Bullenparty
Bullenparty Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 100 number cards from 1 to 100, with 1 to 7 bullheads
- 10 bull cards, with 4 to 7 bullheads
- 5 zero cards, lettered A to E
The Idea of the Game
Try to buy great cards from the middle of the table by bidding cleverly. Add these cards to your own piles as ingeniously as you can, creating several piles in front of you with cards in an ascending order. Your goal is to have only one pile containing many bullheads if possible, as this will give you lots of points. However, you will earn negative points for all cards on your other piles. The player with the most points wins the game.
Preparation
Shuffle the number cards and the zero cards separately. Deal one zero card to each player and return the remaining zero cards to the box. Then deal five number cards to each player. Take them in your hand along with the zero card. The remaining number cards go in the middle of the table as a face-down draw pile.
NOTE: If there are 3 players, count off 25 number cards (50 if there are 2 players) and put them back in the box. Only play using all cards if there are 4 or 5 players.
Sort the bull cards by the number of bullheads on them and put them next to the draw pile face-up, so that the cards with 4 bullheads are at the top, the ones with 7 bullheads at the bottom of the pile.
Playing the Game
Play several rounds. Each round starts when you place cards in rows and ends after the bidding, when each player has taken a row and put it on their piles.
Placing cards in rows
Start each round by creating as many rows as you are players in the middle of the table: two rows for two players, three rows for three players and so on. Put two number cards from the draw pile in each row. Do not sort the cards within the rows by value. Over the course of a round, each line may be expanded to up to five cards.
Example: Situation at the start of a round, three rows for three players. (Three rows of two cards each are laid out; the draw pile, the bull card pile and the discard pile are placed beside them.)
Start bidding
All players now have to bid for the rows on the table. In order to do so, pick a card from your hand (a number card or the zero card) and put it on the table in front of you face-down. Then, all players turn over their cards at the same time.
Number cards
If you have played the lowest number card (but not a zero card), put that card on the discard pile and choose a row. Take the row and put it in your hand. Then the player who has played the second lowest number card picks a row, and so on.
Zero cards
When all number cards have been dealt with, it's the turn of any players who have bid zero cards. If more than one player has bid a zero card, they go in alphabetical order according to the letters on their zero cards. Players who bid zero cards don't take any rows, but expand them by drawing a card from the draw pile and putting it next to a row of their choosing. Then, they take back the zero card. Zero cards stay with their owners until the end of the game.
NOTE: Each row may only be expanded to five cards. Once a row is five cards long, any new cards have to be put in a different row. If all remaining rows are five cards long, no number cards can be added.
Bull cards
As soon as the fifth number card is added to any row, the top card from the bull card pile has to be put next to it immediately (while there are any left).
Further bids
If at least one player has played a zero card on the first bid, continue bidding.
Once you have taken a row from the table, you can't bid any more during this round. Only players who have played their zero cards before can bid for the remaining expanded rows.
Bid for the remaining rows in the way described above. If there is only one player left to bid, he or she can play the zero card until the last remaining row consists of five number cards.
When all remaining rows consist of five number cards and one bull card, you have to play a number card on your next bid and take a row.
(Note: the printed rules say "biding" in this paragraph; it has been corrected to "bidding".)
Creating piles
When all rows have been picked up, you have to put number cards on your own piles face-up. You have to keep exactly five number cards and your zero card in your hand. Any surplus cards must go on one or more piles in front of you. The numbers of each pile have to be in ascending order, but don't necessarily have to be consecutive.
Put your cards on the piles separately and slowly enough for the other players to be able to follow you. The highest card is always on top. If you add cards to the pile later, they have to be higher than the current top card.
Example 1: Oliver has one pile whose top card is a 13. He takes a row consisting of three cards (22, 24 and 60). He takes the 24 and the 60 in his hand. The 22 he puts on his pile, together with a 20 from his hand, placing the 20 on the 13 first, then the 22 on top.
If you're forced to play a card that's lower than the top card of your pile, you have to start a new pile with this card.
Example 2: In the next round, Oliver has used the 24 to bid with. He takes the row containing numbers 2, 4 and 18. The 2, he takes in his hand. From the 4 and the 18, he creates a new pile.
You can create as many piles as you like, but only one of them will earn you points at the end of the game: the pile containing the most bullheads. All other piles give you negative points.
If you take a row containing a bull card, put the bull card in front of you separately from your piles. Bull cards always earn you positive points.
A new round
When all rows have been picked up from the table and each player only holds five number cards and a zero card, a round is over. Start the next round by putting new rows on the table. Then start bidding again.
The End of the Game
As soon as the last card from the draw pile has been added to a row, the players find themselves in the final round. If the cards from the draw pile are not enough to create rows or expand them, shuffle the discard pile and take the missing cards from there. Make your last bids, then the game is over.
Next, all players have to distribute all number cards they are still holding on to their piles or create new piles with them. The zero cards are irrelevant now.
Now start scoring: Select your pile with the most bullheads. This is your points pile. Add the bullheads from your bull cards to it. Then subtract all bullheads from your other piles from the result. The player with the best final result wins the game.
Example for the End of a Round
Up until now, all players have only played their zero cards. Now, there are five number cards and one bull card in each row. For the final bid, Adam bids 13, Bernd bids 85 and Chris bids 36.
(The example shows three rows on the table, each with five number cards and one bull card, and the bids of Adam, Bernd and Chris, followed by the piles after the round.)
Adam goes first and picks the middle row. He puts aside the bull card. The 24 and the 33 go on his pile with the top card 23. He takes the 3, the 75 and the 94 in his hand. From the seven cards he holds now, he creates a second pile using the 51 and the 72.
Chris is next. He takes the bottom row. He puts aside the bull card as well. On his pile with the top card, he now puts the 11 and the 19. The 55, the 63 and the 93 he takes in his hand. Now, he has to play two number cards from his hand, too. He decides to put the 87 from his hand and the 93 on his second pile with the top card 86.
The top row remains for Bernd to take. He also puts aside the bull card. Then, he starts a new pile with the 17, the 18 and the 35. The 49 and the 77 he takes in his hand. As he's now holding six hand cards, he plays the 49 on top of the pile with the 31.