Wurst Case Scenario
Wurst Case Scenario Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Content
- 8 Identity cards
- 8 Conveyor belt cards
- 1 Meat Machine card
- 38 Action cards
- 3 Reference cards
- 8 Sausages with a standee
- 6 Tokens (Banana, Electrical failure, Jam)
- 1 Starting player token (Miss Ketchup)
Can You Explain the Cards?
Of course we can. On the cards you can see a drawing that is just there to make the card look nice, but on the bottom of the card you also find action icon(s). You'll find a list of all the action icons below:
- Move one sausage: Move one sausage of your choice. Move it one card in the direction of the Meat Machine or one card away from it. When the sausage starts its turn on the final card in front of the Meat Machine, it can jump into the Meat Machine.
- Move as many different sausages: Move as many different sausages as there are action icons on the card. For each move the same rules apply as with the action where you can move 1 sausage. You must move the sausages one at a time.
- Move all sausages: Move all sausages one card into the direction of the Meat Machine. You must move the sausages one at a time.
- Choose another player: Choose another player. He must give you a card from his hand of his choice. As a result, you have an additional hand card.
- Pick a card from the draw pile: Pick a card from the draw pile. You can still take the card you always take at the end of your turn. As a result, you have an additional hand card.
- Take the top card of the discard pile: You can take the top card of the discard pile. You can still take the card you always take at the end of your turn. As a result, you have an additional hand card.
- Swap two adjacent sausages: Select 2 sausages on adjacent conveyor belt cards and swap them.
- Move two sausages toward each other: Select 2 sausages that are not on adjacent (or the same) conveyor belt card(s). Move each sausage one space into the direction of the other sausage.
- Move two sausages apart: Select 2 sausages and move them both one space away from each other. If the sausages are standing on the same conveyor belt card, you can choose one sausage that moves in the direction of the Meat Machine and a sausage that moves in the other direction.
Aim of the Game
The aim of the game is to help your sausage(s) survive the treacherous conveyor belt, avoid dying in the Meat Machine, and to remain standing after all other sausages have been eliminated.
How to Set Up the Game
- Put the Meat Machine on the table and put 8 conveyor belt cards in one row in front of it. (First time only: attach the standees to the sausages.) Then put the sausages on the first conveyor belt card (they start at the opposite side of the Meat Machine).
- Find the 8 identity cards and shuffle them. Give all players two identity cards when you play with 2, 3 or 4 players. Give all players only one identity card when playing with 5 or 6 players.
- You can look at the identity card(s) you receive, but don't show them to the other players! This is your little secret.
- Put the leftover cards in the box without looking at them.
- Shuffle all action cards and deal 3 cards to each player. These cards also remain hidden from your opponents. Put the other cards face down in one pile. This is the draw pile. Leave room next to it to form a face-up discard pile.
- Give the starting player token to the player that was last Miss Ketchup. If nobody has been Miss Ketchup in the past, give it to the player who last ate a hotdog.
You are ready to start!
How to Play the Game
The game is played in rounds. The starting player begins the round and then play proceeds clockwise. In every round all players will take one turn.
A Turn
- Play one of the cards in your hand. Complete the action(s) and put it on the discard pile.
- When you play a card with Major Mustard on it, you MUST carry out the entire action.
- When you play a card with Mister Ketchup, you have to carry out as many actions as possible.
- When you play a card with Lady Mayonnaise on it, you MAY carry out the action described. You can also play a Lady Mayonnaise card and decide not to carry out the action.
- You can find an overview of all the actions at the beginning of these rules.
- Draw one card from the draw deck.
Remark: You start the game with 3 cards, but during the game it is possible to have more cards in your hand (for example when you steal a card from another player), and it is also possible you have fewer cards (for example when a card has been stolen from your hand).
Alternative turn: Instead of playing a card and drawing a card, you can also decide not to play a card. If you do this, you MUST discard all the cards in your hand and draw 3 new cards from the draw deck.
When your turn is over, the player to the left takes the next turn. This continues until all players have taken a turn.
When all players have taken a turn, the round ends and two things happen:
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Move all sausages one step/card in the direction of the Meat Machine. When a sausage is already on the final conveyor belt card, it is placed on the Meat Machine. The sausage is now processed and out of the game. Put it back in the game box. If this happens to be the (last) sausage on your identity card, don't let anyone know! You keep on playing and can still manipulate the game to try to end the game with the Wurst Case Scenario (explained below).
Keep in mind: with 2 to 4 players, each player has two secret identities. As long as one of your two sausages is alive, you are still running for victory.
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Pass the starting player token to the player on your left. He will start the next round.
Keep on taking turns until the game end condition is triggered. If the draw pile is empty, just shuffle the discard pile and form a new draw pile.
When Does the Game End Condition Trigger?
There are 2 different outcomes for the game. When one of these occurs, the game is immediately over, even when this happens during the turn of a player.
- There is only one sausage left on the conveyor belt. This is the last sausage standing, and he is the winner of the game. If this sausage is depicted on your identity card, YOU WIN! When this sausage is depicted on a card that was returned to the box, this is the Total Failure Scenario, because you all have lost from a Dummy Wurst!
- All sausages fell in the Meat Machine (this can only happen at the end of a turn when all sausages are standing on the final conveyor belt card). In this case there are no winners! This is what we call the Wurst Case Scenario.
So keep in mind: when your sausage falls into the Meat Machine during the game, you can still try to achieve this Wurst Case Scenario.
If you really want to declare a winner, then you'll have to play a new game!
Am I Ready to Start?
Yes, but make sure you don't make any mistakes when playing the game.
A Few Reminders
- You always draw 3 cards when you take the alternative action, no matter how many cards you discarded.
- When playing a move card you don't have to move the sausage(s) depicted on the move card. You can move any sausage.
- Don't forget to pass on the starting player token at the end of a round. Every round starts with a new starting player!
- When you have a card "move 2 sausages" and there are only 2 sausages remaining and they are both on the final conveyor belt before the Meat Machine, you can't make them jump into the Meat Machine at the same time to achieve the Wurst Case Scenario. You decide who jumps first, and the second one is the Last Wurst Standing. Also, when you play the card where all sausages move one space in the direction of the Meat Machine, the player who played the card decides who moves first.
- When somebody plays, for example, a "move 3 sausages" card and you are fine with the first move, but you see the second move is something you don't want and play a donut card to prevent the move, the second move is cancelled and the active player can't move his third sausage. The first move isn't cancelled, because you decided to play the Donut when the second move was initiated.
- A sausage can never step off the conveyor belt on the side where there is no Meat Machine.