Pickomino
Pickomino Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 16 barbecue worm helpings with values from 21 to 36
- 8 dice with six symbols (numbered 1 - 5 and with one worm)
- This game rule
Goal Of the Game
The winner will be the player with the most worms in his claws at the end of the game.
Preparation
Place the 16 barbecue worm helpings next to each other on the center of the table, so that they are in ascending order. This row forms the barbecue grill. The youngest player gets the dice and begins the game.
The number on the barbecue worm helping shows what score (sum of collected dice) the player needs to get at the end of his turn in order to take the worm. In each worm helping there are one to several worms printed.
Playing the Game
The starting player begins the game and play continues in clockwise order.
The player whose turn it is tries to get a barbecue worm from the grill or to snatch one from another player.
To do so, he rolls all 8 dice at once. Now he chooses one of the numbers from the dice roll and takes all the dice with that number (or all the worms) and places them in front of himself. However, he is only allowed to pick a symbol he has not yet collected before. The symbols of all the dice he collected previously are added together so that all the players know his current sum.
Each collected worm is worth 5 points.
Example: From his first dice roll, Jonathan chooses both worms and places them in front of himself. He can then roll the six remaining dice. This time, he picks the two 4's and places them next to the two collected worms from the first dice roll. He now has a score of 18 (2 x worm + 2 x 4 = 18). He cannot collect the three worms he just rolled now as he has already two worms from his previous dice roll. Jonathan can roll the four remaining dice again. This time, he gets two 4's, a 5 and a worm. He has no choice but to take the 5 from this roll, since he has already collected the other symbols. His current score is now at 23. If he chooses to keep rolling the dice, he now needs to get at least a 1, 2, or a 3, as he already possesses 4's, 5's, and worms.
Getting a Barbecue Worm Helping
As soon as a player collects all 8 dice or all 6 symbols on the dice his turn is over. He can also end his turn earlier if he chooses to. However, this only makes sense if he can take a worm helping from the grill or another player.
If the collected dice include at least one worm symbol and add up to the number of a visible barbecue worm helping, the player can take it.
If the portion is on the grill, he takes it from there. Otherwise, if the barbecue worm is lying visibly in front of another player, he can snatch it from him. You can only snatch a worm helping from another player if you have the exact count.
If the sum of his collected dice equals the worm helping that is lying open in his own stack or if it is not lying on the grill, the player takes another helping from the grill that has a lower value, if available. This also applies in case he overlooks that another player has this helping of barbecue worm visibly in front of himself.
Examples:
- Jonathan has to take the three 2's from his third dice roll, as he has already collected the 4's. He ends his turn with the result of 24 and, with this, takes the barbecue worm helping number 24 from the grill.
- Steven ends his turn and takes the helping 21 that lies visibly in front of Heather.
- Nicole has a score of 23 and ends her turn. She takes the next lowest helping from the grill (21), since the 23 is already visible in front of her and the 22 has been taken and placed safe by another player.
- Tom ends his turn with a score of 31 and takes the helping with the 28 from the grill. This is because the helpings numbered 31, 30 and 29 are not visible at the moment.
- Heather has a score of 26, when she ends her turn. She overlooks the helping 26 that is visible in front of Jonathan. Therefore, she takes the 25 from the grill.
Taking a Barbecue Worm Helping and Building a Stack
When a player takes a barbecue worm helping, he places it face-up in front of himself. Each new helping collected is placed face-up on top of the last one collected, thus building a stack. This means that there is always just one visible helping lying in front of a player. This visible helping is the only one that can be "snatched" by the other players. The covered worm helpings are "safe".
Example: Nicole can take the helping with the 28. She places it face-up on her stack. All helpings beneath are "safe" for the moment.
Unsuccessful Turns
A turn is over unsuccessfully, when a player gets a dice roll that has only numbers and worms which he has already collected. The player stops rolling the dice for this turn.
The attempt has also failed if at the end of the player's turn, he wasn't able to collect any worm(s). The same applies if the player is unable to reach the score of a visible worm helping.
After a failed attempt, not only does the player get no worm helping, he also must return one he has previously collected that is on top of his stack of worm helpings (if he has one) and place it back on the grill (see Returning a Barbecue Worm Helping). The next player gets his turn.
Examples:
- On her 4th dice roll, Nicole gets only symbols that she has already collected.
- Heather gets two 5's on her third roll. Though she has a score of 31 and the helping 31 is visible, she cannot take any worm helping because she has failed to collect any dice with the worm symbol.
- With his last dice roll, Tom gets two 1's and reaches a score of 25. The worm helping with the 25 is already his and there are no helpings left on the grill with a lower value. Bad luck for Tom.
Returning a Barbecue Worm Helping
When a player needs to return a worm helping, he places it face-up back on the grill. Then, he turns over (face down) the highest available worm helping on the grill. This helping cannot be acquired for the remainder of the game and is left face-down.
If the returned helping is the highest number on the grill, it remains face-up.
Examples:
- Tom has to return his visible worm helping to the grill. Since at the moment the 34 is the highest helping on the grill, he turns it face down.
- Heather has to return the helping with the 30 to the grill. Since this helping is now the highest on the grill, it will remain face-up. In this case no worm helping is turned over.
Game End and Final Score
The game ends as soon as there are no more open worm helpings on the grill.
Now, each player adds up the worms that are on their barbecue worm helpings. The player with the most worms has won the game. If there is a tie, the player that has the most valuable single worm helping (the one with the highest number) has won the game.
Alternative
If you want to shorten the game, you can use the following alternative: the returned helping is also placed face-down, even if it is the highest number on the grill.
Credits
- Publisher: Zoch Verlag
- Author: Reiner Knizia
- Illustration: Doris Matthäus
- Translation: Philip Vargas
- © 2005 Rio Grande Games