Hamsterbacke
Hamsterbacke Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
120 hamster cards
- 11x Light Green
- 11x Dark Green
- 16x Light Blue
- 16x Dark Blue
- 21x Yellow
- 21x Orange
- 24x Red
Game Setup
Shuffle all the hamster cards together. Each player receives two cards to their hand. Then eight individual cards are laid out face up in the middle of the table in a circle. Each card is the start of a card row. The remaining cards become a face-down draw pile in the middle of the circle. In front of each player there is room for two stacks that will form during the course of the game.
The youngest player begins, then play continues clockwise.
What Is a Card Set?
There are hamster cards with values of 1, 2, 3, and 4 in seven different colors. A card set always consists of one color and the number of cards matching the number printed on the cards. For example, a set consists of four red 4-cards, or two light blue 2-cards, or one dark green 1-card. A light blue 2-card together with a dark blue 2-card is not a set.
Example: valid card sets vs. an invalid card set.
Course of Play
There are three different actions. Whoever is on turn must always carry out two actions. One action may also be carried out twice.
The actions are:
- Hoard: Take a card row into your hand
- Block: Lay down card set(s)
- Score: Turn over your Block stack
Hoard: Take a Card Row into Your Hand
The active player chooses a card row from the card circle (a single card also counts as a row) and takes all the cards in that row into their hand.
At the start of the game, each row consists of only one card. Later, several cards will lie in a row.
Afterward, the active player replenishes the card circle. They draw three cards, one at a time, from the draw pile and place them — beginning with the row that was just removed — clockwise onto the next rows. The cards are laid overlapping like shingles, so that the numbers remain clearly visible.
Block: Lay Down Card Set(s)
The active player lays a card set from their hand face up in front of themselves. This creates their Block stack. If further actions lay down more card sets, they must be placed on this one Block stack. A player may also lay down several identical card sets at once (as a single action). For example, three light green 1-cards are three identical sets.
Blocking rule: Each card set may only be visible face up on players' Block stacks once at a time. Therefore, the active player may not lay down a set in a color that is already showing face up on a fellow player's Block stack. Should this happen anyway, they must take the cards back into their hand. Even when different sets lie on a Block stack, only the topmost set ever blocks.
Example: It's Anna's turn. She has four red 4-cards and four dark blue 2-cards in hand. A red 4-card is visible on Bernd's Block stack. Therefore, Anna may only lay her two dark blue 2-sets face up on her Block stack.
Score: Turn Over Your Block Stack
The active player turns over their entire face-up Block stack. This creates their face-down Score stack. If, on one of their next actions, they turn over their newly formed Block stack again, they add those cards to this Score stack.
Scoring: The active player additionally receives cards from a fellow player. The number on the topmost card of the Block stack determines how many cards they receive. They get them from the fellow player who, at that moment, holds the most cards in hand. If several fellow players are tied for the most, the active player may choose which one to take from. The player giving up cards may choose which cards to hand over.
Note: If the active player themselves holds the most (or tied for the most) hand cards, they receive no additional cards from a fellow player.
The active player places the received cards on their face-down Score stack without looking at them. If a player has fewer cards in hand than they must give up, they give up all their hand cards.
Example: Christian has a Block stack with a 4-card on top. He turns it over, places it on his Score stack, and demands four hand cards from Anna, because she currently holds the most hand cards.
End of the Game
Once the draw pile is used up, the card rows can no longer be replenished. The game ends when a player has taken the fifth card row out of the card circle — that is, when only three card rows remain in the circle.
Note: Should a player take the fifth card row during their first action, they must still carry out their second action before scoring begins.
Final Scoring
Each player adds up the cards in their Score stack. From this total, they subtract the number of hand cards remaining in their hand to determine their final score. Cards on the Block stack count as zero points. The player with the most points wins. The numbers printed on the cards have no bearing on the final scoring.
Example: Bernd has 20 cards in his Score stack. The three cards in his Block stack count as zero points. Since he still has five cards in hand, he must subtract five points. His final result is 15 points (20 − 5 = 15).