Ein Arsch kommt selten allein
Ein Arsch kommt selten allein Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
Shuffle the cards and deal 10 cards to each player. Place the remaining cards face down in the center of the table to form the draw pile.
In the first round, the unluckiest player starts. In later rounds, the player who lost the previous round goes first. Play proceeds clockwise.
Gameplay
The first player may play any card.
On their turn, each subsequent player chooses one of the following options.
1. Raise
Play an ass of higher value. For example, if a small brown "three-point" ass was played, you may beat it with any larger one. Color and type do not matter; only the value must be higher.
2. Pass
You may pass. This is the only option available if you have nothing you can play.
After passing, you must take cards from the draw pile. Since an ass never comes alone, you keep drawing until at least one male ass and at least one female ass are among the newly drawn cards. Color and value do not matter.
So that the other players can see you are not cheating, all cards you draw are shown face up.
If the draw pile runs out, all previously played cards are shuffled to form a new draw pile.
3. Play a Pair of Asses
On your turn you may get rid of two cards at once, under one condition:
- both cards must be the same color;
- the sum of their values must be less than the value of the last played card.
Example.
The last played card is a thick brown ass with value 14. You have a cute pink ass with value 3 and a firm pink ass with value 8. Since 3 + 8 < 14, you may play this pair. However, the turn does not end there: even in this case you must lay an ass of higher value than the one on top of the pile, or pass. Therefore, when playing the pair, you decide which of the two cards ends up on top: 3 or 8.
- If 3 ends up on top, finishing the turn is easy: it is enough to play any ass of value 4 or higher.
- If 8 ends up on top, you can end the turn only with a card of value higher than 8 (or with another pair of small asses).
Ideally you would have another suitable pair, for example two gray asses with values 1 and 5 (their sum is less than 8). In theory, a chain of pair plays can continue for as long as you like, provided that each new pair is of one color and the sum of its values is less than the value of the card on top.
However, the turn must always end with playing one card whose value is higher than the card on top of the pile. If this is impossible (for example, you have played all your cards or there is no suitable card), you must pass and draw cards as usual.
Skipped Turns
Each pair played makes the players to your left skip their turns:
- 1 pair played: the nearest player to the left skips their turn;
- 2 pairs played: the two players to the left skip their turns;
- and so on.
In a three-player game, if you play 2 pairs, both opponents skip their turns, so the turn passes straight back to you. You cannot make yourself skip a turn. Even if you play 3 pairs, you will still be the next to act.
End of Round
A round ends when a player gets rid of all their cards at the end of their turn.
The other players then count their penalty points ("ass points") from the cards still remaining in their hands, and a new round begins.
After several rounds, the player with the fewest penalty points wins.
Note: the source does not state how many penalty points each card is worth, and does not specify a value per card; the scoring figures are not given in the source text. The source's wording "and [a new round] begins" appears with a typo ("иачинается") in the original, which is corrected here.
Team Variant
The team variant can only be played with four players. Players sitting opposite each other form teams. The rules remain the same.
The round ends as soon as both members of one team have gotten rid of their cards. It is possible that one player has already gone out while their partner still loses to the other team.