Buddel Bande
Buddel Bande Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 game board
- 12 plastic moles (3 of each size for each of the 4 clans)
- 1 dog, Daniel
- 2 special dice
- 1 dice cup
- 4 clan tiles
- 1 rulebook
Setup
The game board is placed in the centre of the table. Each player takes a clan tile showing ladybirds, ants, worms or snails. Turn the moles over and you will see that the underside of each base carries the same pictures as the clan tiles. The three moles with the same animal on the underside form a digging clan (one large, one medium and one small).
Each player takes the tile for their clan and places it in front of them so that everyone can see it. If there are fewer than 4 players, the remaining tiles and their matching moles are returned to the box.
The haystack is the starting point of the digging clans. At the beginning, all players place their moles on the haystack. From here the moles are digging their way toward the dens, and they have dug many exit holes along the route. The digging gangs will move from one exit hole to the next.
Daniel (the dog) must be placed on the last exit hole, facing the dens, on the dog footprints. Then take the dice cup and both special dice.
How to Play
1) Rolling the dice
The player who last looked under a mole begins. They shake the dice cup, mixing the dice, and roll. The symbols on the dice determine which piece the player may move and where. The die showing the mole holes determines the hole toward which the mole will move. There are three symbols on this die: flower, leaf and four-leaf clover. Each hole has one of these symbols beside it.
The die showing the moles and the dog determines which piece the player must move. The piece that must be moved is coloured:
| Result | Corresponding action |
|---|---|
| Three moles, the small one is brown | The player must move the small mole |
| Three moles, the medium one is brown | The player must move the medium mole |
| Three moles, the large one is brown | The player must move the large mole |
| A single brown mole | The player may move the mole of their choice |
| Dog's head | The player must move the dog |
| Dog's head / brown mole | The player may choose to move either a mole of their choice or the dog |
2) Moving...
Once the moles are on the playing surface, only their size tells them apart. If a die calls for a certain type of mole to be moved, the player may choose any mole of the corresponding size (so not only their own). If they are lucky, they may move a mole of any size. Naturally, a player will try to lead their own moles as far forward as possible.
Moles must be moved forward, in the direction of the dens. A mole always moves to the nearest hole indicated by the symbol on the die. If that hole is occupied, it moves to the next free hole with the same symbol.
Example: the dice show a medium mole and a flower. The player must move a medium mole to the nearest free hole marked with the flower symbol, in the direction of the dens.
Moles may also pop up from holes beside the dog. After all, a mole coming up to the surface cannot know in advance that the dog is there. Moles belonging to other players may be deliberately moved and placed in the hole beside the dog.
3) ...and looking at the mole!
At the end of their move, the player may secretly look at the picture under the mole they have just moved, to be sure of the move they made and to remember more easily which digging clan it belongs to. If the player realises they made a mistake because they meant to move a different mole, it is too late. The mole that was moved cannot be returned to its starting position. The other players continue playing clockwise: rolling the dice, moving, and looking at the symbol under the mole they have moved.
The den
The last mound dug by the moles is the entrance to the den.
This hole is a special space. There are no dog tracks beside it, and all three symbols are shown: flower, leaf and four-leaf clover. This means the den entrance can be reached with all three symbols. When a mole reaches this space, check which clan it belongs to and place it in the corresponding den (which shows the same symbol as the mole). If a player has accidentally moved another player's mole into a den, the move still counts, and it is that other player who benefits from it.
The moles want to reach their dens!
Movement is mandatory: once the dice have been rolled, the mole indicated by the result must be moved.
This applies even if, for example, the player does not want to move their own mole, which would otherwise end up in the hole beside the dog. Likewise, if the die shows the size of a mole that has already reached its den, the player is forced to move forward a mole of the same size belonging to an opponent.
Exception: if the only possible move for a player is to take into its den a mole that they are sure belongs to an opponent, they may choose not to move.
Towards the end of the game it may happen that no moles of the size corresponding to the result of the dice remain in play (either because all moles of that type have already entered their dens, or because the last mole of that type is immobilised by the dog). In this case the player must roll the dice again.
The dog, Daniel
Daniel must be moved when the die shows his head. If a player gets the dog's head together with a mole's head, they may choose whether to move either the one or the other.
The dog always moves along the tracks beside the mole holes. He can run back and forth as far as he likes. This means he can reach any hole that has the symbol rolled on the die. He may stop beside an empty hole, or beside a hole occupied by a mole.
If Daniel stops beside a hole with a mole above it, the mole is paralysed with terror and cannot move until the dog moves away from that hole.
Example: the die shows the dog's head and the four-leaf clover. The player moves the dog to any hole with the four-leaf clover symbol, in either direction (toward the dens or toward the haystack).
End of the Game
The game ends when the last mole of a clan reaches its den; that clan is the winner.