König der Maulwürfel
König der Maulwürfel Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Material
The printed "Material:" heading has no word list under it. The components are shown only in the rulebook's pictures, which are not transcribed.
Setup (Family Version)
The Family Version is the basic game. The card deck, the dice results, and the numbers on the hats are not used in this version. These only play a role in the Pro Variant (see page 6 of the rulebook, section "Pro Variant" below).
Because the race must take place the way the Maulwürfe are used to from their home planet ROLLEX, a smooth surface is especially important. It is best to play on a table top with no tablecloth. If you like, you can try the game on very different surfaces over time. It is also important that you can walk around the table without difficulty.
Preparing the game: Each of you first receives the complete playing material of one colour, places your blocker in front of you, and assembles your Maulwurf from the cube, tower, face and hat (see Fig. 2).
Fig. 2: This is what a real Maulwurf looks like. The face is inserted into the front slot of the tower. The hat is inserted upright into the rear slot and so holds the cube in place.
Building the race track: The start-finish gate is assembled and set up on the table (see Fig. 3).
Fig. 3: The long rod is placed into the cross slots of the two posts. The start-finish gate should be at least as wide as two towers.
The obstacles (half-spheres) are distributed on the table as you like, and the course of the race track is determined. The track always begins and ends at the start-finish gate (see Fig. 4).
Fig. 4: With this arrangement of obstacles, the race track can run, for example, as shown by arrow A, or also as shown by arrow B.
If you cannot agree on a track together, then in the first race the player who can open his mouth the widest says where the track goes. In later games, the KÖNIG DER MAULWÜRFEL (winner of the last race) may build the race track in person and decide how the track runs.
Object of the Game
Each player moves his Maulwurf around all the obstacles as quickly as possible. The player who first successfully rolls his die over the finish line at the end of the race track is crowned KÖNIG DER MAULWÜRFEL.
Turn Order
The Maulwurf with the lowest starting number (on the paw) opens the race. Then the other players follow in ascending order of their starting numbers. After the Maulwurf with the highest starting number, the starting player goes again, and so on.
Nothing changes in this turn order even if the Maulwürfe overtake one another.
Starting Move
Whoever starts his Maulwurf places it, fully assembled (see Fig. 2), behind the starting line and turns it in the desired direction. Then he carries out his first turn.
Your Turn
When it is your turn, you may first place your blocker on the race track. In this way you can influence the rolling direction of your die (see Fig. 6).
Fig. 6: The blocker can be used to make the die roll in the desired direction, for example around an obstacle.
Then pull your Maulwurf's hat upward, so that the die rolls down onto the table through the opened mouth (see Fig. 5) and stays there.
Now your tower moves to the die, i.e. you place your tower next to your die so that its tower snout touches the die (see Figs. 7a, 7b). Be sure to think ahead to your next turn, because the exact position (tower orientation) that you now choose is the one from which you must roll the die next time (cf. Fig. 8).
Even if you do not like where your die has rolled to, you must still move your tower there and place it against the die.
Fig. 7a: When placed, the tower must touch the die with its tower snout.
When placing your tower, you must make sure that you do not move your die, any opposing tower, or an obstacle. If you do, you must put your tower back to where it stood at the beginning of your turn.
It can happen that your tower has to stay where it is (without the attempt being repeated). This happens only if your die has fallen off the table, or has not rolled through the mouth of your Maulwurf tower at all.
Fig. 7b: This is how the tower must not be placed against the die.
Fig. 8: Example: Jörg is taking his turn. But Angelika's tower stands exactly in front of his. Jörg would now like to re-orient his tower before rolling his die. But he may not do it, because when he placed his tower during his last turn he decided, once and for all, to place it the way it now stands.
Now your turn ends. At the end of every turn you must only put the hat back into your tower and place the die on the tower. Take your blocker off the race track again.
End of the Race
You win the race when you are the first to go around all the obstacles of the race track correctly and bring your die fully over the finish line. As the winner you are crowned KÖNIG DER MAULWÜRFEL immediately.
Pro Variant (for Mole Experts aged 10 and up)
Setup
After the KÖNIG DER MAULWÜRFEL (winner of the last race) has built the race track (as described in the basic rules), the 28 Maulwurf cards are shuffled and placed as a face-down stack. Then, sorted into groups (see Fig. 9), lay out all the game components on the table.
Fig. 9: The game components laid out sorted into groups.
In this Pro Variant the playing cards and the dice numbers (including those on the hats) now also come into play. The twist is that the players now assemble their own playing equipment. Each player receives one part from each group, by the following selection procedure: the youngest player chooses any part first. Then play proceeds clockwise until only the last player has no part yet. This player then takes two parts at once. After that, the order is reversed back to the starting player, who now chooses two parts. The turn order then changes again, and so on. By this same principle (with four players) all parts are divided up.
No player may take more than one part from the same group.
With three players, 6 parts (one from each group) remain over. The recommended variant for three players is as follows: the players first take, using the selection procedure described above, one part from each group out of the game. Only after that do they choose the parts they will play with.
With two players, 12 parts (two from each group) remain over.
Each player now receives the number of action cards named on his selection card from the face-down stack. These cards are kept secret from the other players. The selection cards are no longer needed and may be returned to the game box. The race is opened.
Special Rules of the Pro Variant (Cards and Dice Results)
The course of play is the same as in the Family Version. Only two things change:
1. The numbers on your Maulwurf's hat show you which dice results you must achieve in order to be allowed to move your tower. If your dice result differs from the numbers on your hat, you must leave your tower where it is (cf. Fig. 10).
Fig. 10: Dolly has the green hat on her tower. Her die shows a 7. Dolly must leave her tower where it is and place the die back on it.
2. Your own action cards may be played in unlimited number, provided that the time of play matches the time stated on the card at the bottom.
Each card played is read out immediately and carried out. Only after that does play continue in normal turn order. Carried-out cards (including those made ineffective by other cards) leave the game immediately.
If cards with contradictory content are played, the card played last always applies. The card "Your card is invalid" (Deine Karte ist ungültig) irreversibly cancels the effect of a card played earlier. As a result, a card played before the (now invalid) card in the same turn becomes effective again. An "extra attempt" (Zusätzlicher Versuch) counts as a new turn, i.e. playing cards used during the 1st attempt of the turn is no longer valid in a 2nd attempt.
Example: Dolly is taking her turn. Jörg shows her the card "Miss a turn" (Einmal aussetzen). Dolly uses the card "Your card is invalid" (Deine Karte ist ungültig) to make Jörg's card ineffective. Now Angelika plays the card "Only 1 and 2 count for you" (Bei dir zählen nur 1 und 2). In addition, Jörg now also plays the card "I take your blocker away" (Ich nehme dir den Blocker weg). Dolly therefore carries out her turn without a blocker. Her die stays at a 5. Because of Angelika's card, Dolly may not move her tower. But she now plays the card "For me, all numbers count this time" (Bei mir zählen diesmal alle Zahlen), so that she may now move her tower after all. When she wants to do so, Jörg plays the card "Your card is invalid" (Deine Karte ist ungültig), so that Dolly's card becomes ineffective and Angelika's card becomes effective again. Dolly may not move her tower. Therefore she now plays the card "Extra attempt" (Zusätzlicher Versuch), whereby all previously played cards become ineffective, because Dolly's new attempt is treated as a completely new turn. Her new attempt ends with a dice result of 4, and she may move her tower.
End of the Race (Pro Variant)
The winner of the race (KÖNIG DER MAULWÜRFEL) is the player who first went correctly around all the obstacles of the race track and brought his die fully over the finish line.
But: if the die that rolled over the finish line shows a number that does not allow the player to move his tower, his (winning) turn is invalid. The same applies if the die rolls off the table after crossing the finish line. Cards may still be played against a player who has reached the finish, so that his turn is also made invalid in this way and his victory is prevented for the time being.