Null Bock!
Null Bock! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
The game consists of two types of cards:
- 30 cards depict does (biches), and 30 cards depict stags (cerfs).
- There are 3 doe cards of each value from 1 to 9, plus one card of each of the values 11, 13 and 15. One of the doe cards numbered 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 also bears a Plus sign (these are the "pretentious does").
- There are 3 stag cards of each value from 2 to 10. There are also 3 stags numbered 0 (the "Null Bock" cards).
Game Concept
What is it about?
In this game the players simulate the rut, the mating season of the stags and does.
The stags fight for the does, which are placed in the centre of the table. Each player tries to place the Great Stag and, in doing so, to win a harem of does.
At the end of the game, the player with the best harem (the sum of the numbers) is the winner.
Explanation of the game concept:
In the game, the centre of the table represents the Arena. The does present themselves there and the stags fight for them. The stag that wins the does in the Arena is the Great Stag. Many cards can be played in the Arena during the game.
The space immediately in front of a player is called the Edge. The "outsider" stags appear there and wait at a respectful distance from the Great Stag, hoping to win an isolated doe. Each player's Edge must hold at most one card at the end of a turn.
I. Setup
Separate the does from the stags.
For a 3-player game, remove all stags numbered 2, 3, 4 and 5, and all does numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4. These cards will not be used.
For a 4-player game, remove all stags numbered 2 and 3, and all does numbered 1 and 2. These cards will not be used.
For a 5- or 6-player game, use all the cards.
Shuffle each pack carefully and deal them out in equal numbers to all the players, so that each player has 6 does and 6 stags in hand (in a 6-player game, each player receives 5 cards of each type).
Each player chooses any one of their cards, doe or stag, to go on their Edge, and places it face down in front of them. When all players are ready, they reveal their cards together and the first player begins the game.
In the first round, the first player is chosen at random. In subsequent rounds, the player with the highest score begins.
II. Playing the Game
The game is played clockwise.
On their turn, a player plays one card from their hand. Then it is the next player's turn.
Cards may be played in the Arena or on the Edge.
The first player begins by playing a doe in the Arena (in the middle).
General rules:
- The player whose turn it is must always play a card, whether they play it in the Arena or on an Edge.
- A pretentious doe (+) can never be placed on another pretentious doe.
- In the Arena, a doe can never be placed on a stag.
- Whenever the Arena is empty, the player whose turn it is must play a doe into it. If they cannot, the turn passes to the next player, who must play a doe, and so on.
On their turn, each player has the following options.
A) Playing a card in the Arena:
- Play a doe of higher value on a doe previously played in the Arena.
- Play a pretentious doe (+) on a doe that is not pretentious (without +). The value of the doe covered is of no importance.
- Play a stag on a doe in the Arena. The number of the stag may be lower than that of the doe.
- Play a stag of higher value on a stag previously played in the Arena.
- Play a "Null Bock" (0) on another stag in the Arena. The value of the stag covered is of no importance.
B) Playing a card on any Edge:
- Play a stag, which must be of equal or higher value, on a doe. The stag remains on that Edge. The player who played the stag wins the doe. They place it face down on the table in front of them.
- Play a "Null Bock" (0) on any doe. The value of this doe is of no importance. The "Null Bock" remains on the Edge. The player who played it has conquered the doe. They place it face down on the table in front of them.
- Play a doe on any stag. The number of this stag is of no importance. The doe remains on the Edge. The player who played the doe takes the stag into their hand.
- The does numbered 11, 13 and 15 cannot be played on an Edge. They may only be played in the Arena.
If a player cannot legally play any card, they lose their turn!
Winning a harem:
When a player's turn comes around again and they find that the last stag they played in the Arena is still on top of the pile, because no other stag has dared to challenge it in the Arena, it is said that they have played a Great Stag, and as a result they clean the Arena. They take all the cards (does and stags) that were in the Arena and place them face down on the table in front of them as their winnings.
This player, having just cleaned the Arena, then continues the game by playing a doe in the Arena. If they cannot, it is then up to their left-hand neighbour to continue the game.
III. End of the Round
A round can end in two ways.
- The round ends when no player can play a doe in the Arena.
- The round ends when a player whose turn it is cannot play a card because they have none left in their hand. The player who played the last stag in the Arena then wins all the cards in the Arena. If there is no stag in the Arena, then no player wins the cards in the Arena.
IV. Scoring
Once the round is over, each player adds up the points of the does they have won, in the face-down pile in front of them. The points of the stags are worth nothing. They then subtract from this total the points of the does that remain in their hand at the end of the round. Does remaining in hand cost points.
A player who holds a "Null Bock" in their hand at the end of the round loses 15 points as a penalty.
Attention: if a player has succeeded in cleaning the Arena while it contained a "Null Bock" during the round, the "Null Bock" earns them 15 bonus points.
Cards that remain on any Edge or in the Arena score no points for anyone.
Several rounds are played, until a player reaches 150 points. Alternatively, a fixed number of rounds may be decided on at the start of the game, at the end of which the player with the highest score is the winner.