Turmbau zu Babel
Turmbau zu Babel Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the Game
Together the players try to build the highest possible tower. Every completed floor scores points.
Preparation
The Wall Cards
The cards that are scored in the middle must be carefully folded along the scored line and used to build the walls.
The Ceiling Cards
The cards that are not prepared for folding must not be folded. They are used to build the ceilings between the individual floors.
The two different kinds of cards are placed face up on the table as two stacks, so that they are within easy reach of all players. One card stack holds all the wall cards; the other holds all the ceiling cards.
Each player gets a sheet of paper and a pencil to record the points.
Game Rules
To keep the scoring fair, the game is always played for as many rounds as there are players. With two players, two rounds are played; with three players, three rounds; and so on.
A round of play ends when there are no cards left to continue building, that is, after 13 floors have been built, or when the tower collapses, which can also happen if a player did not build carefully.
It is important that each new round is started by a different player. The youngest player begins. Play then continues clockwise.
Whenever it is your turn, first take two wall cards, carefully fold them at the prepared place, and stand them up as the walls of the first floor on the ceiling card stack.
Then carefully draw any one ceiling card from the stack and lay it as the ceiling on the walls you have just set up. The walls must not fall over during this! This completes a floor, and the next player takes a turn.
Note that only one ceiling card may be drawn at a time. Surplus ceiling cards must be carefully pushed back into the card stack.
Scoring
When a player has completed a floor, he records as many points as there are completed floors at that moment. So in a round, the player who built the first floor scores 1 point. The player who built the second floor is credited with 2 points, and so on.
If someone manages to build the 13th floor as well, he receives 13 points and 5 special points for exceptional dexterity.
Be careful, however: points are only scored if a floor was built successfully. If one or more floors collapse for a player, that player of course scores no points for them.
Rounds
Once the tower is finished, or has collapsed wholly or in part, the round is over. The cards are then sorted into wall cards and ceiling cards and, as described above, laid out on the table again.
The second round now begins. The player who built the second floor in the completed round starts, and play continues as described.
End of the Game
The game ends when as many rounds have been played as there are players. If four people are playing, the game ends after four rounds.
The player who has collected the most points at the end of the game is the winner and may celebrate as the master builder.