11 nimmt!
11 nimmt! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 100 ox-head cards numbered from 1 to 100
- 10 bull cards
Idea of the Game
Each player starts with ten cards in hand. During the game, every player must lay a card onto a pile. The difference between the number value of the played card and the top card of the pile may not be greater than "10" — otherwise it is called "11 nimmt!" ("11 takes it!") and the player must take all the cards of a pile into their hand. Whoever takes a pile receives a bull card, and with it the right to lay down several cards at once from then on. The goal of the game is to get rid of all the ox-head cards in your hand.
Setup
- Shuffle the ox-head cards and deal ten cards to each player. Each player arranges their hand cards in ascending order.
- The remaining ox-head cards are placed face-down in the middle of the table as the draw pile.
- Turn the top card face up and place it next to the draw pile. It forms the first ox-head pile (the discard pile) onto which cards are laid.
- The bull cards are placed as a stack next to the draw pile of ox-head cards.
- The youngest player begins.
Card Layout on the Table at the Start of the Game
- Bull cards
- Ox-head cards (draw pile)
- First discard pile
Playing the Game
Play proceeds clockwise around the table. On your turn, you decide on one of the following two actions:
- You play a card from your hand and lay it face up onto a discard pile.
- You take all the cards of one discard pile into your hand.
Playing Cards
The following rules apply when playing cards:
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Rule 1 — Ascending The card played must be higher than the top card of the pile.
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Rule 2 — Difference of at Most 10 The difference between the number value of the played card and the top card of the pile may not be greater than "10." If you only have cards whose difference is greater than 10, you must take all the cards of a discard pile into your hand.
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Rule 3 — The number sequence continues past 100, wrapping around to 1, 2, 3, and so on. On a pile whose top card is, for example, 96, all cards from 97 to 100 and from 1 to 6 can be laid down, since the difference is not greater than 10. Example: The top card of a pile is "98." The card played is "5." The distance is 7 (99, 100, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5).
Taking a Pile into Your Hand
A player takes this action when they do not hold a card that can be laid on any ox-head pile, or when they want to take a pile for tactical reasons.
Every time a pile is taken, two ox-head cards are turned face up from the draw pile and placed in the middle of the table. These cards form new ox-head piles. This means the number of ox-head piles grows continuously as the game goes on. See also "Example of a Turn" below.
Since there is only one ox-head pile at the start of the game, that is the only pile that can be taken. As play continues, more and more ox-head piles come into play. A player may then choose whichever pile they want to take.
Note: When choosing an ox-head pile, a player may not fan out the pile to see which cards, and how many, it contains.
The cards of the taken pile are sorted into the player's hand. Then it is the next player's turn.
Important: A player who takes a pile with 3 or more cards receives a bull card, which they lay face up in front of themselves. A player may hold several bull cards.
Once the stack of bull cards is used up, a player who would otherwise receive a bull card may instead take one away from the player who has the most bull cards laid out in front of them, and lay it in front of themselves. In case of a tie, they may choose which of those players to take a bull card from.
The Bull Cards
A player who holds a bull card may, when taking the "lay down a card" action, lay down more than one card onto a discard pile.
- When laying down several cards, they must all fall within the difference of 10. Example: The top card of a discard pile shows 33. A player with a bull card may, on their turn, lay down all their hand cards from 34 to 43 onto that pile.
- A player laying down several cards first places them next to the pile, so everyone can see that all the cards fall within the difference of 10. They then lay the cards onto the pile in ascending order, meaning the highest card must end up on top.
A player who holds two bull cards may lay down several cards on two piles. A player who holds three bull cards may lay down on three piles, and so on.
Example of a Turn
Note: During play, cards are placed directly on top of one another on the discard piles, not fanned out as shown in the examples below.
At the start of the game, the draw pile and a first ox-head pile with the card 31 lie in the middle of the table.
- Draw pile — Discard pile
The first player may lay a card between 32 and 41 onto the pile. They choose the 36. The second player may lay a card from 37 to 46 onto the pile. They lay down the 46.
- Draw pile — Discard pile
The third player does not hold a card with a number between 47 and 56. They must therefore take the one pile and sort the cards into their hand. They take a bull card and lay it in front of themselves. Then two cards are turned face up from the draw pile and laid down next to it. They are the cards 23 and 87.
- Draw pile — Discard pile — Discard pile
The next players in turn play the cards 88, 92, 98, and 5, all onto the pile with the 87. The first player, whose turn now comes around again, does not hold a card that they could lay on either of the two piles without exceeding the difference of 10. They must take all the cards of one of the two ox-head piles. They choose the pile with the 23, which consists of only one card. For this they receive no bull card, since a discard pile must contain at least three ox-head cards for that.
- Draw pile — Discard pile — Discard pile
Two more cards are turned face up from the draw pile, the 19 and the 78. The players now have three piles to choose from for laying down cards.
- Draw pile — Discard pile — Discard pile — Discard pile
End of the Game
A round of play ends as soon as one player has no ox-head card left in their hand. The other players add up the oxen on all the cards still in their hand. These count as minus points.
Example: The ox-head card shown has, for example, three ox heads, which must be added up as minus points.
The minus points are written down and the next round begins. The new starting player is the player with the most minus points. As many rounds are played as there are players (for example, with three players, three rounds are played). Whoever has the fewest minus points at the end is the overall winner.