Nicht Ja, Nicht Nein Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Goal
• Setup
• Gameplay
• Tips
• End of the Game
• Travel Version

Contents

• 1 game board
• 110 cards, of which 55 are for children (orange) and 55 are for adults (green)
• 1 bell
• 6 game pieces

Goal

While the question player tries to get the answering player to say JA or NEIN, the answering player will try to avoid doing so. If the answering player says a forbidden word, the player who rang the bell first is rewarded.

Setup

• Place the game board on the table.
• Place the bell in the middle of the table, where everyone can reach it.
• Each player chooses a colour and places their game piece on the large starting space at the edge of the board that matches their colour.
• Shuffle the child cards and the adult cards separately and place both face down in the two card compartments in the box (child cards on the right, adult cards on the left).

Gameplay

1. The starting player takes the top card from the draw pile. Depending on the desired difficulty, this is either a child card or an adult card.

2. Play proceeds clockwise. The first player, seen from the starting player, whose piece is standing on a single-coloured space becomes the question player. If no player is standing on a single-coloured space, the question player may choose any player.

   The question player now rings the bell, and the question round begins!

   The question player reads the questions on the card in order. While reading, the question player should try to get the answering player to say JA or NEIN. No words may be added or left out.

3. As soon as the answering player answers with JA or NEIN, the players whose pieces stand on a DING space may ring the bell.

   The player who rang the bell first moves their game piece forward 1 space.

   If no player is standing on a DING space, or if only 2 players are playing, only the question player may ring the bell.

   Warning: A player who rang the bell wrongly must move their game piece back 1 space and is eliminated from this question round. The question player then continues with the questions.

   If the answering player has not answered JA or NEIN by the end of the card, the answering player may move their game piece forward 1 space.

   The card that was read aloud is placed at the bottom of the corresponding draw pile.

   Then the player seated to the left of the question player becomes the new question player, and the next round begins as described under point 1.

Tips

The bell may be rung when the answering player:

• hesitates too long before answering,
• nods or shakes their head, thereby indicating JA or NEIN,
• refuses to answer,
• is unable to answer, or answers with "doch" (the German word for "yes, but" / "oh yes"),
• gives the same answer more than twice, such as "I don't know", "naturally", etc.

End of the Game

The winner is the player who first brings their game piece into the middle of the game board.

Travel Version

The rules of the basic game apply with the following changes:

• The game board is not needed.
• Whoever rings the bell first wins the card that was read aloud. The answering player may not ring the bell themselves!
• If the answering player answers all the questions without saying JA or NEIN, they receive the card.
• The winner is the first player to collect 10 cards.