Schnapp den Sack
Schnapp den Sack Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Materials
- 60 sack cards: 14 Bagpipe Sacks, 14 Tear Sacks, 14 Cheeky Sacks, 14 Wandering Sacks, and 4 Jokers.
- 6 target tiles with the values 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12.
- Zacki the Sack (a figure used as the grab token).
Setup
Zacki the Sack and the target tile "6" are placed in the middle of the table. Around them, one randomly drawn card of each of the four sack types is placed face up.
The remaining cards are shuffled and dealt face down, evenly, to the players. These cards form each player's personal draw pile. The oldest player starts, and play then continues clockwise.
Starting layout with four players (diagram): each player's draw pile is placed at a seat around the table, with Zacki the Sack and the target tile "6" in the centre. The example shows starting cards of Tear Sacks, Wandering Sacks, Bagpipe Sacks and Cheeky Sacks.
Gameplay
Over the course of the game the players turn over cards in turn. For each of the four sack types there is one play row. At the start of the game each row holds one card. Further cards are added to the matching rows (Bagpipe Sack to Bagpipe Sack, and so on). There may only be one play row for each sack type.
The target tile shows how many sacks each row should reach. In the basic game this number is 6.
Turning over a card
The starting player turns over the top card of their personal draw pile and places it face up in front of them, where everyone can see it. The card must be turned so that it faces away from the player, and it should be flipped as quickly as possible so that all players see its front at the same time.
Quick look
Now everyone is involved! Could the number of sacks shown on the target tile be reached exactly in the matching row, by placing the turned card there or on top of a card in that row? At this point the card is not yet placed; first everyone only looks!
- Yes: by placing or laying the card on top, the row holds exactly 6 sacks. In this case every player must quickly try to grab Zacki!
- No: the sought number cannot be formed. The player who turned the card places it in the matching row. If the row already holds more than 6 sacks, the card is not placed in the row; instead it is laid on the card in that row that shows the most sacks.
Example 1: Helena turns over a Bagpipe Sack card "2". The number 6 cannot be formed, so Zacki may not be grabbed. The play row holds fewer than 6 sacks, so the turned card is placed in the row.
Example 2: Johanna turns over a Tear Sack card "3". Zacki must be grabbed quickly, because if one of the Tear Sack "1" cards is laid on top to cover, exactly 6 Tear Sacks are showing. Whoever grabs Zacki receives all four Tear Sack cards.
Example 3: Smilla turns over a Cheeky Sack card "2". The number 6 cannot be formed, so Zacki may not be grabbed. The play row already holds more than 6 sacks, so the "2" must be laid on the "5".
The Joker
With a Joker, the players may try to reach the required number of sacks in any row. If the sought number cannot be formed, the player who turned over the Joker may place it in any row, following the rules above. The Joker always counts as one sack.
Zacki is grabbed!
Whoever grabbed Zacki must show how the 6 can be formed. If they manage to do so, they take all cards of the corresponding row and place them face up in front of them as their scoring pile.
The play row stays empty until the next card of that sack type is turned over. This may also be a Joker.
Grabbed wrongly!
If a player grabs Zacki but cannot show a correct solution, they must put one card from their scoring pile back under their draw pile. If they have not yet won any card, they give up nothing.
Ending the Game
The game ends when the draw piles of all players have run out. The player with the most cards in their scoring pile wins.
Each card is worth one point, regardless of the sacks shown on it. If several players have the most cards, all of the tied players win.
Note: if near the end some players no longer have cards to turn over, play continues around the table until every player has played their last card.
Variants
The variants make the game more demanding.
Variant 1: At the start of the game the players choose a target tile other than "6", for example "8". The target tile of the chosen value is placed in the middle of the table and applies to all play rows as usual.
Variant 2: At the start of the game the players choose two target tiles, for example "6" and "12". If either of the two values is reached in one of the play rows, Zacki must be grabbed.
Variant 3: For each of the four play rows a separate target tile is chosen, for example "7" for Tear Sacks, "8" for Bagpipe Sacks, "9" for Wandering Sacks and "12" for Cheeky Sacks.