The starting player begins and carries out the actions of the first card, and so on.

End of the Game

The game ends when the draw pile has been used up and James has reached the end of the card row. The game also ends if all tipsy chips have been handed out from the middle. The player with the fewest tipsy chips at the end of the game has won the game. If several players have the fewest tipsy chips, there are several winners.

Shorter game variant

For a quicker game, play until one player has collected 3 (or even just 2) tipsy chips. The player with the fewest tipsy chips then wins the game.

Card Text Note

The film quotes and bottle descriptions printed on the individual cards are part of the card faces and are not reproduced in this rulebook. The rules above describe the actions and procedures that apply to each card type.