Schnapp's Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • Round 1: Now It Begins!
  • Round 2: More Pep with Handicaps
  • Round 3: Role Swap
  • End of Game and Winner
• Variants
  • Mixed Up! Teamwork with Changing Partners (for 5 to 8 players)
  • The Team Game: Together We Are Strong (for 4, 6 or 8 players)
  • The Cooperative Game: Together Against the Clock (for 4 to 8 players)
• Handicaps
• Category Terms (Oberbegriffe der Bildkärtchen)

Components

• 96 picture cards (Bildkärtchen)
• 30 task cards (Aufgabenkarten)
• 18 handicap cards (Handicapkarten)
• 1 explainer card (Erklärerkarte)
• 1 seeker card (Sucherkarte)
• 1 hourglass (Sanduhr)
• 40 wooden cubes (Holzwürfel) in three colours

Setup

• Lay the picture cards face up in the middle of the table so that none is covered.
• Shuffle the task cards and the handicap cards separately and place them as face-down stacks.
• Set up the hourglass and place the wooden cubes beside it.

Gameplay

One player is the "explainer" (Erklärer) of the first round. He places the explainer card in front of himself. His left neighbour operates and monitors the hourglass. The next player clockwise is the "seeker" (Sucher) and places the card "Schnapp's!" (the seeker card) in front of himself. The other players also monitor the hourglass and, in later rounds, the observance of the handicaps.

Round 1: Now It Begins!

On the command "On your marks, get set, snap!" ("Auf die Plätze, fertig, schnapp's!") the hourglass is turned over. At the same time the explainer takes the top task card from the stack and immediately begins explaining the first motif.

What is important when explaining:

• The explainer may not give any hints about the position of the relevant picture card on the table.
• He may not show his task card to anyone while explaining.
• He may not comment, with "yes", "no" or other words or gestures, on whether the seeker takes a correct or an incorrect picture card.
• The explainer does not have to explain the motifs in any particular order. He may break off an explanation at any time and switch to any other motif he likes.

The seeker may now snap picture cards. When he believes he has found the sought motif, he places the card quickly in front of himself.

What is important when seeking and snapping:

• For each motif that is explained to him, the seeker may take only one picture card. If he changes his decision after already taking a card, he must first return that card before taking another.
• The seeker may not ask questions.
• The seeker may give information such as "Next!" ("Weiter!") or "Got it!" ("Hab' ich!").

Until the hourglass has run out once, the explainer and the seeker have time to find as many motifs as possible "together". When the hourglass has run out, the other players call "Stop!" and the search is broken off immediately.

Scoring: explainer and seeker receive the same number of victory points.

All players now compare together how many of the sought motifs were actually found. Each correct motif gives one point, both for the explainer and for the seeker. Incorrect motifs do not count.

Both take the corresponding cubes from the supply. Cubes may be exchanged at any time. A blue cube is worth 1 point, a green cube 5 points and a red cube 20 points.

Next, Please!

First, all snapped picture cards are put back into the middle with the others. The task card that was used is removed from the game. Then the "roles" of the explainer and the seeker, as well as the hourglass, are passed to the respective left neighbour: the player who was just the seeker receives the hourglass, his right neighbour becomes the explainer and his left neighbour becomes the new seeker. The (new) explainer takes the next task card face down, the hourglass is turned over and off you go!

Round 2: More Pep with Handicaps

When every player has been explainer once, round 2 begins. The explainer first takes the top handicap card from the stack and reads it aloud. As soon as the hourglass runs, the explainer must describe the motifs in such a way that he does not violate his handicap. The other players watch over compliance with the handicap. If they notice a violation, the motif may not be explained further (also at a later point in time) and the seeker may not take a picture card for it either. The explainer then immediately rephrases a different motif.

Handicap cards that have been used are put back under the stack after the hourglass has run out.

Round 3: Role Swap

When every player has been explainer a second time, round 3 begins. In round 3 the roles are swapped: as soon as the first player receives the explainer card for the third time, he immediately passes it to the player two seats away, from whom he takes the seeker card. From now on the same pairs play as before, but with the roles reversed. Again the respective explainer draws a handicap card before the hourglass is turned over. After the scoring, the hourglass, seeker card and explainer card are passed to the respective left neighbour as usual.

End of Game and Winner

When every player has been explainer a third time, the game ends. The player with the most points now wins.

Variants

Mixed Up! Teamwork with Changing Partners (for 5 to 8 players)

Mixed Up! works according to the same game rules with the following special features:

• There is always one explainer and three seekers.
• The three seekers always sit next to each other and follow the player who monitors the hourglass.
• At the end of a run (after the scoring), the "roles" of the explainer and the seekers are passed to the left neighbour as usual.
• The seekers may place only one picture card for each motif explained. To do so they must confer and agree.
• All three seekers and the explainer receive the same number of points.

The game ends when every player has been explainer three times. The player with the most points wins.

(The printed rulebook includes a seating diagram for 5 players showing the hourglass, the explainer and the three seekers. The diagram is not reproduced here.)

The Team Game: Together We Are Strong (for 4, 6 or 8 players)

The team game works according to the same game rules with the following special features:

• The players divide into 2 teams of equal size.
• First, team 1 plays while team 2 monitors the hourglass and the handicaps.
• The playing team provides a first explainer, while all other players of the same team are "seekers" and search at the same time.
• The seekers may place only one picture card for each motif explained. To do so they must confer and agree.

After the scoring, team 2 is up and team 1 takes over the hourglass, and so on. Each time the teams switch roles, a different player of the playing team becomes the explainer. When every player has been explainer three times, the game ends. The team with the most points wins.

The Cooperative Game: Together Against the Clock (for 4 to 8 players)

The cooperative game works according to the same game rules with the following special features:

• The goal is to collect as few negative points (wooden cubes) together as possible.
• One player is explainer for the first run, while all others search together for the correct picture cards. All must also keep an eye on the hourglass to see when it has run out.
• For each motif explained, each seeker may snap 1 picture card.
• During each run, each seeker may snap and lay out in front of himself no more than 3 picture cards.
• A player who already has 3 picture cards may still help his fellow players snap the sought picture cards.
• All snapped picture cards count as a shared "loot". For each sought motif of the task card that was not found, there is one negative point at the end of a round. Accordingly, that many wooden cubes are set aside from the supply after each run.

When every player has been explainer three times, the game ends. Now count up the negative points together.

To see how well you did, play once more together against the hourglass. Decide beforehand by how many points you want to improve this time. Can you increase your score?

Handicaps

The handicaps apply during the whole explanation. For example, the tongue must constantly be pressed against one's own cheek while speaking...

Explanations of the handicaps:

The printed rulebook illustrates eight handicap cards and explains them as follows. The text of the other handicap cards is not printed in this rulebook.

Handicap card: "Lay the category terms (see the back of the rules) next to you. Do not use any of these category terms."

• Explanation: Plural forms, compound words, etc. of the category terms may also not be used. Example: words such as "Schiffsrumpf" (ship's hull) or "Boote" (boats) are not allowed for the category "Schiff, Boot" (ship, boat).

Handicap card: "Memorise the task card while the hourglass runs once. Then explain from memory."

• Explanation: When explaining, the hourglass is turned over again, as usual.

Handicap cards: "A third player may 'co-explain' (and say completely wrong things in the process)." and "A third player seeks along with you and tries to snap the sought motif away from you. He too may take only one picture card per motif."

• Explanation (for both cards): The "third player" is of course neither seeker nor explainer.

Handicap card: "Hop around the table on one leg while explaining."

• Explanation: If the game is not played on a table, hop around the players.

Handicap card: "A third player turns over 5 arbitrary picture cards before the explanation. All players see which they are."

• Explanation: One may look at face-down cards. If they are not snapped, they must be put back face down.

Handicap card: "Take two task cards. Explain the motifs of one card to the seeker and snap the motifs of the second task card yourself from the middle."

• Explanation: The task card for explaining may not be mixed with the one used for snapping one's own picture cards.
• The small print at the bottom of this card is illegible at the resolution of the printed rulebook and is not transcribed.

Handicap card: "When explaining, you may use only one vowel (as in the song 'Three Chinamen with the Double Bass')."

• Explanation: The explainer may choose one vowel and use it consistently, for example: "Dri Chinisin mit dim Kintribiss...." (sample text as printed, in a made-up language)

Category Terms (Oberbegriffe der Bildkärtchen)

The picture cards belong to the following category terms (Oberbegriffe). The printed rulebook shows them with one picture each:

• Mountain, mountain range (Berg, Gebirge)
• Letter, envelope (Brief, Umschlag)
• Butterfly (Schmetterling)
• Ship, boat (Schiff, Boot)
• Clown
• Dog (Hund)
• Cat (Katze)
• Cow (Kuh)
• Fish (Fisch)
• Palm tree, island (Palme, Insel)
• Key (Schlüssel)
• Ball (Ball)
• Flowers, bouquet (Blumen, Strauss)
• Clock, alarm clock (Uhr, Wecker)
• Castle (Burg, Schloss)
• Car (Auto)