The Big Bang Theory: Das geniale Spiel Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Game Flow
  • Phase 1: New "Haben will" Cards
  • Phase 2: Activate Paradox Tiles
  • Phase 3: Play Cards
  • Phase 4: Evaluation
  • Phase 5: Draw 2 Cards
• End of the Game
• Variants
  • More Tactical?
  • More Chaotic?

Components

• 4 sets of 15 playing cards (one set of 15 cards for each player; the sets are told apart by their card backs)
• 18 "Haben will" cards (6 each in green, blue and red)
• 10 Paradox tiles
• 1 Starting Player tile

Setup

• Each player receives a set of 15 playing cards and shuffles it. Each player places their cards as a face-down draw pile in front of them and draws the top 5 cards into their hand. With fewer than 4 players, the remaining playing cards are returned to the box.
• Each player receives randomly drawn Paradox tiles, which they place face down in front of them and keep secret from the other players.
  • With 2 players, each player receives 4 Paradox tiles.
  • With 3 players, each player receives 3 Paradox tiles.
  • With 4 players, each player receives 2 Paradox tiles.
  • The remaining Paradox tiles are returned to the box without looking at them.
• Only your own Paradox tiles may be looked at at any time.
• Sort the 18 "Haben will" cards by the three colours green, blue and red. Shuffle each colour separately. Place the three stacks face down in the middle of the table.
• The player who can sing the "Katzentanzlied" (Cat Dance Song) most beautifully becomes the starting player (video recordings please to [email protected]). Alternatively, you can determine the starting player at random. The starting player receives the Starting Player tile.

Game Flow

The game lasts 6 rounds. Each round is divided into 5 phases, which take place in a fixed order.

These are the 5 phases:

1. New "Haben will" cards
2. Activate Paradox tiles
3. Play cards
4. Evaluation
5. Draw 2 cards

Phase 1: New "Haben will" Cards

The "Haben will" cards come in three colours: green, blue and red, with victory point values between 2 and 4. In this phase, exactly 1 card of each colour is turned face up from the respective stack. These three cards are placed in the middle of the table. The cards are contested in this round.

Example 1:

These are the three "Haben will" cards that were turned face up.

Phase 2: Activate Paradox Tiles

Beginning with the starting player, each player decides whether they want to activate one of their Paradox tiles for this round. If so, they place the Paradox tile face down in the middle of the table.

The Paradox tiles bring a little chaos and surprise into the game, as they bend and change the rules. Only the player who activated a Paradox tile knows which Paradox rule has thereby come into effect for this round. The other players will learn it only later, after the cards have been played. Perhaps they will find the rule great... more likely, the rule will throw their plans into a bit of disarray.

There are various Paradox tiles:

• "Colour swap: Blue = Red, Red = Blue": All blue values count for red and vice versa.
• "Colour swap: Blue = Green, Green = Blue": All blue values count for green and vice versa.
• "Colour swap: Red = Green, Green = Red": All red values count for green and vice versa.
• "Sheldon + Amy = +2 +2": All players who have played at least one Sheldon and one Amy receive a bonus of +2 in green and +2 in red.
• "Leonard + Penny = +2 +2": All players who have played at least one Leonard and one Penny receive a bonus of +2 in blue and +2 in red.
• "Howard + Bernadette = +2 +2": All players who have played at least one Howard and one Bernadette receive a bonus of +2 in blue and +2 in red.
• "Howard + Raj = +3": All players who have played at least one Howard and one Raj receive a bonus of +3 in red.
• "Sheldon! = +3": All players who have played at least one Sheldon and no other people receive a bonus of +3 in green.
• "Raj + no women = +3": All players who have played at least one Raj and no woman receive a bonus of +3 in blue.
• "7 = 3.5": All played cards with value 7 count only as value 3.5.

Example 2:

There are 4 players: Arnd, Bärbel, Caro and Dirk. Arnd is the starting player. He decides not to activate any of his Paradox tiles. Bärbel activates one of her Paradox tiles and places it face down in the middle of the table. Only she knows which tile she has activated. Both Caro and Dirk decide not to activate any of their Paradox tiles.

Important:

Since every player may activate a Paradox tile, several Paradox rules can apply in the same round. However, several activated "colour swappers" cancel each other out!

Phase 3: Play Cards

In this phase, you play one single card from your hand at a time, one after another, or you drop out. The starting player begins.

Each card shows two pieces of information: the colour for which it counts and the value for that colour.

Most cards can be played for two different colours with different values. When you play a card, you must decide for which colour you are playing it. Let the chosen colour face up toward the middle of the table.

Decide:

• Play exactly 1 card face up in front of you.
• Or drop out for this round and place your remaining hand cards face down in front of you. Then you may not play any further card in this round. The other players continue to take turns until all players have dropped out. There is therefore no limit on how often each player can come up for a turn: the "Play cards" phase lasts until all players have dropped out.

Each player may, little by little, play cards of any number of colours, but always only exactly 1 card at a time when it is their turn. The starting player may not drop out when they come up for the first time; they must therefore play at least 1 card. All other players may drop out already when they come up for the first time.

Example 3a:

Arnd is the starting player and plays a red 5 in front of him.

Then Bärbel comes up and plays a blue 3 in front of her.

Then Caro comes up. She plays no card, but drops out of the round immediately.

Then Dirk comes up and plays a blue 3 in front of him.

Afterwards it is Arnd's turn again, and he plays a blue 7 in front of him.

Gradually more and more cards are played in this way, until all players have dropped out.

At the end of Phase 3 "Play cards" (all players have dropped out) the situation looks as follows:

• Arnd has gradually played these cards (shown in the manual's illustration). Bärbel has gradually played these cards (shown in the manual's illustration).
• Caro has played no cards. Dirk has gradually played these cards (shown in the manual's illustration).

Phase 4: Evaluation

If Paradox tiles were activated in Phase 2, it is now time to reveal them.

In each of the three colours it is determined which player has reached the highest total. Each player adds up their card values of this colour and takes into account the effects of any activated Paradox tiles.

The player with the highest total receives the corresponding "Haben will" card of this colour and places it face down in front of them on a separate pile. This player must then return all of their played cards of this colour to the box. All other players may take back into their hand their played cards of this colour.

In case of a tie, nobody receives the "Haben will" card of this colour, and all players may take back into their hand their played cards of this colour.

Each colour is evaluated in this way.

All "Haben will" cards for which there was a tie, or for which nobody played a card, are returned to the box. The activated Paradox tiles are also returned to the box.

Example 3b:

In Example 3a, the players played the cards shown on page 6. Now the Paradox tile that Bärbel had activated is revealed. It is the tile "Raj + no women = +3".

The table below shows which player played how many points in which colour.

Player	Blue	Red	Green
Arnd	7	5 + 2 + 3 = 10	–
Bärbel	3 + 2 + 3 (bonus) = 8	–	5
Caro	–	–	–
Dirk	3	5	4

Bärbel is the only player to receive a bonus of +3 in blue, because she played at least one Raj and no women.

So Arnd wins the red "Haben will" card. He must return his played red cards to the box. He may take back into his hand the blue cards he played.

Bärbel wins the blue "Haben will" card and the green "Haben will" card. She must return her played blue and green cards to the box. Caro and Dirk come away empty-handed. Dirk may take back his played cards into his hand.

Phase 5: Draw 2 Cards

Each player now draws 2 cards from their draw pile. Regardless of how many cards you played in this round and how many cards you had to return to the box, you always draw exactly 2 cards. Then the next player clockwise receives the Starting Player tile.

End of the Game

The game ends after 6 rounds, when the "Haben will" card stacks are empty. Now each player adds up the victory points on their won "Haben will" cards. The player with the most points wins.

In case of a tie, the player with more cards left in hand wins. If there is still a tie, the player who knows whether Schrödinger's cat is alive or dead wins. Otherwise, the players involved in the tie share the placement.

Variants

More Tactical?

If you prefer a more tactical game with less luck, you can change the rules as follows:

1. Activate the Paradox tiles openly in Phase 2 right away.
2. Or leave the Paradox tiles out altogether and play without them.

More Chaotic?

If you want even more chaos, you can change the rules as follows:

At the start of the game, you receive no Paradox tiles. Instead, the Paradox tiles are shuffled and laid out as a face-down stack. In Phase 2, the top Paradox tile from the stack is placed face down in the middle of the table. So nobody knows which additional rule has been activated. It is only revealed in Phase 4.

In rounds 2, 4 and 6 you may additionally take and activate a second Paradox tile from the stack. Then it gets even more chaotic.