Aus die Maus!
Aus die Maus! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 58 cheese cards
- 18 mouse cards, each showing 1 to 3 paws
- 14 cat cards
- 9 mouse chips
Game Idea
Cats try to catch mice, and mice are always searching for a tasty piece of cheese. Each player has a stack of cat, mouse and cheese cards. In turn, they place a card onto a shared discard pile in the middle of the table. If they are lucky, a player can catch a mouse with a cat and receive a mouse chip. Once all mouse chips have been handed out, the game ends. The player with the most cards then wins.
Setup
The mouse chips are placed ready to hand in the middle of the table. The cards are shuffled and dealt out evenly to all players until only one card remains. Some players may therefore receive one card more than others. Players must not look at their cards. Each player forms a face-down draw stack in front of them on the table.
The one card that was not dealt is placed face up in the middle of the table. It starts the shared discard pile.
The youngest player begins. Play proceeds clockwise.
The illustration in the rulebook shows the setup with three players.
Note: With 2 or 3 players, only the cards with a red back are used. Only five mouse chips are used as well. The other cards and chips stay in the box.
Game Play
When it is their turn, each player must turn over the top card of their stack and place it on the discard pile in the middle of the table. What happens depends on the card (cat, mouse or cheese):
Cheese: If a player places a cheese card on the discard pile, nothing happens. The discard pile simply grows, and the next player takes their turn.
Cat: If a player places a cat card on a cheese card or on another cat card, nothing happens. The card just adds to the discard pile. A cat card can only win the discard pile if a mouse card was turned over earlier (see the following examples).
Mouse: If a player places a mouse card on the discard pile, they call out: "Mouse, watch out, the cat is coming!" Each mouse card shows 1 to 3 paws. This means the player to the clockwise side of the player who placed the mouse must turn over 1 to 3 cards from their stack, place them one after another on the discard pile, and try to catch this mouse.
There are then three possible outcomes:
Catch with a cat: If the following player turns over a cat card and places it on the discard pile, they win all the cards of the discard pile. They place the won cards face down under their own stack. In addition, they receive one mouse chip, which they place next to their stack.
Example 1: Jan turns over a mouse with two paws and places it on the discard pile. His left-hand neighbour is Tessa. Tessa now has two attempts to turn over a cat. She first places a cheese card on the discard pile. Bad luck! But with her second card she places a cat on the discard pile. Lucky! She places the won cards face down under her stack and receives one mouse chip.
Only cheese: If the following player turns over only cheese cards and places them on the discard pile, the player who placed the mouse card wins all the cards of the discard pile. They place the won cards face down under their own stack. However, they do not receive a mouse chip.
Example 2: Jan turns over a mouse with two paws and places it on the discard pile. Tessa again has two attempts. This time she is unlucky. Both cards she turns over and places on the discard pile are cheese cards. Lucky for Jan! He may place the cards from the discard pile under his stack. However, he does not receive a mouse chip.
Another mouse: As soon as a player turns over another mouse card and places it on the discard pile, they must stop immediately, even if the paws shown would allow them to turn over 1 or 2 more cards. The player to the clockwise side now has the chance to catch the mouse. If that player also turns over another mouse, the next player in clockwise order takes their turn. This continues until a player has turned over either a cat or only cheese.
Example 3: Jan turns over a mouse with two paws and places it on the discard pile. Tessa again has two attempts. She turns over a mouse with three paws and places it on the discard pile. This ends her turn, and her left-hand neighbour Justus has three attempts to catch the mouse. Right away, as his first card, he places a cat on the discard pile. Lucky! Justus places the won cards under his stack and receives one mouse chip.
Once a player has placed the cards of the discard pile under their stack, they must start the new discard pile with the top card of their stack. Then the next player takes their turn.
Game End
As soon as a player has received the 9th mouse chip, the game ends. The player who has the most cards in their stack wins.
If several players have the most cards, the winner is the one among them with the most mouse chips.
It can occasionally happen that a player runs out of cards before all nine mouse chips have been handed out. The game then also ends immediately.