Diabolo (1999)
Diabolo (1999) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Overview
Things go devilishly quickly around here. New letters appear on the table. Players study them feverishly. As soon as one player spots a word that can be made from the letters, he calls it out and collects the respective cards. Who will win the most cards?
Game Materials
- 66 letter cards (including 6 joker cards)
- 6 victory tiles
- 1 rulebook
Game Preparation
- Before the first game, carefully punch out the six victory tiles. These are only used in the game variant.
- Arrange the cards in the deck so that the Diabolo's head on the back of the cards always faces in the same direction. Shuffle the cards thoroughly, but make sure to preserve the Diabolo's orientation.
- Players should be seated on just two opposite sides of the table. This ensures that every player gets a clear view of the letters on the cards in a convenient orientation.
- Notepad and pencil are required to record the points scored.
Course of the Game
- The game consists of several rounds. In each round a different player is the dealer.
- The dealer shuffles the cards (as noted above). Then he reveals one card at a time in a line in the centre of the table. The dealer always reveals the cards in such a way that the players opposite can see them first. Cards should be revealed as quickly as possible, to give all players an equal chance. The pace of the game, how fast one card follows another, is determined by the dealer.
- All players play simultaneously. The dealer also participates in the game.
- As soon as a player spots a word that can be made from the revealed letters, he calls it out. A word need not contain all available letters, nor do the letters have to be used in the order in which they are displayed. (Note that double-letters shown on one card may only be used in strict combination together. See below.) All letters necessary to make a word must be displayed on the table. Each card can only be used once in a word, i.e. multiple occurrences of the same letter would require the appropriate number of cards with that letter.
- Very important: at least three cards must be used to form a word.
- When a word is called out, the game is paused. The other players then check to see if that word is correct.
- If the word is correct then the calling player removes all corresponding cards and places them face-down in a pile in front of him.
- If a player calls out an incorrect word, he does not receive any cards. Instead each of the other players select a card from the table and place it face-down in front of them. If there are not enough cards available, these are provided from the deck.
- The remaining cards are left on the table, and the game continues with the dealer turning over new cards.
End of a Round
- The round ends when the dealer has used up all the cards in the deck and no one can form any more words.
- Each player counts the number of cards in front of them and the results are recorded.
- The new dealer is the player to the left of the old dealer. The new dealer collects all cards, sorts and shuffles them (as above) and begins the next round.
Game End
- With four to six players, the game ends when each player has been the dealer once. In a two- or three-player game, each player is the dealer twice.
- The player with the highest total result is the winner.
Some Hints on Allowable Words
- All German words are allowed. [Translator's note: This should be a challenge to the English-speaking world! However, if you decide to play in another language, be aware that the letter distribution in this version of the game is designed for the German language.]
- Exceptions: all abbreviations, for example e.g., etc., ltd.
- Words with ß are spelled SS.
- Umlauts Ä, Ö and Ü are spelled AE, OE and UE.
- If a card contains a double-letter, these must be used together and in order as part of a word. E.g., EI may not be used as IE.
- Cards with a trident symbol count as jokers. A trident can be used for any single letter you wish. A card with two trident symbols stands for any double-letters, and may not be used as a single letter.
Examples of Allowable Words
- G N H A = HANG
- E A L Z R G = LAGER
- O ST Ψ = STOP
- P T ΨΨ = POST
Variant with Victory Tiles
Diabolo can also be played without recording the results, and using the victory tiles instead. All rules apply as before. At the end of each round the player with the most cards is awarded a victory tile (in the case of ties, each involved player receives one). The first player to be awarded two victory tiles is the winner of the game. However, anyone already with a victory tile is handicapped: their result in all future rounds are reduced by ten cards. This makes it more difficult to win the second tile. It is left to the players, if they consider it appropriate in their particular game, to vary the level of handicap.
Playing Diabolo with Children
If there are some particularly fast-thinking players in the game, or when playing Diabolo with children, players may wish to agree that the quick-thinkers must form words using at least four cards.