Cards For Christianity Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Before the First Game
• The Basic Rules
• Other Ways to Play
• Expansions
• Frequently Asked Questions

Before the First Game

• Sort the cards: Sort the black and white cards into a separate pile each and shuffle both well before every round. If two blank cards are in the set, this can happen in production; you can simply discard them.
• Theme cards: The base game (white box) has questions on areas such as Church Life and German Politics. If you want to leave out certain topics, or are playing with people who don't know terms such as Hauskreis (home group) or Lobpreis (worship), you can skip those cards.
• Keep it current: If a card is no longer up to date, you can remove it, or adjust it when reading it aloud, for example by replacing a politician's name with a current person.

The Basic Rules

Each round there is one question card. Every player plays their funniest answer (with a Bible quote), and the best one wins. This is how it works:

1. The game works best with 4 to 8 people. See the variants below for playing with more or fewer people.
2. Each player draws 10 white cards (do not take fewer, or the choice is too small).
3. The person sitting closest to the door begins as the "Card Bishop".
4. The Card Bishop draws a black card and reads the question aloud.
5. Everyone else plays their funniest white card face down as their answer.
6. The Card Bishop shuffles the answers, reads them aloud, and chooses the best one.
7. It is most fun if the question is read again before each answer.
8. The winner receives the black card as a point.
9. If you wish, the explanatory texts on the answer cards can be read aloud.
10. Everyone draws cards to refill their hand to 10.
11. The Card Bishop role passes clockwise, and the next round begins.

Ending the game:

• Option A: Play for as long as you like. The player with the most points wins.
• Option B: The first player to reach a set number of points wins. With 4 to 5 people, it is best to play to 7 points; with more than 6 people, play to 5 points.

Playing two answers: If a player wants to play two cards, they may take a risk to do so. To do this they must already have at least one point, and they place that point in front of them as a stake. If one of their two answers wins, they receive the normal point and keep the stake. However, if a different answer wins, that player receives the normal point plus the staked point.

Swapping cards: Each player may swap all of their white cards once per game. To do this, simply draw 10 new cards and then shuffle the old cards back into the deck.

Other Ways to Play

The game is well suited to variations, and beyond these examples you can also invent your own rules.

• The Prodigal Son (so that 2 to 3 people can play): Add a fictional player to the round and place ten white cards face down for them. Each round one of their cards is shuffled in with the answers, and if it wins, "the prodigal son" receives the point.
• Democracy (also suitable for 3 people): The Card Bishop does not decide the best card. After the answers are read aloud, count to 3, and then everyone points with a finger at the card they find funniest. The card with the most votes wins. In case of a tie, hold two further votes. If it is still tied, decide by natural selection (see the next rule).
• Natural Selection: The Card Bishop does not decide the best card. After the answers are read aloud, each person in the round removes one card each time, the one they find least funny. The last remaining card wins. The person to the left of the Card Bishop begins.
• Teamplay (for large groups): Naturally, 2 to 3 people can always play as a team and share 10 cards. Alternatively, if you want to play with many people, you can split the cards from one set between two smaller groups.

Expansions

You can combine all Cards For Christianity cards with one another: the base game, the expansion box, and all theme packs.

To do so, you can either shuffle the cards together, or, for variety, play a round with only certain question cards (for example the Church Life theme pack).

(The publisher's newsletter sign-up, feedback form, and announcement of a planned 18+ version are omitted from this transcription.)

Frequently Asked Questions

What do the small letters after the Bible reference mean?

These are the Bible translations used. For each Bible quote, the translation was chosen to be as funny and as versatile as possible. The breakdown is:

• BB: BasisBibel
• DB/DBU: Das Buch
• EB/ELB: Elberfelder Bibel, revision 2006
• EU/EÜ: Einheitsübersetzung, revision 2016
• GNB: Gute Nachricht Bibel, revised new edition, 2018
• HFA: Hoffnung für alle
• LB/LU17: Lutherbibel, revised 2017
• MB/MEB: Menge Bibel
• NEÜ: Neue evangelistische Übersetzung
• NGÜ: Neue Genfer Übersetzung
• NLB: Neues Leben. Die Bibel
• SLT: Schlachter 2000
• ZB: Zürcher Bibel, edition 2007

(The copyright notices for each translation, which the publisher lists alongside these abbreviations, are omitted here.)

Some cards appear more than once in our set. Is that intended?

Each card should appear only once per game. If you have some cards more than once, this is due to a technical error in the printing process. The publisher apologises for this and will gladly send a new delivery free of charge. Please contact the publisher through the contact form on the website.

Why do my cards look different from some pictures on Instagram or in the shop?

Some people received a first trial print run, to test the game and to promote it during the crowdfunding campaign. For that trial print run the design was deliberately kept very close to another game that works on a similar principle. For the full print run the publisher deliberately developed a more individual, own design.