Mistkäfer
Mistkäfer Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
- 4 tableaus
- 27 dice in three colors (9 per color)
- 48 chips (26x one dung ball, 13x two dung balls, 9x clover leaf)
Game Idea
Each player tries to fill their tableau by placing dice cleverly, in order to earn as many clover leaves or dung balls as possible. Each player may also show that they are a true dung beetle and steal dice from their fellow players. The first player to collect 4 clover leaves or a certain number of dung balls wins.
Setup
Each player receives 1 tableau. The dice are placed within easy reach of everyone in the middle of the table and are available to all players.
With 3 players, remove 1 die of each color and 1 clover-leaf chip.
With 2 players, remove 3 dice of each color and 3 clover-leaf chips.
The chips are shuffled face down and placed as a general supply.
Gameplay
The "biggest dung beetle" among the players begins. On their turn, the player can either:
A Roll or B Score
After the turn (rolling or scoring), the next player clockwise is up.
A. Rolling
The player takes up to 4 dice of one color of their choice. They roll these dice exactly once. Then they must decide on one rolled number and place all dice showing that value on their tableau. The following rules apply to the dice:
- Per roll, only dice with an identical value may be placed.
- These dice must be placed in the row of the same color.
- They must always be placed from left to right without gaps.
- On a later turn, dice may only be placed in a row that already contains dice if the new dice have a higher value! The same value as a die already lying there is not enough.
Example: Karl rolls with green. Since a green "1" from previous rounds is already on his tableau, he cannot choose the "1" and place it on his tableau. He decides on the "3" and places both "3s" on his tableau. The "5" would also have been possible, but then in later rolls he would only be able to place green "6s" as higher numbers.
IMPORTANT: During the game it can happen that fewer than 4 dice of a color remain in the supply. If a player chooses that color anyway, they can only take the remaining dice.
Stealing
Whenever a player places dice on their tableau, they may steal from every other player one completely identical die (color and number). This is only possible if that die lies at the far right end of its row. From each fellow player only 1 die per turn can be stolen, even if there are several dice with the same value in the row. The active player adds stolen dice to their own row, together with the other dice they chose.
Example: In the next round Karl decides to roll with yellow and places the "2" on his tableau (red arrow). His two fellow players also have "2s" on their tableaus. However, he cannot take the "2" from Marie, because it is protected by the "4". Willi has two "2s", of which Karl can take only one (the one lying on the right) (pink arrow). Had Karl chosen the "1", for example, he could only have placed one yellow die on his tableau.
IMPORTANT: In the 1st round of the game, no stealing is allowed yet!
Bad Luck
If none of the rolled dice has a higher value than the die lying last (that is, furthest right) in the corresponding color row, the player cannot place any die. In that case they must return all their own dice of the chosen color, and all dice of the other colors that lie to the right of the white line, from their tableau to the supply in the middle of the table!
Example: In his turn after next, Karl cannot get enough and rolls again. Since only three blue dice are left, he rolls those three dice and has bad luck: he cannot place any blue die on his tableau and therefore must remove all his blue dice (marked pink) and all dice lying to the right of the white line (marked red) from his tableau and put them in the middle of the table.
Bonus Spaces
When a player places a die on a bonus space, the player immediately receives the corresponding bonus action. This happens every time anew, if a die has been stolen from the space and a die is placed on the bonus space again.
If through the roll and possibly through stealing a player can occupy two bonus spaces, they may carry out both bonus actions in any order.
The bonus spaces are:
- Extra turn (arrow symbol): After finishing their turn, the player has an extra turn. They can roll again - also with a different dice color - or "Score" (see below).
- Chips (one or two chip symbols): The player immediately takes 1 or 2 chips (respectively) from the general supply in the middle of the table.
- Steal one chip (one player): The player may immediately steal 1 face-down chip from a player of their choice. If no player has a chip, they take 1 chip from the middle of the table.
- Steal chips (every player): The player may immediately steal 1 face-down chip from every player.
B. Scoring
Instead of rolling, a player can also score the dice on their tableau. They may take chips under the following conditions:
- For each completely filled column with a white chip pictured beneath it (1st and 2nd column), the player takes 1 face-down chip from the general supply.
- For each die that lies to the right of the white line, the player takes 1 face-down chip from the general supply.
Afterwards, all dice are removed from their tableau and put back into the general supply. Each player collects the won chips face down in front of them, but may look at them at any time.
Example: Karl scores his tableau. He receives a total of 4 chips: 1 chip for the complete 1st column (marked red) and a total of 3 chips for the 3 dice that lie to the right of the white line (marked pink). He receives no chip for the 2nd column, because a yellow die is missing there. Afterwards Karl puts all dice back into the middle of the table.
End of the Game
The chips show either one dung ball, two dung balls, or a clover leaf. As soon as a player has collected 4 clover leaves or a total of 12 dung balls, they announce it and win the game immediately!
With 3 players, 4 clover leaves or a total of 16 dung balls are enough to win.
With 2 players, 4 clover leaves or a total of 20 dung balls are enough to win.