Tricky Teams Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Setup
• Course of Play
  • LEAD (Anspiel)
  • CHALLENGE (Herausfordern)
  • JOIN (Anschließen)
  • DISTRIBUTING THE LOOT (Beute verteilen)
  • End of a Raid (Beutezug)
  • Quick reference (reference card)
• Card Abilities
  • The 0s (white flag) - only in games with three and with six players!
  • The 1s (Peasants)
  • The 2 (Thief)
  • The 3 (Cook)
  • The 4 (Hypnotist)
  • The 5 (Countess)
  • The 6 (Fool)
  • The 7 (Fog Witch)
  • The 8 (Drummer)
  • The 9 (Strategist)
  • The 10s (Brute)
• Special Cases
• End of the Game

Contents

48 cards: four different animal teams (field mice, finches, tree frogs and lizards) with numbers from 1 to 10, two 0 cards (white flags), six rules aids (reference cards).

Each card shows: team (colour), strength, ability, and number of silver coins.

Setup

Shuffle the cards and deal them face down, evenly among all players.

Don't be surprised: the 8s have no card back, so they are always visible to everyone.

Whoever has the red 8 in hand gets the first LEAD ("Anspiel"), drums briefly on the table, plays any card in front of them and thereby begins the raid ("Beutezug").

Playing with four or five players: remove the two 0 cards with the white flags and put them back in the box.

Set-up with four players: each player has a hand of cards and their own loot pile (Beutestapel), face down. Keep a score sheet with a row for each of the four raids (Beutezug 1 to 4) and a column for each player (e.g. Katrin, Tina, Maria).

Note: The red 8 drums for battle! Of course only if you have made loot. It is not unusual to go away empty-handed from a trick. Usually the second card in a trick will have to challenge!

Note: You may not talk about your hand cards, nor announce aloud which team you want to join, and you may not make any secret agreements. As soon as you have played your card, you may of course call on the others, without obligation, to join your team. "Be a frog!"

Note: If you are real pros, you can of course take all the card abilities into the game right away. Oh, hey, one more little thing if you play with three or six players: a white flag with a 0 can simply always be played, no matter which teams are out.

Note: Is your head already smoking? Then first play a training round using only the basic rules to internalise them. Ignore the texts on the cards for now.

Course of Play

Tricky Teams is a "trick-taking game" in which you form new alliances for every trick. Play clockwise, each playing one hand card face up in front of you; these cards are a trick. After each trick you collect your loot in your own face-down loot pile.

Below you learn the basic rules.

LEAD (Anspiel)

When you lead, you may play any card face up in front of you. Through the colour of the card you specify a team that takes part in this trick. Leave the card lying in front of you so that it is recognisable who played which card.

Now the others, clockwise, each play a card as well.

CHALLENGE (Herausfordern)

If it is your turn and so far only one team is out (e.g. only blue), you must challenge. That means you must play a card of another team (e.g. green).

If you cannot challenge because you only have the team already played (e.g. blue) in your hand, play any one of your cards.

Watch out: the obligation to challenge then passes clockwise to the next person.

Note: Usually the second card in a trick will have to challenge!

JOIN (Anschließen)

If it is your turn and two teams are already out, you must join one of the teams. That means you must play a card whose team is already out.

If you cannot join because you have none of the teams already played in your hand, you may play any other team. If someone is still to play after you, that person can now also join your team! So there can also be tricks with three or even four teams.

DISTRIBUTING THE LOOT (Beute verteilen)

As soon as everyone has played a card, the strength of the teams is calculated by adding up the strength of all cards of a team. The team with the highest value is the strongest team and wins the trick!

If two teams are equally strong, the team that reached this value first, i.e. earlier in the trick, wins.

The cards of the weaker teams become loot and are divided among the strongest team. In descending order of the strength of their played cards, the members of the strongest team choose their loot: they take one card and place it face down on their loot pile. If loot remains after the distribution, repeat the whole procedure.

Now everyone from the strongest team may also take their own played card as loot and place it face down on their own loot pile.

Whoever played the strongest card in the strongest team gets the lead and begins the next trick with any card.

End of a Raid (Beutezug)

After all cards have been played and the last trick has been evaluated, count the silver coins on the cards of your loot pile. Note down your silver coins.

If that was your fourth raid, the game ends. Otherwise shuffle all the cards and deal them out again. Whoever has the red 8 in hand gets the LEAD and begins the next raid.

Quick reference (reference card)

• 4 or 5 players: remove the 0s.
• Lead: whoever has the red 8 begins with any card.
• All following tricks: whoever had the strongest card in the strongest team.
• Challenge: only one team out? Play another team.
• Join: several teams out? Play a card of one of these teams.
• Tie in a trick? Whoever reached the strength first wins.
• Loot: the strongest team makes loot: each their own card plus, if applicable, cards from weaker teams. The strongest card chooses first, etc.
• Game ends after 4 raids.
• Symbols for abilities: immediate effect; effect at end of trick if in the strongest team; applies until the end of the raid.

Card Abilities

Most cards have an ability. These abilities always take precedence over the basic rules. If two card abilities contradict each other, the ability of the stronger card applies.

An ability symbol on the card shows when it applies:

1. The ability becomes active when the card is played.
2. The ability only becomes active if the card is in the strongest team.
3. The ability of the card applies for the rest of the raid.

The 0s (white flag) - only in games with three and with six players!

When you play a white flag, you stay out of this trick. You do not challenge, you do not join, and a white flag in the trick is not worth any silver coins. You may always play a white flag when it is your turn.

The 1s (Peasants)

The 1s can ally in a Peasants' Uprising against the (colour) teams. As soon as a 1 is out, whenever it is your turn you may always also play another 1.

1s can form their own team and are not added but lined up side by side, i.e. two 1s are 11 strong and three are already 111.

If the 1s are the strongest team, the LAST 1 played is the strongest, and the second-to-last the second strongest.

A Peasant team wins a tie!

Note: A 1 is in two teams at the same time: the team of its colour and the team of the 1s. It therefore has two chances to win.

The 2 (Thief)

A 2 (Thief) in the strongest team steals all cards of the weaker teams for her loot pile, which means the loot is not divided. The others from the strongest team therefore only get their own card for their loot pile.

Whoever played the successful Thief also gets the lead.

(Note: 2s in weaker teams have no effect!)

The 3 (Cook)

A 3 (Cook) in the strongest team is placed face up next to your loot pile after the trick. The strength of your other cards in this raid rises by one for each of your own Cooks lying out.

At the end of a raid, before counting, you place all 3s lying face up in front of you on your loot pile.

Note: This does not apply to 3s that you take as loot because they were in a weaker team. These simply go face down onto your loot pile!

The 4 (Hypnotist)

If you play a 4 (Hypnotist), you may wish for a team from someone who is after you in turn order in this trick. This team must be played by the named person, even if they would actually have to challenge or join.

If this person does not have the wished-for team, however, the basic rules apply.

Note: A 4 played later in the trick can override the wish of a 4 played earlier!

The 5 (Countess)

Each 5 (Countess) that you have in your loot pile at the end is worth two silver coins.

The 6 (Fool)

A 6 (Fool) you may ALWAYS play when it is your turn.

Note: We Fools can therefore also bring a new third or even fourth team into the trick!

The 7 (Fog Witch)

As soon as you have played a 7 (Fog Witch), everyone who plays after you in this trick must lay their card face down. A card played face down keeps its ability.

As long as no face-down card is out yet, you must challenge or join according to the normal rules.

As soon as a face-down card is out, you may play any card. Since you cannot know through the face-down card which teams are in the game, you may join any team!

Note: Something to counter a Fog Witch: my drums can be heard even in the fog.

The 8 (Drummer)

8s have only fronts (no card back). They are always visible to everyone.

The 9 (Strategist)

If you are in the strongest team with a 9 (Strategist), you may choose who gets the lead in the next trick.

The 10s (Brute)

The 10s have no special ability.

Note: It is often an advantage to play the last card in a trick. But for that I am really strong! As always. Or what did you think?

Special Cases

Read the special cases only when questions come up during play!

• 0 and 4: You may not play a white flag if you have the team in hand that the Hypnotist has wished for from you. (Basic principle: if card abilities contradict each other, the ability of the stronger card applies.)
• 1 and 3: The total strength of a Peasant team also rises by one for each Cook lying out of a team member. Example: if two Peasants play in the team and have a Cook lying out, their team strength is 11 + 1 = 12.
• 2: A 2 in the strongest team also gets the lead if there was only one team and therefore nothing to steal.
• 2 and 9: If a Thief and a Strategist are in the strongest team, the 9 decides who gets the lead. (Basic principle: if card abilities contradict each other, the ability of the stronger card applies.)
• 3: Through one or more Cooks it can happen that you have two equally strong cards in the strongest team. In this case the card played first in the trick may also choose a loot card first.
• 4 and 6: You may play a Fool of any team, even if the Hypnotist has wished something else from you. (Basic principle: if card abilities contradict each other, the ability of the stronger card applies.)
• 4 and 7: A Hypnotist played face down may also wish for a team from someone after him.
• 7: Whoever, after a 7, accidentally plays a card face up into the trick, that card loses colour and strength, which means its strength is no longer taken into account when determining the strongest team. It is set aside and becomes loot for the strongest team. The same applies if, when playing the first face-down card, someone played a team that they should not have been allowed to play according to the rules. Example: The first card played is a blue Fog Witch. The second person now plays a blue 5 face down although, holding another colour, they would have had to challenge! This card is therefore played wrongly and is not counted in the evaluation. It goes as loot to the strongest team.

End of the Game

After the fourth raid, add up your silver coins. Whoever has collected the most silver coins wins! If several people have the most silver coins, they share the victory.