Eselsbrücke
Eselsbrücke Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Material
- 180 picture tiles
- 30 stop tiles
- 6 storage boards
- 1 thought bubble (round overview)
- 1 wooden donkey
- 1 linen bag
- 1 rulebook
Game Goal
How do you remember a dozen different terms? Well, quite simply! With the help of little stories, into which the terms are woven. This is how the players construct little memory aids, the so-called donkey bridges (Eselsbrücken). These help the other players remember the terms. Because when the other players can remember all the terms of a story, the storyteller benefits too. The player who manages to collect the most tiles by the end of the game wins.
Game Setup
Eselsbrücke is suitable for 3-6 players. In rounds with up to 12 players, pairs of teams can be formed nicely, in which the players of a team are allowed to consult with each other. Mixed games with single players and two-player teams are also possible.
- Each player (with 3 to 6 players) or each team takes a storage board and places it in front of them with the 4 large color squares face up.
- In front of each board, an arbitrary picture tile is also placed face down; this forms the base for the respective victory-point stack.
- The thought bubble with the round overview comes face up into the middle of the table, showing the overview for 6 rounds.
- The stop tiles are set aside.
- All picture tiles are mixed in the linen bag.
The biggest donkey in the group is determined as the start player. He receives the donkey figure, which he places on the 1 of the overview on the thought bubble.
Course of Play
The game runs over a total of 6 rounds (indicated by the numbers on the donkeys):
- In rounds 1 and 2, each player must tell a story that is as interesting as possible, using 3 picture tiles each (from the bag), to serve the other players as a donkey bridge.
- In rounds 3 and 4, after telling a story, the other players must each guess the motifs from the preceding rounds with the help of the donkey bridges.
- In rounds 5 and 6, only the motifs of the donkey-bridge stories are guessed.
The tiles of this color field are distributed to the other players and must be guessed by them.
- Round 1: no distribution
- Round 2: no distribution
- Round 3: red color field
- Round 4: blue color field
- Round 5: green color field
- Round 6: yellow color field
Number of the current round.
Number of tiles for the story in this round.
- Round 1: 3 tiles
- Round 2: 3 tiles
- Round 3: 4 tiles
- Round 4: 5 tiles
- Round 5: no tile
- Round 6: no tile
Course of Play, Rounds 1 - 2
The start player draws as many picture tiles from the bag as there are tiles shown on the thought bubble (so in round 1, 3 tiles). He names aloud the motifs shown on them and lays them out openly in front of him.
Now he tells a short story in which the motifs he just drew appear. This story should be told in as interesting or curious a way as possible, so as to build a good donkey bridge for the other players and make it easier for them to memorize these picture motifs.
Example: Mario has drawn the 3 picture tiles Traffic Jam, Snow White and Three in round 1. He tells the following story: "Yesterday the drama club at our school performed the play Snow White and the three dwarfs. Sure, there should really have been seven dwarfs, but the other dwarfs got stuck in a traffic jam and didn't make it to the performance in time. The audience liked the play so much that they demanded three encores and chanted 'Snow White, Snow White' in unison."
Afterward, the storyteller places the picture tiles face down, one on top of the other, on the next free color field of his storage board (in round 1, he thus places the 3 tiles on the red color field).
Now the next player in clockwise order takes their turn. They draw picture tiles according to the tiles shown on the thought bubble, tell a story, and then proceed just like their predecessor. The players take turns telling a story in this way, going around the table.
When the start player's turn comes around again, he first moves the donkey on the thought bubble to the next number. In the new round, he tells another story with picture tiles corresponding to the number shown on the thought bubble (in round 2, again with 3 tiles).
Course of Play, Rounds 3 - 4
From round 3 on, the start player first tells a story as usual (e.g. in round 3 with 4 picture tiles) and places the tiles on the next free color field. He then distributes the tiles of an already-told story face down to the players next to him in clockwise order. Each of these players receives 1 tile, which they take into their hand and keep secret from the other players. Depending on where the donkey figure stands, the color on the thought bubble determines from which color field the tiles are distributed.
Example: In round 3, Mario secretly distributes his 3 picture tiles from the red field (= round 1). Claudia receives the tile Traffic Jam, Birgit gets the tile Snow White, and Nils the tile Three.
Should tiles be left over, i.e. fewer players take part than there are tiles, the storyteller takes these himself into his hand.
With more than 4 players, not all players initially receive a tile. As long as the players before them make no mistake, they do not guess in this round to begin with (see Special Case 1).
The player to the left of the storyteller now tries, as the first one, to remember the motifs from the previously told story. The picture tile he holds in his hand serves as his memory aid. He now names one of the other picture motifs that appeared in the story. He must not name the motif that he himself holds in his hand.
Example: Claudia has the tile Traffic Jam in her hand. Snow White immediately comes to mind and she names this term. Birgit gives Claudia her "Snow White" tile. After Claudia, it is Nils's turn. He has the tile Three in his hand. He can remember the Traffic Jam and receives the "Traffic Jam" tile from Claudia and lays it down in front of himself.
Should a player be unable to remember after "roughly" 15 seconds, or name a wrong motif, he is eliminated from this guessing round.
Afterward, the memory of the next player in clockwise order is called for. He too must name a picture motif from the story. This repeats until all terms have been named, or all players have made a mistake. The storyteller of course never guesses along with his own story! The round then continues with the next player in clockwise order.
It can well happen that a player must name a term again, e.g. if players before him have dropped out of the round.
Example: It is Birgit's turn. She cannot remember the Three. She is therefore eliminated from this "guessing round." After Birgit's mistake, it is Claudia's turn again. She immediately says Three and also receives the "Three" tile from Nils.
Success and Failure
After all the motifs from the story have been named, the players who made no mistake may place their won picture tiles face down on their victory-point stack.
All players who made a mistake, or who could not remember, must give away as many victory-point tiles as the black cloud on the color field on the active storyteller's storage board indicates. These tiles are removed from the game. If a player still has open victory-point tiles from the current round, these are given away preferentially, in order to settle the minus points.
Should a player have no more victory-point tiles, he need not give away any tiles either.
Example: Since it was Mario's first story from round 1, Birgit must, for her mistake, give away 1 tile from her victory-point stack, according to the black cloud on the red color field on Mario's storage board.
Stop Tiles
If no player made a mistake in a round, the storyteller may, as a reward for his successful donkey bridge, place a stop tile on his victory-point stack.
If, however, at least one player made a mistake, the storyteller receives no stop tile.
Example: Since Birgit made a mistake, Mario receives no stop tile. Had Birgit known the Three, Mario would have been allowed to place a stop tile on his victory-point stack.
A revealed stop tile that lies in the stack of victory-point tiles ends the giving-away of victory-point tiles. The stop tile itself is not given away.
Example: In round 6, Birgit, as start player, distributes her tiles from the yellow field first. This time nothing comes to Claudia's mind. She would therefore have to give away 3 picture tiles. She takes the tiles one at a time from her stack. The third tile is a stop tile. She is lucky. As a result she only has to give away the first two.
A stop tile therefore counts as 1 victory point and may also mean that a player has to give away fewer victory-point tiles than prescribed.
Course of Play, Rounds 5 - 6
In the 5th and 6th rounds of play, no new stories are told anymore; instead, only the tiles are distributed one after another and the motifs are guessed.
Special Cases
Special Case 1
With more than 4 players, it can happen that a player's turn comes up who did not himself receive a tile. For this player, the motifs already named serve as a memory aid, in order to name a motif still in play. Should all the motifs of the current story already have been guessed, this player comes away empty-handed.
Should, however, no motif have been correctly named before him, because none of the players could remember, he receives the picture tile of the first player as a memory aid. With the help of this picture tile, he in turn tries to guess one of the sought-after motifs.
Special Case 2
Should a player's turn come up who himself holds in hand the last picture motif not yet named, he has been lucky and may place the tile on his stack.
End of Game
The game ends after round 6, once the last motifs have been guessed.
The player with the most victory-point tiles has won. In case of a tie, whichever of these players has more stop tiles in his stack wins. Should there still be a tie, there are multiple winners.
Expert Variant
Anyone who would like to play the game a bit more demanding may, as a variant, play one round longer. To do this, the overview on the cloud and the player boards are turned over. There, the details for 7 rounds with 5 storytelling rounds are found. In addition, the penalties for a failure are somewhat harsher.
Credits
The publisher and authors thank Anja and Ronald Brodowski, Luca and Laurin Dorra, Jens Franke, Markus Gebauer, Timothy Rinkleff, and Ulrich Stumpe for numerous test games.
Authors: Stefan Dorra (dorra-spiele.de) and Ralf zur Linde. Graphics: Michael Menzel
© Schmidt Spiele GmbH, Postfach 470437, D-12313 Berlin, www.schmidtspiele.de