Cubus
Cubus Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
The game contains 48 cards: 16 left box sides, 16 right box sides, 12 box tops (lids) and 4 open box components.
- L – 16 left box sides ("linke Kistenteile")
- R – 16 right box sides ("rechte Kistenteile")
- D – 12 box tops, i.e. lids ("Kistendeckel")
- O – 4 open box components ("offene Kistenteile")
Note
The play area needs to be relatively large, and all the players should sit on the same side unless they are experienced in the game and can recognize the three-dimensional construction of the boxes "upside down". For beginners it is better to construct the pictures which describe the scoring system.
Aim of the Game
The players work together to build a stack of boxes according to the rules laid down. The players try to score as many points as possible by clever building, rebuilding and observation of the stack and the cards their opponents. The player with the most points at the end is the winner.
Preparation
A starting box made up of three cards is set out on the table. The remaining 45 cards are shuffled thoroughly and laid face down as one deck ready for picking up. One of the players is chosen to keep the score and it is agreed who shall begin.
Lay-Down Rule
A player whose turn it is must build or rebuild after taking up a card if this is possible. The move must be worth at least one point to the player. The card that has been picked up can but does not have to be included in the move.
Method of Play
The players each take a card in turn and lay these face up in front of them. Building begins in the second round at the earliest with one of the following five possibilities. (The open boxes, whose importance will be described later, should preferably not be played right at the beginning.)
The rulebook shows five possible first building steps (diagrams 1–5, numbered 1. to 5. in the source). The diagrams are placement sketches of L, R, D and O cards around the starting box and are not reproduced as text here; see the source PDF.
Scoring
The principle of scoring in this game is "a little is a lot and a lot does not amount to much". On this principle a box built of three cards is worth zero points. No player is going to build according to the lay-down rule (see below).
Points:
- A box built with two cards earns one point.
- A box built with one card earns two points.
- A box built with no cards earns three points.
The number of points is increased when several boxes are constructed at one and the same time. The following examples will explain the scoring of points.
Example scoring sequence (diagrams 1–6): the example sketches show building steps 1–4, each bringing its player one point (a new box with two cards). The fourth player could have earned three more points with the box that the following player now builds without using any additional cards (5). The next card (arrow, sketch 6) scores five points, because there must be another invisible box, which is created without using a card and thus wins three points, underneath the top box (created with one card and thus scoring two points). The sketches themselves are not reproduced as text.
Reconstruction example:
The following example shows a reconstruction that brings a score of nine points for the expenditure of three cards. In the case of such or even bigger reconstructions a note should be made of the numbers of boxes and of the player's cards. Another count is then made after the move is complete. Each additional box scores three points. Then the number of additional cards used up (three in the example) is subtracted from this sum (in the example four boxes = twelve points). In some cases it is possible to end a building step with more cards than at the start; each extra scores a plus point.
Knocking
If a player overlooks a building possibility, that is, says that he or she has no possibility of scoring, then the point or points belong to the first person to knock. This person then carries out the construction and receives the points; however, if someone knocks by mistake then all the others receive two points.
Open Boxes
Four cards are used for building open boxes. These cards may not be rebuilt once they have been included in the stack. They prevent the many possible building strategies towards the end of the game always resulting in a cube-shaped stack of boxes four high, four broad and four deep.
A new layer of boxes may naturally be built under the box stack with the open box (the cards of the open box are not touched!). Such a new layer often wins a particularly large number of points.
Example: Two boxes are first demolished, then nine (!) new boxes are built up using only two cards. Result: 27 points (9 new boxes) minus 6 points (2 boxes that were demolished at the beginning) minus 2 points (2 cards used up) = 19 points won.
The simple exchange of a built-in lid for an "open box" card is not allowed.
End of Game
The game comes to an end when the deck of cards has been used up and no one can win points by individual moves. The winner is the player with the highest score.
(It can also be agreed that the player with the lowest score can then use the cards lying before all the other players to his or her advantage. Or, much more difficult, the player who can score the most points with the remaining cards may use them.)
The Demolition Game
Best played by three or five players.
The completed stack of boxes is demolished in turns. It must be reduced in size by exactly one box at each move, even if the player concerned does not gain any cards (see example). In this version of the game the cards that are removed make up the score (one card = one point).
The demolition examples (1–3, sketches not reproduced as text) read as follows: the back card at the top is not removed, otherwise two boxes would disappear. Repositioning three causes the front top box to disappear, without the player gaining a card. The following player can win a card.
During the demolition the open boxes may only be removed when no closed boxes are available.
At the end the winner is the person with the most cards.