Geißlein, versteck dich!
Geißlein, versteck dich! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 6 colored hiding places
- 30 little kids
- 1 wolf
- 1 color die with six different colors
- 1 color die with three colors (for the easier variation)
- 1 set of game instructions
Mother goats are called nanny-goats, daddy goats are billy goats and little baby goats are kids.
Aim of the game
Save 7 little kids.
Who will remember well how many little kids are under which hiding place and succeed in saving seven of them from being caught by the wolf?
Preparation
Place 5 little kids underneath each hiding place, wolf in the center, get ready die.
There are six colored hiding places: wash bowl (green), kitchen sink (yellow), oven (red), bed (orange), table (purple), cupboard (blue). Arrange them in a circle and place 5 little kids underneath each of them. Place the wolf in the center and get the color die ready with the six colors.
The die with three colors is needed only for the easier variant and kept apart.
How to play
Throw the die. Say number of kids underneath the hiding place.
Play in a clockwise direction. The youngest player starts and throws the die.
Then they try to remember how many little kids are under the hiding place of the color on the die and announce the number they think correct.
The player then lifts the hiding place to check their answer by counting the number of little kids that match the color on the die.
Right: take goat.
- Was it the right number? They may take one of the little kids there and place it in front of them. Then the remaining goats are hidden again.
Wrong: take wolf.
- Was the number wrong? Oh, dear! The wolf starts to take notice. In this round, unfortunately, no little kid can be saved. Instead, the player in question has to take the wolf, and it's the turn of the next player.
The wolf stays with this player until another player guesses a wrong number.
Watch out
2nd time wrong: turn in goat.
A player says a wrong number and they have the wolf? Oh dear! They have to return one of the little kids they had already saved. The wolf has caught the little kid. Both, wolf and kid are placed in the center of the circle. If the player doesn't have any little kids yet they don't have to turn any in. The wolf however stays with the player.
Then it's the turn of the next player to roll the die.
Later during the game there will be empty hiding places. Did a player guess right that a hiding place is empty? They may throw the die again. This type of play may be repeated various times until the player is able to save a little kid or guess incorrectly.
End of game
The game ends as soon as …
- a player has saved seven little kids thus winning the game (7 kids saved: winner)
or
- the wolf has caught six little kids. Then the wolf wins and all the players lose together. (Wolf has 6 kids: all players lose!)
Variant for younger saviors of little kids
The game becomes easier if only the yellow, red and blue hiding places and thus the die with the three colors are used. Again five little kids are hidden underneath the hiding places, the wolf is kept apart. The player who first saves four little kids, wins the game.
The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats
This fairy tale is the printed story the booklet refers to. It is reproduced as printed, including the original spelling.
Once upon a time there was an old goat and her seven little kids.
One day when she had to to set off to the forest, she warned her children to be beware of the wolf. "If he manages to get in, he will swallow you up whole", she says. "But you will recognize him by his rough voice and his black feet."
Indeed, not long had passed before somebody knocked at the door and shouted: "Open up, you darling little children! Your mother has returned and has brought a little present for you all". The little kids however knew by the rough voice that it was the wolf and did not open the door.
Some time later he returned. This time he had eaten chalk in order to soften his voice. But once again the kids recognized him by his black paws.
The third time however he outwitted them. He showed them his paws which were snowy white after he had dipped them in lour. The wolf fooled the little kids and they opened they door for him.
Oh dear, disaster! Even though they all hid away as quickly as they could, he found six of them and swallowed them up in one big bite. Only the smallest one managed to escape as the wolf didn't find it as it had crept into the wall clock.
The wolf satisfied and sleepy, slunk away to rest in a meadow. When the nanny goat returned home and only found a single little kid she was very upset. Together with the only little kid left to her, she went off and soon found the sleeping wolf. His big belly was wriggling from one side to the other side and suddenly she hoped that her six little kids were still alive. Without a second thought she sliced open the wolf's belly and extracted all the little kids. Then together they put heavy stones into the wolf's belly and sewed up his tummy again.
When the wolf woke up, he was very thirsty. He went to a fountain and full of thirst lent himself over the edge. But the lumps of rock were very heavy! Weighed down by the stones the wolf toppled into the fountain, where he drowned.
The little goats and their mother, on the other side, were happily united again, danced around the font and sang: "The wolf is dead, the wolf is dead, our troubles have fled".
Note: the printed story contains the spellings "to to", "lour" (flour), "they door" (the door) and "font" (fountain); these are transcribed as printed.