Schnappt Hubi! Rulebook

Table of Contents

Goal of the Game
Components
Information on Using the Electronic Game Device
- User Notes
- Safety Notes
Before the First Game
- 1. Game Board
- 2. Compass
Before You Begin
The Game Begins!
End of the Game
Additional Rules and Frequently Asked Questions
- How do the three difficulty levels differ from one another?
Quick Reference Guide
- Operating Aids
Credits and Imprint

Goal of the Game

Your shared goal is to catch Hubi. To do this, two playing pieces must move into Hubi's room. The game consists of two parts: in the first part you must explore the haunted house and search for the magic door. Opening the door wakes Hubi. Then the second part begins, in which you catch Hubi together.

Components

4 outer walls with windows
3D game board of the haunted house
Double-sided adhesive strips
Game board with 16 rooms
Magic compass: slide switch (on the underside), 4 player buttons with small lamps, 5 action buttons
4 playing pieces: 2 mice and 2 rabbits
4 matching player tiles
27 different haunted-house walls: 3 walls with magic doors, 2 walls (solid), 4 walls with a mouse hole, 4 walls with a rabbit window, 14 walls with a free passage
14 chips

Information on Using the Electronic Game Device

Inserting the batteries must be done by an adult. The battery compartment is on the underside of the game device. Make sure the switch on the underside is set to "0". Then open the battery compartment with a cross-head screwdriver. Insert three batteries of type AAA/LR3 1.5 volt so that the plus and minus poles match the markings in the compartment. Screw the battery compartment cover back on.

User Notes

If no button is pressed for longer than three minutes, the electronic game device switches into sleep mode to save power. Even in this mode, the batteries can drain over time. To keep playing afterward, press any button.
Switch the electronic game device off on the underside after playing.
The device must not be taken apart.
Do not expose the device to direct sunlight or any other heat source.
Please make sure no liquids get into the device.
To clean, wipe the surface with a dry or lightly damp cloth.
Do not use chemical solvents.

Safety Notes

Non-rechargeable batteries must never be recharged!
Rechargeable batteries may only be charged under adult supervision!
Rechargeable batteries must be removed from the toy before being charged!
Different battery types, or new and used batteries, must not be used together!
Insert batteries correctly according to the polarity marks "+" and "–"!
If the batteries are drained, or if the toy is not used for a longer period, the batteries must be removed!
The connection terminals must not be short-circuited!
We recommend using alkaline batteries.
Only use batteries of the specified type or an equivalent type.
Always replace all batteries at the same time, never individual ones.

Products marked with this symbol should be disposed of as follows: do not throw the electrical components of the game into household waste; instead, take them to a collection point for waste electrical equipment. Ask your local municipality about the return or collection options provided by the local waste disposal authorities for old devices.

Please note: please keep the instructions!

Before the First Game

Ask an adult to help you with setup: carefully punch the game material out of the die-cut sheets.

1. Game Board

Attach the four outer walls of the haunted house (1) to the inside of the four sides of the 3D game board (2). To do this, stick three adhesive strips (3) each onto the back of the outer walls and press them firmly onto the sides.

Each wall belongs on a particular side. The markings underneath the window show you which outer wall goes where.

Stick an adhesive strip into each corner of the game board (4) and place it in the haunted house. The rounded corner marks how the board must be inserted. When everything is inserted correctly, four coloured corner rooms are formed: the green room at the top left, the red room at the top right, the yellow room at the bottom right, and the blue room at the bottom left.

Caution: if the four walls and the game board are inserted differently than shown here, the game cannot be played!

2. Compass

Ask an adult to insert three AAA/LR3 1.5 V batteries into the compass (5). A cross-head screwdriver is needed to open the battery compartment on the underside of the compass. Please also note the instructions on page 7 of this rulebook (see "Information on Using the Electronic Game Device" above).

The compass guides you through the game. You use the buttons to enter what you want to do. The small lamps show which player's turn it is.

Important note for parents: children need your help with this game! Before play begins, please explain to the children the four possible directions of movement and how the direction buttons work. Practise a few moves with the children without switching the compass on: place a playing piece in the haunted house and let it move from room to room. Point out the landscape that is visible in the direction of movement, both in the windows and as a symbol on the direction buttons.

The player buttons: You use these buttons to register. You can also use these buttons at any time to ask for the current position of all playing pieces.

The action buttons:

You use the direction buttons to indicate the direction you want to move in the house. You are told which wall you have found and whether you can pass through it. The symbols on the arrows correspond to the landscapes you see in the windows of the outer walls and on the box: direction sea, direction village, direction forest, direction mountains.
Using the help button, the haunted-house residents give you tips on the location of a magic door, or on Hubi's whereabouts. This button also repeats the last announcement if you press it for more than two seconds.

Before You Begin

Choose a playing piece (6) and the matching player tile (7) and place both in front of you. Caution: at least one mouse and one rabbit must take part.
Sort the walls (8) and place them next to the game board.
Place the chips (9) key-side up next to the game board.
Switch on the compass (5) on its underside. You can choose between three difficulty levels: 1 · 2 · 3.
- 0 · device is switched off
- 1 · easy game
- 2 · medium game
- 3 · difficult game
Place the switched-on compass into the 3D game board (2).

The Game Begins!

(The quick reference guide is on the last page.)

1. Registering

As soon as the compass is switched on, the game starts at the chosen difficulty level. For new players we recommend the easy game.

Note: in the easy game, a single magic door must be found before Hubi wakes up and can be chased. In addition, the animal residents are very helpful and time is not pressing.

Who is playing? First you will be asked to tell the compass who is playing. Press the player buttons of the pieces taking part and place them in the correspondingly coloured corner rooms.

If you are fewer than four players, end registration with the help button.

Who goes first? Now choose a starting player. This player may press their player button once more.

2. Choosing and Performing an Action

A red lamp shows at the start of a turn which player's turn it is. That player is asked by the centipede, owl, bat, or toad what they want to do. There are two options: press a direction button, or stay in place and press the help button.

A · Press a direction button Press a direction button and find out which wall you find and whether you can pass through it …

Note: you can cut short the resident's greeting by pressing an action button immediately after your player button lights up.

Turn rules You may:

only move into an adjoining room.
not move diagonally.
not move toward an outer wall. Should this happen by accident, the player may move again.

Example: the red mouse is on the move, its lamp is blinking. It is standing next to the black owl and wants to move toward the mountains. The owl greets the mouse: "Whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo! Hello, red mouse. Where would you like to move?" The player chooses the direction button with the mountains. The owl says: "Free passage. You may go through."

The Walls You can find five different walls, but you cannot pass through all of them:

Free passage: anyone may go through here.
Wall with a mouse hole: only the mouse can go through here, but unfortunately not the rabbit.
Wall with a rabbit window: only the rabbit can go through here, but not the mouse.
Solid wall: unfortunately no animal can go through here.
Wall with a magic door: as long as the door is locked, no animal can go through. As soon as it has opened, all animals may go through.

Once you have learned which wall the player has found, that player inserts the matching wall into the slot in the game board. If it is a wall the player can pass through, they move into the new room. If they cannot pass through, they remain in their room. Then it is the next player's turn.

Example: the red mouse has learned that it found a "free passage" and that it can go through. It inserts a "free passage" into the slot next to its room in the direction of the mountains and goes through.

B · Press the help button and stay in place Press the help button and the animal gives you a tip. In this case the playing piece does not move.

In the first part, while Hubi has not yet appeared, you can get a hint about where a magic door is located, e.g. "You will find a magic door between a white owl and a black toad." Now the chips come into play: place two chips, key-side up, at the two possible positions.
In the second part, during the hunt for Hubi, you can get hints about which room Hubi is in. To mark this, place the chips, Hubi-side up, in the named rooms.
If you want an even more difficult game, you can leave the chips out.

Note: each animal gives you only a single tip in the whole game. If you ask it more than once during the game, it will not give you a new tip. Try to remember which animal you have already asked.

3. Opening the Magic Door

A magic door does not open the moment it is found. To open it, you must help each other. A playing piece must stand on each side of the door. As soon as one of these two players moves toward the magic door, it will open. That player may go through. The creak of the door will wake Hubi, so that you can chase him. Now the second part of the game begins: the chase for Hubi.

4. Chasing and Catching Hubi

Try to get to the room Hubi is currently in as quickly as possible. Listen carefully to the tips from the haunted-house residents. They tell you which room Hubi is currently in.

Hubi moves Naturally Hubi will not stay in the same room, but will change rooms when he notices you are getting close. Whenever Hubi moves, he says: "Boo! I'm Hubi, the ghost! I wander through my house. You'll never find me!"

Hubi's movement rules He may:

only move into an adjoining room.
also move diagonally, in addition.
move through any wall whatsoever.
never move into a room in which a playing piece is standing.
never move through an outer wall.

Note: in the medium and difficult games you must have caught Hubi before it becomes midnight. If the witching hour begins at midnight, Hubi escapes you for this game, and you can only catch him again in a new game.

Catching Hubi Hubi cannot hide when a playing piece moves into his room. He then howls and reveals himself: "Huuh! What are you doing in my room?!" As long as only one playing piece is with Hubi, you have not yet won the game. Hubi can still get away again. Try to move a second piece into that room as quickly as possible.

End of the Game

As soon as two players are in the same room as Hubi, you have won the game together.

Additional Rules and Frequently Asked Questions

How do the three difficulty levels differ from one another?

	Magic doors	Time pressure	Residents	Hubi
Level 1	1 magic door	no time pressure	Residents are very helpful and give precise tips.	Hubi moves slowly.
Level 2	2 magic doors	light time pressure	Residents are less helpful and give less precise tips.	Hubi moves faster.
Level 3	3 magic doors	noticeable time pressure	Residents help only rarely and mostly give imprecise tips.	Hubi moves very swiftly.

I didn't understand an announcement correctly. How can I listen to it again? Press the help button for more than two seconds, as soon as the animal's greeting has finished. You will hear a harp sound and all announcements from the previous turn will be repeated. The blinking lamp shows you whose turn it is afterward.

I don't want to listen to the introduction before every game. What can I do? You can cancel the introduction using the help button. If you press it while listening to the introduction, it stops and you can register immediately.

Why do I sometimes no longer get a tip from the resident I ask? Each animal only has a single tip for you. If you have already asked it during the game, it cannot give you another tip. Try asking a different animal that you have not yet asked.

Why do I sometimes get tips without the animal's colour being named? The higher the difficulty level you chose, the less information you get. At best you hear a precise tip. Then you learn the animal and its colour (black bat, white toad, etc.). If you get an imprecise tip, you only learn the animal (bat, toad, etc.). If you find a magic door between a black bat and a white toad, two locations are possible. If you get the tip that the magic door is between a bat and a toad, as many as four locations are possible. If one of the named locations already has a wall in it, the magic door naturally cannot be there.

I'm not sure whether I moved my piece correctly. What can I do? The compass stores the location of all playing pieces at every point in the game. Simply press your player button and find out which room you must be standing in. If your piece is accidentally in a different room, you must now place it in the named room. You can repeat the position check with all playing pieces as often as you like.

I'm not sure whether I inserted the correct wall. If you have only just found the wall, you can simply repeat the announcement. To do this, press the help button for more than two seconds. If you are unsure about a wall that has been in place for a while, simply explore the passage again. You will hear which wall is there.

Can Hubi flee from a room I have just entered? When a playing piece enters the room Hubi is in, Hubi cannot flee at that moment. Instead, he will howl and reveal himself. As long as only one playing piece is with Hubi, however, he can still get away again after a certain time. So try to bring the second playing piece to Hubi as quickly as possible.

Why do I always get the same tip on levels 2 and 3 when I ask about the location of a magic door? Only once you have followed the tip and found a magic door do you get a tip for the next magic door.

Quick Reference Guide

Switching on → Choose level 1, 2, or 3. → 1. Register: press the player buttons and determine the starting player.

Turn → The player whose turn it is blinks. → Choose an action button:

2a. Choose a direction — explore the walls, or
2b. Stay in place and ask an animal for a tip — Where is the magic door? Where is Hubi? → Perform the action:
For 2a: press a direction button → find a wall → insert the wall → depending on the wall, go through or stay in place.
For 2b: tip on a magic door? Mark the passages. Tip on the room with Hubi? Mark the rooms.

Game goal:

Magic door → 3. Find and open the magic door: one piece on each side of the door.
Hubi → 4. Chase and catch Hubi: two pieces standing in Hubi's room.

Operating Aids

Repeat: press the help button for more than two seconds. Ask for position: press the player button.

Credits and Imprint

Steffen Bogen thanks Jutta, Konrad, and Laurenz, as well as all the playtesters, especially the game-loving children at the Kreuzkindergarten in Konstanz.