Stier zoekt Bier
Stier zoekt Bier Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Game Idea
Stier zoekt Bier (Bull needs Beer) is a tactical card game for 3-5 players. The players are landlords who wish to have a full pub of bulls. By serving these bulls their favourite beer, they collect points. First the beer must be stored in the beer cellar. When ordering beer, the landlord must determine how much beer he will draught and of which sort. The landlord who manages to draught the most of one type of beer, has the best pub and all the bulls will want to be there. Beer is stored in the cellar, but once the beer is draughted, you will need to serve it to the bulls in your pub in that game round, otherwise the beer will go flat and is poured down the drain.
Purpose of the Game
Collect the most points at the end of the game. The game consists of seven playing rounds plus a bonus round in which you may take beer from your cellar to serve your bulls. This is the end of the game.
Game Cards
1 beer boss, 5 overview cards, 24 bull cards, 80 beer cards.
The beer boss
The oldest player is given the card with the jovial beer boss. This player must be the first to draught a beer during the first round. From the second round onwards the beer boss will be given to the player who has draughted the most beers in a game round. That is the player who draughted the largest quantity of one type of beer.
The overview cards
Each player is given a card with the game overview and game play.
The bull cards
The players need bulls to fill up their pub. Once the landlords have bulls in their pubs, they will be able to score points by serving the bulls their favourite beer. There are four types of bulls. Lenny Lager (Pietje Pils) only drinks lager. Wally White (Bennie Blond) loves white beer. Derek Dark (Bruno de Bruyne) only drinks dark beer and the fourth bull, Andy Ale (Ozzy Oerstier) only drinks Ale. The players may only serve these bulls their favourite beer. On the bull card you can see how much beer the bull needs in order for the player to earn a point.
If you can serve Lenny Lager 10 lager beers or more, you will receive 2 points. It is not about the number of cards with beer placed on the table, you need to look at the numbers on the beer cards: this reflects the number of glasses of beer. If you have served Lenny 19 lagers, you will receive a total of 4 points. You are no longer allowed to give Lenny a lager card. You don't want him drunk, do you?
By serving Andy Ale (Ozzy Oerstier), the landlord receives 3 points. The landlord can even earn 5 points if Andy is served 12 Ales.
Serving Ale accumulates points faster than lager. Bull needs Beer is not an elitist game, but there is a difference in rank between the beers. Ale will generate points faster than dark beer. Dark beer will generate points faster than white beer and white beer will result in points with less glasses of beer than lager. Bulls drinking heavier beer will be filled sooner. Andy Ale is, on average, the first to be satisfied.
Tip of the Game Master: Bull needs Beer has a total of 24 bull cards that generate different beer points. Keep this in mind when setting up your beer stock level.
The beer cards
There are 80 beer cards in the box. Four types of beer: lager, white beer, dark beer and ale. On each card you will see on the left and right top hand corner which beer it is. The number beneath it shows how many beers the card represents. The highest number is 5 and the lowest number is 1. When draughting and serving beer this number is important. If you draught the same number of beer as another landlord, then the rank applies: ale is worth most, then dark beer, white beer and finally lager, when both landlords drafted the same amount of beer.
Lager is most widely available and Ale is the least widely available. Heavier beers are more valuable in phase 3 draughting beer and they provide the landowner with points faster (with less glasses) than lighter beer.
Tip of the Game Master: Andy and his ale can be very popular amongst the landlords because of his relatively high value, but it could be a shrewd move to choose a different beer as you will have less competition.
Preparations
- Give the beer boss card to the oldest player; give each player an overview card;
- Set two stacks of cards: one with beer cards and the other with bull cards;
- Make sure the cards are well shuffled; when playing with 3-4 players, 14 of the 24 bull cards are used; when playing with 5 players 21 of the 24 bull cards are used; place the bull cards that are not used in the box.
How to Play the Game
In each round the following six game phases are played in a fixed order:
1. Drawing bulls
Draw bull cards from the stack and place these face up in the middle of the table. When playing with 3-4 players you draw two bulls and when playing with 5 players, you draw three bulls.
Example: with four players, two bulls are drawn: Lenny Lager and Andy Ale, in the second game round.
2. Buying beer
Deal six beer cards to each player, each player chooses two cards and places these, face down, before him on the table. This is the start of his beer stock. He passes the remaining four cards on to the person sitting on his left. After which the player selects another two cards from the four cards he received from the person sitting on his right. He places the cards face down on the table on top of the beer cards that are already there. Each player places the remaining two beer cards on the stack. You are not allowed to change the order of your beer stock! Place the cards in such a way on top of each other that you can clearly see the number of beer cards you have in stock. You can keep up to five beer cards face down in stock. This part of your beer stock is called the beer cellar. You are allowed to add more beer cards to your stock, however these need to be placed face up on the table. Again in the order in which you have chosen them. If there are no more beer cards in a playing round, shuffle the beer cards in the stack and create a new deck of beer cards, which you will use to serve beer cards to the players.
Example: Anton has a beer cellar with 5 beer cards, Bas' beer cellar is full and must place the sixth and seventh card of his beer stock face up. Charlotte has a beer stock of 6 cards, the top one of which is facing up. Dirk has 4 beer cards in his beer cellar.
3. Draughting beer
The beer boss is the first to decide how much beer he is willing to draught to attract bulls to his pub. He only gets one chance to decide how much beer he wishes to draught. In order to draught beer, he turns beer cards from his stock face up on the table. He does this from the top down, the cards he has placed the last (in phase 2 - buying beer) will be the first to be shown. He is allowed to check the next (top) beer card from his beer stock, which is facing down, to determine whether he wants to draught more. You are allowed to draught more types of beer in one round. But please note that the player who draughted the largest quantity of one type of beer has won. You are not allowed to mix any beer! You may also pass a round, you will not take beer from your cellar to draught it. Once the beer boss has played, the player on his left is allowed to draught beer. The other players take turns in a clockwise fashion. You are not allowed to change your bid once it is made. Draughted is draughted! You are allowed to serve less than the player before you or an equal amount. It is possible for a player to draught beer even before the beer stock facing down is used. That is beer that you needed to draught because your beer cellar was already full up.
Example: In the first playing round, Dirk won as he draughted the most beer. He is the beer boss in the second playing round and is the first to determine whether he wishes to draught beer and how much. Dirk opens with five white beers by opening his top beer card from his cellar. Anton looks at his top card and decides to pass. Bas draws a lager card from his cellar and now has an offer of 9 lager (he already had 6 lager as his beer cellar was full and he needed to place his beer in the open = draught). Bas now knows that he will in any event get one of the two bulls. Charlotte has her eye on an ale bull. She has been saving quite a lot of ale in her cellar and must gain 5 dark beer to become second. She knows that by doing this, she will have more points than Dirk, because 5 dark beers is more worth than 5 white beers. She hopes that Bas will take the lager bull, so she will not have to pour all her beer down the drain.
4. Choosing bulls
The player who has served the greatest quantity of one type of beer, is allowed to invite one of the bulls from the middle of the table to his pub. Please note: the highest number is important, not the number of cards, but the value on the cards counts. He places the bull, face up, in front of him on the table. The player who, after this, served the most beers can take the next bull. When playing with five players, a third bull can also be drawn. If two or more players served the same number of beers, then the ranking is followed: Ale > Dark beer > White beer > Lager. Ale is worth the most when the number of beers are the same. If the number is still the same, then the player who is the beer boss or is closest to the beer boss, clockwise, is given precedence over the other players.
Example: Bas takes Lenny Lager (Pietje Pils) because he does not want to get rid of his lager. As a result Charlotte gets the ale bull. But it is also possible that Bas has collected a lot of ale in his cellar and therefore chooses Andy Ale (Ozzy Oerstier). In that case Charlotte will need to poor all her served beers down the drain.
5. Serving Beer
The players may now serve their freshly draughted beers to their regulars - the bulls at the bar of their pub. Beware that Lenny Lager only drinks Lager, Wally White is slightly silly, but not stupid and therefore only drinks white beer. Derek Dark only likes the dark stuff and Andy only has fun with Ale. NOTE: you can only place one card per bull in any round. You don't want your bulls to be drunk now, do you? All the draughted beer - beer cards that are facing up - that players could not serve to one of their bulls in this round, because they reached their maximum or because they draughted beer their bulls don't like, must be put away. After serving a freshly draughted beer, the players may also use their secret beer stock (the beer cards that are facing down). You are allowed to look at the next (top) card from your stack. The rule still applies that you can only place one card for each bull per game round. When you use beer from your secret beer stock from the cellar you are allowed to serve or dispose of your top card until you are finished removing beer from your stock.
Important: you are only allowed to place one beer card OR one bull card with one of your bulls. See also Bull on Bull.
Example: Bas must serve one of his freshly draughted beers, lagers, or pour it down the drain. He places his highest lager card with Lenny, which means that Bas has earned his first point. Bas will need to place the other two lager cards on the stack. Charlotte can offer her ale to Andy Ale, but she needs to dispose of the two dark beer cards, the cards she used to attract the bull. Charlotte has not earned any points at the end of round two. In the first playing round Dirk chose Wally White and Anton was given Derek Dark. Anton places the top of cellar cards face up. It is dark beer that he places with his Derek. Dirk places his freshly draughted white beer with Wally White who he attracted in the first round. Neither of them needs to dispose of any beer.
6. Changing Beer boss?
The player who draughted the largest quantity of one type of beer in game phase 3 is given the beer boss card. Then the next round is played, which begins by drawing bulls (game phase 1). It is possible for the beer boss card to remain with the same player.
Example: Bas is given the beer boss card and will be the first to see froth on his beer.
Bull on Bull Doubling of Points
What is more enjoyable than having a drink together? If you have two bulls of the same type, then you can invite a new customer to your bar by adding another bull next to the other bulls at the ball. You can then fill up this bull with beer. An alternative is to allow him to join a fellow bull by placing the new bull beneath the bull that was already at the bar. The value of what these two bulls drink is doubled in points. Up to two bulls can share their beers with each other. Whether these bulls drink together or separately is decided by the player the moment the second bull enters his pub. If the bulls drink together, the new bull always placed behind the card of the bull that was already at the bar. The points of the bull that is placed on top are doubled.
Important: you are only allowed to place one card per bull per round: a beer card OR a bull card. If you want to double points by placing two bulls on top of each other, then you cannot serve a beer card to these bulls in that same round.
Endgame and Bonus Round
After the 7th round has been played, the Beer Boss announces the last round. Players may serve beer from their cellar to their regulars. The same rule applies in the bonus round: a bull can only be given one card. After which the game has ended.
Points and Winner
The players receive points for the number of beers they collected per bull, as stated on the bull card. Don't forget to calculate double points for two bulls that are placed on top of each other. The player who earned the most points wins. If two or more players have the same number of points, then the player who has the highest number of beer cards wins. If this does not result in a winner, then the player who has given the most beer to his bulls has won.
Grand Café Version
Bulls Needs Beer can be turned into an even more tactical game. You play Bull Needs Beer with the standard rules, but now you are only allowed to draught one type of beer per round! You play the basic game with the following changes:
- Phase 2 Buying beer: the players are given a set of six beer cards, they can now add 0, 1 or 2 beer cards to their beer stock; they pass the remaining cards to the player on their left; after which they are allowed to add another 0, 1 or 2 beer cards to their stock;
- Phase 3 Draughting beer: the players can made a bid with draughted beer cards from their beer stock, possibly with beer cards from their cellar (face down). However you can only draught one type of beer;
- Phase 5 Serving beer: The freshly draughted beer can now be given to the bulls, whereby the rule still applies that a bull may only be given one card. You are allowed to take beer from your beer cellar, but this beer must immediately be drunk by one of your bulls; if not, you can only dispose of the top beer card from your cellar; after which your turn is over.