Schätz die Welt: Wer wird Tipp-Weltmeister? Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Goal of the Game
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • 1. Receive 3 country cards and reveal 3 category cards
  • 2. Assign the country cards
  • 3. Scoring and awarding points
  • 4. Answer the capital city question
  • End of round
• 24/48 Chips
• The Categories
• End of Game

Components

• 142 country cards (front: country name and flag; back: numbers)
• 18 category cards (front: category name; back: world map)
• 1 game board, consisting of 2 parts plus a connecting piece
• 5 pawns (player pieces) in 5 colours
• 5 24/48 chips in 5 colours (each with a "24" side and a "48" side)
• 1 world map (reference card, not used during play)

Goal of the Game

In this game you try to place your own country cards next to the three category cards. The categories cover: number of inhabitants, size of the country, average temperature, population density, road network, poverty or wealth, precipitation, forest share, and capital cities. Whoever estimates well and has the most points after 6 rounds wins. Everyone gains something along the way, because you learn interesting facts about the countries of the world during every game.

Setup

• The game board is assembled and laid out at the edge of the table.
• Each player chooses a colour and places their own pawn in the middle of the game board.
• The two card decks are placed face down next to the game board:
  • 18 category cards: the world map on the back is visible
  • 142 country cards: the country name with its flag is visible
• The 24/48 chips are also placed next to the game board.
• Set the world map aside. It helps you after the game if you want to look up where a country lies.

The game lasts 6 rounds.

Gameplay

Each round proceeds as follows:

1. Receive 3 country cards and reveal 3 category cards.
2. Assign the country cards to the category cards.
3. Scoring and awarding points.
4. Answer the capital city question.

1. Receive 3 country cards and reveal 3 category cards

Each player receives 3 country cards, which they place in front of them flag side up.

Important: You may look at the back of the country cards, which shows the numbers, only during scoring.

Then reveal 3 category cards and lay them out with space between them in the middle of the table. There must be enough room around each category card for the country cards to be placed.

2. Assign the country cards

Now each player estimates their own countries with respect to the requested categories and assigns them as optimally as possible to the category cards. When placing, make sure you place the cards according to your seating order, so that afterwards you still know who placed which card (see the example below).

There is no fixed order for placing cards; everyone places their cards at the same time.

Variant: If some players change their cards too often, you can choose one player to begin. Going around the table in turn, that player places the first card, then everyone in turn places the second card, and finally everyone in turn places the third card.

Example of placing country cards in a game for five players (the example shows the cards of Anja, Ben, Emma, David and Caro, placed around the three category cards):

Important: Pay attention on the category cards to whether the category asks for a high value (the maximum) or a low value (the minimum). In the Inhabitants category, for example, the aim is to place countries with as few inhabitants as possible. For Forest Area, the forest share as a percentage of the country's land area should be as large as possible (see also "The Categories" on page 7).

3. Scoring and awarding points

Once you have placed all your country cards, scoring takes place.

For this, all country cards of one category are revealed and it is determined who best fulfils the required condition.

• First place receives 3 points.
• Second place receives 2 points.
• Third place receives 1 point.

Immediately move your own pawn on the game board forward by the corresponding number of spaces.

Example of awarding points (the illustration concerns the lowest annual average temperature, the largest number of inhabitants and the lowest population density):

• A Anja receives 6 points (3 points for the lowest temperature / Canada, 3 points for the lowest population density / Paraguay).
• B Ben receives 1 point (for the third-lowest population density / Uzbekistan).
• C Caro receives 2 points (1 point for the third-lowest temperature / Austria, 1 point for the third-largest number of inhabitants / Turkey).
• D David receives 7 points (2 points for the second-lowest temperature / Denmark, 3 points for the largest number of inhabitants / Pakistan, 2 points for the second-lowest population density / Tunisia).
• E Emma receives 2 points (for the second-largest number of inhabitants / Nigeria).

Important: In the rare case that two country cards have the same value in the requested category, both receive the corresponding points. Subsequent places shift accordingly.

Example 1: Ben has the largest forest share. Caro and Emma both have the same second-largest forest share. Ben receives 3 points, Caro and Emma each receive 2 points, and the third place is not awarded.

Example 2: Ben and Caro have the same largest forest share. Emma has the second-largest forest share. Ben and Caro each receive 3 points, and the second place is not awarded. Emma receives 1 point for the third place.

4. Answer the capital city question

After all three categories have been scored, it is determined which of you stands on the last position on the game board.

• If two or more players stand on the last position, no capital city question is asked.
• If one player stands alone on the last position, another player draws the top card from the country deck and reads out the name of the country. If the player on the last position names the corresponding capital city, they may move their pawn forward on the game board by three spaces.

Example: After the first round, Ben stands on the last position. Anja draws the top card from the country deck, which is Greece, and asks for the capital. Ben correctly answers "Athens". Ben may move their pawn forward by 3 spaces.

End of round

The country cards and category cards that were used go back into the box.

Continue with step 1 ("Receive 3 country cards and reveal 3 category cards") until you have played 6 rounds and used all category cards.

24/48 Chips

When you cross space 24 on the game board, take the 24/48 chip in your player colour and place it on the table in front of you with the "24" side up. This means that from now on you have 24 points, plus the further points shown by your pawn on the game board.

If you cross space 24 a second time during the game, turn the chip over to the side with the "48". This means you have 48 points, plus the further points shown by your pawn on the game board.

The Categories

Each category card asks a question. The icons on the cards mark whether the high value (the maximum, "max") or the low value (the minimum, "min") is wanted. Where only one of the two is asked, this is stated.

• Inhabitants (country) – Which country has the most inhabitants (max), or the fewest (min)?
• Population density – Which country has the highest population density (max), or the lowest (min)? Population density is the number of inhabitants per km² of the country's land area.
• Inhabitants (capital) – Which capital city has the most inhabitants (max), or the fewest (min)? The inhabitant figure refers to the administrative city area, not the metropolitan region.
• GDP – Which country has the highest gross domestic product per capita (max), or the lowest (min)? The GDP (the value of all goods and services of an economy in one year) is inflation-adjusted here and counts as real GDP, independent of price fluctuations.
• Forest area – Which country has the largest forest area as a percentage (max), or the smallest (min)? The forest area is given as a percentage of the country's land area.
• Land area – Which country has the largest land area in km² (max), or the smallest (min)?
• Road network – Which country has the longest road network in km (max)? The minimum is not asked. Some countries count only their paved roads, others also count unpaved roads as part of their road network.
• Average annual temperature – Which capital city has the highest average annual temperature (max), or the lowest (min)?
• Precipitation – Which capital city has the most precipitation per m² per year (max), or the least (min)? The precipitation height in mm is given as the total precipitation per unit of area (mm = l/m²).
• – Which capital city name has the most letters (max)? The minimum is not asked.

End of Game

After 6 rounds the game ends. The player whose pawn is furthest ahead on the game board is the Guessing World Champion. In case of a tie, all players tied for the lead win.

Data sources (status: August 2021):

• Number of inhabitants, number of inhabitants of the capital city, population density, gross domestic product, land area: Wikipedia, individual countries, e.g. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan
• Forest area: https://data.worldbank.org/, CC BY-4.0
• Road network: The World Factbook 2021, Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 2021: https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/
• Average annual temperature, average annual precipitation: https://de.climate-data.org/

Note: This game is "only" about the 142 countries of the world, because comparable figures were not available for all countries of the world. In some categories the figures were rounded to avoid decimal places. The world map does not include all existing countries of the world, but more than the 142 country cards.