HUND
HUND Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 75 playing cards in the colors blue, brown, yellow, green, red, each with values 1 – 15
- 15 Number Determiner cards with values 1 – 15
- 5 Suit Determiner cards, in the colors blue, brown, yellow, green, red
- 5 Scoring cards, in the colors pink, gray, orange, black, white
- 1 Determiner and Scoring board
- 5 wooden discs, in the colors pink, gray, orange, black, white
The Determiner and Scoring board is captioned "Die Pfalz hat ebbes zu bieten!" ("The Palatinate has something to offer!") and carries pictogram icons for the region's produce: grapes (Trauwe/Trauben), potatoes (Grumbeere/Kartoffeln), the Palatinate Forest (Pelzerwald/Pfälzerwald), castles (Burge/Burgen), and the Elwetritsche, a mythical Palatinate creature. The scoring track's place names are given in Palatinate dialect: Därgem = Bad Dürkheim, Frangedaal = Frankenthal, Neischdadt = Neustadt a. d. Weinstraße, Kärchem = Kirchheimbolanden, Lautre = Kaiserslautern, Kuhsel = Kusel, Landaach = Landau, Ludwigshaafe = Ludwigshafen, Bärmesens = Pirmasens, Schbeier = Speyer, Zweebrigge = Zweibrücken, Rhoi = Rhein.
Basic Game — Setup
Depending on the number of players, the following cards are needed from the 75 playing cards:
- 3 players: playing cards in every color with values 1 – 6 (= 30 cards)
- 4 players: playing cards in every color with values 1 – 8 (= 40 cards)
- 5 players: playing cards in every color with values 1 – 10 (= 50 cards)
The playing cards are shuffled well and dealt evenly to the players. The cards that are not needed are put back in the box.
Of the 15 Number Determiner cards, the cards with values 1 – 5 are shuffled face down, laid out as a face-down stack, and the top card is turned face up next to it. The Number Determiner cards that are not needed are put back in the box.
The Determiner and Scoring board and the Suit Determiner cards are laid out face up.
Each player chooses one colored wooden disc and a matching Scoring card of the same color, and places the disc on the start space of the Determiner and Scoring board, to keep track of the plus and minus points they earn.
For the first round, the player who most recently played "ebbes" (reminder: ebbes = something) becomes the starting player.
Sequence of Play
ebbes is a trick-taking card game that is played over several rounds. In each round, 10 tricks are played. For the first trick, the starting player plays any card face up into the middle of the table. Going clockwise, each player must then play exactly one card face up into the middle of the table. This completes the first trick.
Rules for Playing Cards
Follow suit: The cards played must match the suit of the card played first. If a player does not hold a card of that suit, they may either trump or discard a card.
Trumping: If the trump suit has already been determined during the round (see "Determining Trump"), a player may play a card in the trump suit. Since the trump suit outranks all other suits, a card played in the trump suit means that trick goes to the holder of the trump card. Trumping is not obligatory — a card may also be discarded instead.
Discarding a card: If a player does not hold a card of the suit played first, and cannot or does not want to trump, they play any other card (= "discarding a card").
Whoever played the highest card value in the suit played first wins the trick, unless one or more trump cards were played in that trick. In that case, the player with the highest played trump card value wins the trick. Discarded cards are not taken into account when determining the winner of a trick. The winner of a trick places all the played cards face down in front of themselves and plays the first card for the next trick. This is repeated until all cards have been played.
Determining Trump, Plus, ebbes, Minus and nix
In every round, the order in which Trump, Plus, ebbes, Minus and nix are determined always stays the same, following the Determiner board:
I. Trump/Atout — II. Plus — III. ebbes — IV. Minus/Moins — V. nix
For the whole of the first round, the value currently showing on the Number Determiner cards decides which card suits become Trump, Plus, ebbes, Minus and nix.
I. Determining Trump
As soon as the first card is played whose value matches the value of the currently showing Number Determiner card, the suit of that card is immediately fixed as trump for the rest of that round. The trump suit is marked with the matching Suit Determiner card below the Determiner board.
Example: For round 1, the Number Determiner card with the value 1 was revealed. The starting player plays the blue 10, and the next player plays the blue 1. This immediately fixes blue as the trump suit, since the played blue 1 matches the value of the Number Determiner card. The blue Suit Determiner card is used to mark the trump suit below the Determiner board. From now on, blue is trump for the rest of that round.
II. Determining Plus
Once the trump suit has been fixed, the suit that brings plus points is determined. This can happen in the very same trick in which the trump suit was fixed! As soon as the 2nd card with the value of the currently showing Number Determiner card is played, all cards of that suit become plus points and are worth 1 plus point per card each at the end of the round. The suit of the plus points is marked with the matching Suit Determiner card below the Determiner board.
Example: The winner of the last trick plays the green 10, hoping that the green 1 will fall, since that would fix green as the plus suit. The next player, however, has no green cards and discards the yellow 1. This immediately marks the yellow Suit Determiner card below the Determiner board as the suit of the plus points. At the end of that round, every yellow card is worth 1 plus point.
III. Determining ebbes
When the 3rd card with the value of the currently showing Number Determiner card is played, the suit of that card immediately becomes ebbes and is marked with the matching Suit Determiner card below the Determiner board. At the end of the round, the players with the most and the fewest cards of that suit get no points (the fewest cards can also be no cards at all!). All other players get 3 plus points each!
IV. Determining Minus
When the 4th card with the value of the Number Determiner card is played, all cards of that suit immediately become minus points, and the suit of the minus points is marked with the matching Suit Determiner card below the Determiner board. At the end of that round, every card of that suit counts 1 minus point each.
V. Determining nix
Since only one suit remains after the minus points have been determined, that suit automatically becomes nix and is marked below the Determiner board with the remaining Suit Determiner card. The player with the most cards of the nix suit may choose the starting player for the next round. In case of a tie, the higher single card of the nix suit decides.
IMPORTANT! If several cards fall in one trick that match the value of the current Determiner card, they are resolved in the order in which they were played!
Scoring
Once all cards have been played, the round is scored. Scoring is made easier if every player sorts the cards from their tricks by suit:
Current Trump suit: Cards in the trump suit are worth no points. Current Plus suit: Every card in the Plus suit is worth 1 plus point. Current ebbes suit: The players with the most and the fewest cards in the ebbes suit get no points (the fewest cards can also be no cards at all!). All other players get 3 plus points each.
Example: At the end of a round with 5 players, the cards are distributed as follows: Alex and Haui have no cards in the ebbes suit, Jesko has 2 cards in the ebbes suit, Bernhard has 3 cards in the ebbes suit, and Paul has 5 cards in the ebbes suit. Alex and Haui have the fewest cards in the ebbes suit and get no points. Paul has the most cards in the ebbes suit and likewise gets no points. Jesko and Bernhard each get 3 plus points.
Current Minus suit: Every card in the Minus suit is worth 1 minus point. Current nix suit: The player with the most cards in the nix suit may choose the starting player for the next round. In case of a tie, the higher single card of the nix suit decides.
Every player's plus and minus points are recorded on the Scoring board.
Further Rounds
At the start of a new round, the face-up Number Determiner card is pushed face up under the stack of Number Determiner cards. The top card of the stack is then turned face up. This fixes the new Number Determiner card for that round.
The Suit Determiner cards are laid out face up next to the Determiner and Scoring board. The player to the left of the last dealer shuffles all the cards and deals them evenly to the players. After everyone has looked at their cards, the player who had the most cards in the nix suit in the previous round may choose the new starting player. They may also choose themselves. The chosen starting player opens the new round by playing any card.
End of the Game
The game ends after 5 rounds, i.e. once the stack of Number Determiner cards has been played through once. The winner of the game is the player who is furthest ahead on the Scoring board. Ties are possible.
Variant 1 — "Playing With More Cards"
In this expansion, the game is simply played with more cards. This makes the game even more exciting, since it generally takes longer for the Determiner cards to fall. As a result, players more often have tricks lying in front of them whose suits are still undetermined, and this carries greater risk.
Depending on the number of players, the following additional cards are needed for this expansion:
- 3 players: from the card set, the values 7 – 9 in every suit (= 15 cards)
- 4 players: from the card set, the values 9 – 12 in every suit (= 20 cards)
- 5 players: from the card set, the values 11 – 15 in every suit (= 25 cards)
Otherwise, the same rules apply as in the Basic Game.
Variant 2 — "Choosing Determiner Cards"
In this expansion, unlike in the Basic Game, the players may choose the Determiner cards themselves! This gives players more ways to influence how a round unfolds. Aside from the following changes, the rules of the Basic Game apply:
Setup
The Number Determiner cards needed are those whose values match the card values that are dealt to the players.
Example: For 3 players playing the Basic Game combined with the first and second expansion, the values 1 – 9 in every suit are needed from the card set. For this variant, Number Determiner cards with the values 1 – 9 are therefore also needed!
All Number Determiner cards and Suit Determiner cards are placed face up and clearly visible in the middle of the table!
Sequence of Play
The player to the left of the starting player chooses one of the Number Determiner cards, as well as a Suit Determiner card, from the middle of the table and places them face up in front of themselves. This does not have to be a card that the player is actually holding in hand!
Example: The player to the left of the starting player chooses the Number Determiner card with the value 5 and the green Suit Determiner card. This fixes the "green 5" as one of the cards that determines Trump, Plus, ebbes, Minus and nix for that round.
The next player clockwise then in turn chooses one of the remaining Number Determiner cards and Suit Determiner cards from the middle of the table and places them face up in front of themselves. This continues around the table until all 5 Suit Determiner cards, with their assigned Number Determiner cards, lie face up in front of the players.
IMPORTANT: Depending on the number of players, 2 Suit Determiner cards can therefore end up in front of one player!
After the Determiner cards have been chosen, the starting player begins by playing the first card.
Determining Trump, Plus, ebbes, Minus and nix
As soon as the first card is played in a trick whose value and suit match one of the laid-out Determiner card combinations, the suit of that card becomes Trump for the rest of that round. The trump suit is marked with the matching Suit Determiner card below the Determiner board, and the Number Determiner card that is no longer needed is set face down to the side.
In the same way, Plus, ebbes, Minus and nix are determined as play continues.
Further Rounds
At the start of a new round, all the Number Determiner cards and Suit Determiner cards — including those from the previous round — are placed face up in the middle of the table again.
End of the Game
The game ends when one of the following conditions is met:
a) if, at the end of a round, a player has reached the goal space by moving their playing piece forward, b) or if, at the end of a round, a player has reached the "Dabbscheedel"* space, c) or after a fixed, agreed-upon number of rounds (at least 5 rounds should be played).
**Dabbscheedel = a not particularly clever person
Two-Player Rules
For the card values, use the same set needed for a 3-player game (values 1 – 6 in every one of the 5 suits). When dealing the cards, the following seating order must always be observed, going clockwise:
- Fictitious teammate
- Playing partner
- Dealer
The fictitious teammate therefore always sits to the left of the dealer!
Cards are laid out for the fictitious teammate as follows: the first 5 cards are laid face down next to each other from left to right. The next 5 cards are laid face up on top of the face-down cards, also from left to right.
The normal rules of ebbes apply to the fictitious third player, i.e.:
- If a suit is played, it must be followed.
- If the fictitious teammate has only one card of the suit played, that card is played to follow suit.
- If several cards of the suit played lie in front of the fictitious teammate, the card of that suit lying furthest to the left is always chosen.
- If the fictitious teammate has no card of the suit played, the card lying furthest to the left is always played.
- If a face-down card remains in front of the fictitious teammate after a trick has been played, it is turned face up before the next trick is played.
- If the fictitious teammate has won a trick, they always begin the next lead with the open card lying furthest to the left.
Scoring is done as in a 3-player game.