Polterfass

Description

The innkeeper of "The Wild Boar" tavern is a sly old dog! While he treats humble guests who don't ask for much to free rounds, for hard-drinking boozers he closes the tap and keeps the cool brew for himself. Polterfass is a dice-rolling game without dice! Yes, the dice have been replaced by small beer barrels, and the active player each round is the innkeeper who shares his brew with players who keep their requests modest. The game includes nine barrels — two of them being special ones — that are rolled out of a die cup. The normal barrel bases show numbers, while the special barrel bases show symbols that allow the innkeeper to double other values or cancel them. After each roll, only the values/symbols of "standing" barrels count. After the active player has rolled for the first time, the other players secretly place cards with numbers in front of them. The active player then decides whether to reroll, change the values, or end his turn. Once his turn ends, the guests reveal their cards and sum them. If the innkeeper's total is less than this sum, he wins this round, keeping all the beer for himself while the guest with the highest card actually loses points! If the innkeeper's total is higher, each player scores the value of his played card, and the innkeeper keeps the rest. When one player has at least 75 points, the game ends, and the player with the most points wins!