Das Super-Blatt (Super Tabloids) from FX Schmid

A cunning card game for 2-4 players from 12-99 years old

Game by Sid Sackson

Translated from the German by Ken Tidwell on 5/8/93

Newspapers live for sex and crime, sports and big business. The hunt for hot scoops arouses cunning competition between newspapers. The trends change. What counts is the highest circulation. Foresight, luck, and breaking hot stories is the recipe for success for both the gamer and the publisher of the best of the Super Tabloids!

The winner has the most scoops and, hence, the highest score.

Materials

54 Scoop Cards with four categories: Sex (15), Crime (14), Sport (13), Big Business (12). Scoop Cards represent stories that appear in a player's tabloid. Some Scoop Cards are marked with small arrows indicating that scoops may be stolen from another player. Other Scoop Cards are marked as Extra's indicating that an extra scoop card may be taken from the tableau.

4 Trend Cards indicating the number of points players score by dominating in each category of scoop during a round. A different Trend Card is used during each round of play to simulate the changing tides of taste.

You will also need paper and a pencil for keeping score.

Preperations

Shuffle the scoop cards. Deal out the top 18 cards and arrange them in four columns of 6, 5, 4, and 3 cards with the top of each card exposed in a stair step formation similar to a Patience tableau. The remaining cards are placed to the side for use in later rounds. All of the cards in the deck will eventually be used in the game.

The four Trend Cards are also shuffled and placed face down in a seperate stack. The top Trend Card is then turned up. This Trend Card shows the relative value of the various kinds of scoops for this round.

The youngest player starts and play proceeds clockwise.

Gameplay

On their turn, each player must take the top scoop card from one of the four columns of the central tableau. The player should keep four stacks of scoop cards grouped by category and arranged so that the other players can see the tops of the cards. With the cards in each player's hand arranged in this way, all of the players can tell how many scoops other players have in each category.

After the conclusion of play and, possibly, any actions indicated by Special Scoop Cards, the next player plays.

Special Scoop Cards

EXTRA

Take an extra card. If there is another card of the same category at the top of one of the four columns (after the EXTRA card is removed) the player may take it. The player may not take a card if it is not on top. The player may not take a card from another players hand, only from the tableau. The player may choose to take an EXTRA card even if there is no additional card to take. The EXTRA card also counts as one scoop card. If the player takes a Special Scoop Card as their additional card, treat it as a normal Scoop Card and do NOT perform the indicated special action.

Scoop Cards Marked with Arrows (small, left pointing triangles)

Steal one card of the same category per arrow from another player's hand. Cards of this type are marked with from one to four arrows. All cards must be stolen from a single player. If the chosen player has fewer cards than required by the number of arrows on the Scoop Card then only those cards that the player has may be taken. The Arrow Scoop Card also counts as one scoop. If the player takes any Special Scoop Cards from another player, treat them as normal Scoop Cards and do NOT perform the indicated special actions.

Scoring

A round ends, as soon as a player takes the last card from the tableau in the middle. The player is allowed, however, to steal any cards as indicated by a Arrow Scoop Card before the round is officially over. If an EXTRA Scoop Card is taken last, the player is not allowed to take an additional card but is allowed to play first in the next round of play.

Each player totals the number of scoops they have in each of the four categories (sex, crime, business, and sports). The Trend Card shows the number of points scored by the player with the highest and second highest point totals in each category.

Note, however, that if two or more players tie for first or second place in any category their point totals for that category are thrown out and the next highest scoring player is given their place, and points, instead.

Consider the case where Fred and Wilma hold three sports scoops each, Barney holds two, and Betty holds one. Fred and Wilma have tied and are eliminated. Barney is awarded first place points and Betty is awarded second place points for the Sports category.

The points scored by each player are noted and carry over into the following round. The player with the highest total score after three rounds of play is the winner.

The Scoop Cards acquired by a player also carry over into the next round. The total number of scoop cards in the hand's of players grows with each passing round.

2nd and 3rd Rounds

The next 18 Scoop Cards are dealt out and arranged in a tableau, as in the first round, and the next Trend Card is turned up.

The round is started by the player to the left of the player that started the last round UNLESS the last card taken in the previous round was an EXTRA Scoop Card. In that case, the player that took the EXTRA Scoop Card starts this round.

Otherwise, the second and third rounds are played in the same way as the first. Note that one of the four Trend Cards will not be turned over during the game (that is, there are three rounds and four Trend Cards so one will not be used).

Game End

The game ends after three rounds. The player with the highest point total wins.

The Game Cabinet - editor@gamecabinet.com - Ken Tidwell