Wie Waldi Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Box Contents
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • Playing Cards
  • The Dachshund's Head
  • Middle Sections of the Dachshund
  • The Dachshund's Tail
• End of Round and Intermediate Scoring
• End of Game and Final Scoring

Box Contents

120 cards (4 sets with differently coloured backs). Each set consists of:

• 7 dachshund heads
• 16 middle sections
• 4 tails without the cat
• 3 tails with the cat

24 tokens

20 bones (in the following colours and values):

• 10 bronze bones (value 1)
• 4 silver bones (value 2)
• 6 gold bones (value 3)

Before playing the first game, carefully remove the bones from their frame.

Setup

• Place the bones in a common supply that is easily reachable by all.
• Divide the cards by the colour of their backs. Each player receives a complete set of 30 cards.
• Each player also takes 6 tokens and places them in their own play area.
• Return any unused cards and tokens to the box.

Gameplay

A game of WIE WALDI! is played over three rounds. At the end of each round, the completed dachshunds are assigned to their respective owners and the players calculate their intermediate score.

Ready, set, go — Wuff!

At the start of each round, every player shuffles their set of cards without looking at them and arranges them in three face-down piles of 10 cards each. The piles are laid out on the table next to one another.

The player with the most loyal dachshund look gives the start: "Wuff!"

Playing Cards

As soon as the start is given, all players simultaneously take a card from one of their three piles. Players draw the cards one at a time, looking for the right one to place on the table. If a player cannot or does not want to play a card, they may put it back under the pile from which they took it.

The cards show three different parts of the dachshund: the head, the tail and the middle section. Tails and middle sections may only be played on dachshunds already in play. To bring a new dachshund into play, a head must be played. A head card cannot be added to a dachshund already in play. As soon as a player plays the head of a dachshund, middle sections and the tail may be added to the head.

Several dachshunds may be in play at the same time. Every player may add cards to dachshunds already in play. A card may be added to a dachshund in play if the two colours of the dog's cover shown on the two cards coincide.

A card that has been played can no longer be removed, moved or replaced with another card.

In order to draw and play a card from another pile, a player may put the card in hand back under the pile from which it was taken, but it is not permitted to swap cards between two piles or to move a card from one pile to another.

The Dachshund's Head

When a player draws a card with the head of a dachshund, they may play it and place it at any point on the table. The card should nevertheless be played in such a way that there is enough space to add other cards next to it.

Note: it is obvious that a head cannot be played next to another head. Waldi is a dog with a pedigree, not a laboratory experiment!

Middle Sections of the Dachshund

The card showing a middle section of the dachshund may be played next to a head or next to another middle section if the colours of the two covers coincide.

Note: the cover on the dog, shown on the card, is divided into two colours. There is, however, only one way to place the card correctly, since it is not permitted to place the card upside down. The trees and the road drawn on the card serve as a guide for determining the correct orientation of the card.

The Dachshund's Tail

The card with the tail may be played immediately next to a head or next to a middle section if the colours of the two covers coincide.

There are tail cards with the cat and tail cards without the cat. The tail serves to determine to whom the dachshund belongs:

• A dachshund whose tail has no cat belongs to the player who played the head card.
• A dachshund whose tail has the cat belongs to the player who played the tail card.

A dachshund is complete when its tail has been added. No further cards may be added to this dachshund! Any number of middle sections may lie between the head and the tail.

To indicate that the dachshund is complete and to make room for other new dachshunds, the player who played the tail gathers all the cards that make up the dachshund into a pile, sets it aside and places one of their tokens on top of it. The pile remains at the edge of the table until the end of the round.

End of Round and Intermediate Scoring

When a player places their last token on the pile of a completed dachshund, they call the end of the round by saying "Stop!" The opponents must immediately discard the card they are holding. From this point on, no further cards may be played!

The completed dachshunds are assigned to their respective owners:

• If the dachshund's tail has no cat, the dachshund belongs to the player who played the head.
• If the dachshund's tail has the cat, the dachshund belongs to the player who played the tail.

The colour of the back of the head card and that of the tail card serve to determine which player played that particular card. The owner of each dachshund receives the pile of cards that make up the completed dachshund and places it in their own play area.

Note: dachshunds without a tail remain in the centre of the table, since they belong to nobody.

Once the owner of every completed dachshund has been determined, the intermediate score is calculated. The players count the total number of cards in the piles of all the dachshunds they have won, and receive bones as a reward:

• The player with the most cards receives a gold bone.
• The second player with the most cards receives a silver bone.
• The third player with the most cards receives a bronze bone.

Note: only with four players, the player who has the fewest cards compared with all others receives nothing. With 2 and 3 players, all players receive a bone.

In addition, those who have run out of all the cards of at least one of their three piles receive a bronze bone.

Note: a player may change the "denomination" (taglio) of their bones at any time.

Afterwards, the players take back into their hands all the cards belonging to their sets, and each of them again receives 6 tokens.

A new round begins, which is played as explained above.

End of Game and Final Scoring

After the third round, the game ends.

Each player adds up the total value of their bones according to these values:

• each bronze bone: 1 point
• each silver bone: 2 points
• each gold bone: 3 points

The player with the most points is the winner.

Additional notes:

It is always advisable to try to place as many heads as possible on the table as quickly as possible. In doing so, there is a greater chance that opponents will also add cards to our dachshund, since they want to finish one of their piles as soon as possible and thus obtain the bronze bone, or simply because they have lost track of their dogs.

There is no limit to how long a dachshund may be. The tail may be added even immediately after the head. Moreover, any number of middle sections may lie between the head and the tail. What matters is that the colours of the covers always coincide. But be careful not to let your dog grow too long before adding the tail and completing it, because opponents may try to "steal" it using one of their cats.