Oskar
Oskar Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Idea and Goal
Film production is teamwork. So it goes in this game too. The various teams are thrown together, and then the battle for audience numbers can break loose.
Through tactical play of cards, a player tries to make sure that his team wins the most valuable trick.
Oskar tokens are handed out when the required number of points is reached.
The player who first collects 7 or 8 Oskar tokens wins the game.
Components
- 38 playing cards. The playing cards have a colour and numbers on them.
- 12 special dice. The special dice have 6 different pictures, which correspond to 6 different film genres, namely: western, horror, comedy, action, science fiction and love story.
- 6 overview cards. The overview cards show the rank of the colours and the distribution of points for the different colour combinations.
- 40 Oskar tokens. The Oskar tokens are needed to win the game. They are handed out to the players whose film is popular and trendy.
- 1 rulebook.
Note: the component list says 38 playing cards, but the overview card (see below) totals 36 cards (4 + 7 + 9 + 11 coloured cards and 5 red cards). The rules sheet is transcribed as printed; the number of cards in the box should be checked against the physical game.
Overview Card
Each overview card shows the following:
| Rank | Colour | Number of cards | Card values | Cards | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yellow | once per value | 1–4 | 4 | 10 |
| 2 | Green | once per value | 2–8 | 7 | 35 |
| 3 | Blue | once per value | 3–11 | 9 | 63 |
| 4 | Lilac | once per value | 4–16 | 11 | 130 |
Rank 1 is the highest colour: yellow beats green, green beats blue, and blue beats lilac. Red is the special-function colour; its cards are the zeros (see "Zeros" below).
Setup
The Oskar tokens are set aside at the start of the game.
Each player receives one overview card and 2 dice. Each player rolls his dice and places the roll face up in front of him.
A card dealer is chosen, who distributes the playing cards evenly among the players. Any remaining cards form the stock and are set aside.
Course of Play
The player to the left of the card dealer opens the first trick and plays one arbitrary card first. The other players then follow clockwise, each also playing one card.
As in the real card game, a player does not have to follow the suit of the first player. Each player may play any card of his choice.
The player who played the highest card wins the trick. He collects the played cards and places this trick face up in front of himself on the table.
Normally the highest card is the card of the most valuable colour (see the overview card). Yellow beats green, green beats blue, and blue beats lilac.
If a trick contains more than one card of the same most valuable colour, the player who played the highest number of that colour wins the trick.
Zeros
The zeros have a special function in this game.
The first zero in a trick
As soon as one zero is played, the meaning of the colours lapses. In this way the player who played the highest card wins the trick regardless of colour. If several cards with the same highest number are played, the player who played his card first wins the trick.
The second zero in a trick
As soon as a second zero is played, the meaning of the numbers on the cards also lapses. The player who played the second zero therefore always wins the trick. In addition, he receives the stock cards that are still available. However, he may not look at them until the end of this round.
Further zeros in one trick no longer have any special meaning.
The winner of a trick always plays the first card of the new trick.
The round ends when all cards have been played. Then scoring follows.
Scoring
Each player adds up the value of all the cards he has won.
If a player has won a trick by playing the second zero, he also adds the value of the remaining stack to his total. If the stock of cards was not won by anyone, its value lapses.
The players' points are recorded on a separate score sheet.
Trend Determination
Next, on the score sheet, each player's total scores are recorded under the film genres he rolled with his two dice. In this way a total score can be calculated for each visible film genre (on the die).
Any film genre that has collected a total of 120 or more points is trendy.
For each trendy film genre that a player rolled with one of his dice, he receives one Oskar token. Per round a player can therefore earn at most 2 tokens: either because he rolled the trendy film genre twice with his dice, or because both genres he rolled are trendy. This often happens when two or more players roll the same symbols at the start of their turn and in this way help each other, deliberately or unintentionally.
(The example on the printed sheet shows a scoring and trend determination, with one column per dice symbol and one row per player. Its per-player totals are: Marc 36 (bat) and 36 (heart); Anne 27 (bat) and 27 (mask); Carl 40 (hat) and 40 (pistol); Werner 61 (pistol) and 61 (mask); Herman 18 (bat); Maria 56 (bat) and 56 (mask). The column totals are hat 40, bat 137, pistol 101, mask 144 and heart 36. The circles next to the rows mark the Oskar tokens earned in that example.)
Rerolling the Dice
The player who collected the most points in his tricks at the end of a round must reroll both of his dice. If two players have collected exactly the same number of points, both of them must reroll both of their dice.
The other players may, if they wish, reroll one of their dice.
The player who collected the fewest points may reroll one or both of his dice.
The player who had collected the most points rolls first, followed by the player with the fewest points. In the event of a tie, the seating position (starting with the start player) determines who may roll first.
Whenever a player rolls two identical symbols, he may, if he wishes, reroll one of these dice.
Next Round
The player to the left of the previous card dealer deals all the cards out again among the players. The player to the left of him plays the first card.
End of the Game
The game ends as soon as a player has earned his seventh (or eighth) Oskar token. The player who has collected the most Oskar tokens wins the game.
Game Tips
It is very important to collect many points in your own trends (rolled with your own dice). Because a player often cannot win the trick himself, it is sometimes useful to let players with the same trends win the trick. This can be done by tactically playing a zero when a fellow player with the same trend has played a high card, or when you suspect a second zero from your partner.
Of course, a player can also play cards of high value into a trick when his "partner" seems set to win the trick.
If a player has rolled "bad" dice (dice that the other players have practically not rolled), it is best for him to collect as few points as possible. At the end of the round this gives him the right to reroll both dice.