Matschig
Matschig Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
110 playing cards: Water cards (mud), Sand cards (mud), Umbrella cards (defence), Special cards, and a card back.
Setup
- Shuffle all 110 cards thoroughly and deal each player 7 cards.
- The remaining cards are placed face-down and will make up the draw pile.
- Choose a starting player (or the dirtiest player).
Game Play
The active player (called the "mud-slinger") can only play one Sand card and one Water card against another player. The value of both cards determines the size of the mud ball thrown.
Christian is the "mud-slinger" this round and slings mud at Arnold.
If the player being pelted by the mud cannot (or will not) defend against the mud, the mud cards remain face-up in their mud pool. These cards will count as points against them at the end of the game.
Note: Players may ask to see the collected mud points of any opponent.
Defensive Cards Against Mud
The player being attacked may either play one Special card, or any number of Umbrella cards to defend himself. The "13" is regarded as a Special card.
Umbrella Cards
A player can defend themselves with as many Umbrella cards as they want. Each mud card has to be fended off individually, but several Umbrella cards can be used towards a single card (see illustration below). Slung mud is fended off if the value of the Umbrella cards is equal to, or greater than, the value of the mud card(s) played.
Arne defends against the value 4 Water card with both a value 2 and value 3 Umbrella card, and against the value 1 Sand card with a value 1 Umbrella card.
Any successfully blocked mud cards as well as the defence cards are discarded. The remaining cards which the player could not defend against are placed face-down in front of them as mud points.
Note on the source: the captions name the attacked player both as "Arnold" (card label) and "Arne" (caption text). Printed as in the sheet.
Defense with Special Cards
Instead of Umbrella cards, a pelted player can defend with one (and only one) Special card.
- The Fan blows all the Sand from the mud. The defending player only places any remaining Water card(s) in their mud pool.
- The Hair Dryer evaporates all the Water from the mud. The defending player only places any remaining Sand card(s) in their mud pool.
- The "13" card absorbs up to 13 mud points. In contrast to Umbrella cards, it covers both Water and Sand cards up to that amount.
- Divert card: divert the entire amount of mud back towards any player, even to the original mud-slinger. The one to whom the mud was diverted to has to defend against it. If they also play a "divert" card, they can pass the mud again.
- Spread card (the sheet gives this card no printed name; the label is taken from the card's effect): spread all the mud cards from the game. Discard it along with all of the mud cards. The other players each draw 1 card from the draw pile:
- if Sand or Water, add it to their mud pool (it can't be defended).
- if it's a defensive card, it's discarded (they are protected).
The Perfect Mud!
Perfect mud consists of equal values of Sand and Water (e.g. Water 3 / Sand 3). It can be thrown directly by one player towards another, or any other player can create it with a third (and final) card. If a player adds that third card, they can redirect the mud to any player, even back to the original mud-slinger.
Arne is the active player and slings mud at Sara. Christian plays a value 1 Sand card to make perfect mud, and then diverts it to Barbara.
The Mud-Party Continues
The mud-party continues until a player has been successfully pelted, adding the required mud cards to their mud pool. Players then replenish their hand back up to 7 cards. The "mud-slinger" of the previous round plays first, with players following in clock-wise order.
Note: Once the draw pile is depleted, shuffle the discard pile one final time so that players may draw one last hand of 7 cards. No further cards may be drawn to replenish their hand.
Can't Throw Mud?
If the active player lacks Sand or Water cards and can't make mud, the next player in clock-wise order takes their turn. If that player or any others, in clock-wise order, cannot make mud then the original active player discards their hand and draws 7 new cards. If they still cannot make mud, then the next player in clock-wise order discards their hand and draws 7 new cards, and so on.
Game End
When the draw pile is depleted and no players are able to throw any more mud, the round is finished. Each player counts their mud pool. Each player adds the face value of all cards in their mud pool and records them on a piece of paper (their "mud account").
The cleanest player (with the fewest mud points) is declared the winner. If there is a tie, those tied players share the victory. For a longer game, players can agree to play multiple rounds and add their scores from each one to determine the winner.
"Easier to Clean" Variant
If a player has only Water, or only Sand cards in their mud pool, they may divide the mud points of this round by two (round up). The player with the lowest number of mud points in their mud account at the end of the game is the winner.
"Perfect Mud" Variant
A player that has one of the following totals in their mud account at the end of a round may halve their entire mud account: 22, 44, 66, 88.