Hobiti
Hobiti Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup and Object of the Game
(01) The game is for 3–8 hobbits (players) aged 7 and up.
(02) The game contains the rules and 108 playing cards, plus 2 new playing cards. (Transcriber's note: the printed rules do not say what the 2 new playing cards are; only their number is given.)
(03) The goal of the game is to be the best hobbit.
(04) Before the game, the hobbits agree on how many rounds (sehrávky) will be played.
(05) The winner of a round is the hobbit who first reaches 50 points.
(06) The winner of the whole game is the hobbit who has the most points in total across all rounds.
Cards
(07) Each card has a number in its upper left corner, which gives its value. The number can be one of three kinds:
- white on a black field: a card with a value used only for drawing lots (see below);
- black on a grey field: a card with a value used for drawing lots, for Feasts and for Drinking Parties (see below);
- black on a white field: a card with a value used for drawing lots and a point value (see below).
(08) At the start of each round, the deck of cards is shuffled and each hobbit is dealt six cards.
(09) Each hobbit starts with 0 points, and during the game a hobbit cannot have fewer than 0 points.
Drawing Lots and Wagers
(10) After the cards are dealt, all hobbits secretly choose one card and place it face-down on the table (the wager, sázka). The wagered cards are used to decide who plays first. After all hobbits have chosen their wager, all wagered cards are turned face-up at the same time. The hobbit who wagered the highest-value card starts, but loses that wagered card. The other hobbits keep their wagered cards.
If several hobbits wagered the same highest value, those hobbits each wager another card, and this continues for as long as necessary until someone wins. The winner then loses all the cards that they wagered in this way.
(11) The hobbits take turns in clockwise order, starting with the first hobbit.
Turns and Actions
(12) During their turn, a hobbit must perform two actions.
(13) There are four permitted types of action: Walk (Procházka), Play (Hraní), Loaf About (Flákání se) and Gardening (Zahradničení).
(14) On a Walk, the hobbit finds two cards and takes them into hand (draws them).
(15) When Playing, a hobbit may lay down an item, play a card that does something unpleasant to someone (an nepříjemnost, an unpleasantness), set off a firework display, or announce a Drinking Party (Pitka) or a Feast (Žranice) using the appropriate card.
(16) If a hobbit Loafs About, it gains 1 point.
(17) By Gardening, a hobbit gains 2 points, but must discard one card from its hand.
(18) Item cards stay laid out in front of their owners. The points gained from them are counted only in the head (that is, they are not written down or shown), so that such points cannot be taken away, for example by the card Vyžla.
(19) Played cards that are not items are placed on the discard pile.
(20) If the deck runs out, the discard pile is shuffled to form a new deck.
(21) A hobbit may not hold more than eight cards in hand. So if a hobbit has seven cards in hand, a Walk gives it only one card. A hobbit with eight cards in hand cannot go on a Walk.
Drinking Parties and Feasts
(22) When a Drinking Party is announced, the hobbits lay down drink cards one after another, starting with the first hobbit to the left of the one who announced it. A hobbit may lay down only one drink card at a time. A hobbit does not have to drink anything during a Drinking Party. A hobbit does not have to lay down a drink of higher value than the ones laid down by the others. Laying down drink cards continues in later rounds of the party only among the hobbits who laid down a card in the previous round. The Drinking Party ends when no hobbit who can lay down a card wants to.
The winner of the Drinking Party is the hobbit who drank the drinks with the highest total value. If more than one hobbit drank drinks of the highest total value, nobody wins. The winner gains as many points as the value of the card that started the Drinking Party. All drinks drunk during the Drinking Party go to the discard pile.
(23) A Feast works in the same way as a Drinking Party, except that food cards are laid down instead of drink cards.
(24) Food cannot be laid down during a Drinking Party, and drink cannot be laid down during a Feast.
(25) Smoking (Kuřivo) cards may be played both during a Drinking Party and during a Feast, as if they were drink or food.
(26) Food, drink and smoking cards are played only during the corresponding festivity. The exception is cards that act against certain unpleasantnesses: these are played immediately after the corresponding unpleasantness is played.