NJET! By Stefan Dorra Published by Goldsieber 1997 English translation by Richard Ingram Distributed from The Rules Bank by Mike Siggins A trick taking game with a sophisticated prologue for 3 or 4 'No'- sayers aged 10 and up. Idea of the game The cards will be played out and tricks won with a partner. However the teams can change after each round. Before the real trick- making game, everyone makes their wishes known with considerable weight, so that the rules may be arrived at, and lays down their stipulations. For example, whoever has no red cards, states with a loud strong 'no' that red will not be trumps. Contents 1 board 4 character cards ( Bear, Wolf, Hawk, Dove ) 40 game cards (in four colours, 2x1, 1x 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, in each colour) 15 Njet stones 1 Njet writing pad The game for 4 players (Rules for 3 can be found at the end of the rules) Preparations Each player takes a character card of his choice and lays it face up in front of him. Place the board in the middle of the table and the stones nearby. The oldest player shuffles the cards thoroughly and deals 10 cards to each player. His left hand neighbour begins the first game phase and play passes clockwise. One player takes the pad and a pen. He writes the name of the player above the picture of their character card and later notes the resulting points for all players. The board The sections of the board show which light grey spaces remain empty with respect to the following matters: Start player: The player with the appropriate character card is the start player and can seek out a partner. The other two players form the opposing team. Laying cards: Before the trick taking game, each player must lay one or two cards to the side, face down. They play no part in the following trick-taking-game. If the only space left free is the Njet space, no cards will be put aside. Trumps: Either red, black, blue or green cards are trumps. Supertrumps: Cards marked with a 1 in any colour are supertrumps. If the only space left free is the Njet space, there will be no supertrumps. All 1 cards which are not supertrumps, will count as the lowest cards in their colours. Number of points ( per trick/per booty card ): The value of the cards does not count, but each trick won and each captured booty card is worth 1, 2, 3 or 4 points. Course of the game Several rounds will be played. Each round consists of two phases. In the Njet phase the rules for the following trick-taking game are decided upon. The Njet phase The players look at their cards and seek to place the Njet stones to their own liking and so set the conditions for the following trick-taking game. Whoever's turn it is takes a stone from the stockpile and places it on an empty light grey space on the board. He says for example, "No! Blue is not trumps", and lays the stone on the blue sickle in the Trumps row. Accordingly this space will play no part in the following trick-taking phase. Players take turns until all 15 stones have been placed. IMPORTANT: In each row, one light grey space must be left empty. Example: (see German rules booklet) The 15 stones are placed as shown. The Hawk is the start player. He chooses a partner for himself. Each player must set aside one card. The start player will begin the trick-taking phase. In the following phase, all blue cards will be trumps and black 1s will be supertrumps. At the end, each trick and each booty card will be worth 3 points. The trick-taking phase After the start player has chosen his partner and players have set aside the specified number of cards, the start player places down any card face up. The other players on their turn also lay a card. The start colour should be followed if possible. If you cannot follow, you can play a trump or a supertrump. If the start card is a trump, other players must play trump cards or supertrump cards. The same is true if a supertrump is led. If a player cannot follow the start colour or play a trump etc., play any card. Which card wins the trick is as follows: The highest value card in the start colour unless a trump or supertrump has been played. If both 1s of a colour have been played, the second 1 is higher than the first. If one or more trumps but no supertrumps are in the trick, the trump with the highest value wins. If a supertrump has been used, that wins. If both supertrumps have been used, the second supertrump played wins. The winner takes the trick cards and places them face down in a pile in front of him. Lay each trick won down separately. Winner leads in the next trick. Booty cards All cards with a value of 1 can become booty won from opposing teams. This is true also of supertrumps. "Booty" is claimed if a player wins a trick in which a player has played a card with a value of 1. Each captured 1 should be placed face up near the won trick cards. It is possible to capture two booty cards in one trick. Scoring When all tricks have been played and players no longer hold any cards, scoring takes place. Each team counts the number of tricks won and the amount of the booty captured. This total will be multiplied by the points number showing on the bottom row of the board. The final score of each player will be recorded on the writing pad. Example: Alf and Betty have made three tricks and captured one booty card. Claus and Dotty have 5 tricks and 2 booty cards. ( Other cards were set aside at the start ). The points per trick/booty card for this round is 3. So Alf and Betty have [3+1] x 3=12 points. Claus and Dotty have [5+2] x 3=21 points. After a scoring phase, the board is cleared of stones. The player to the left of the previous dealer shuffles the cards and deals out ten again to each player. A new round begins with a Njet phase and then a trick-taking phase. End of the game The game ends after eight rounds. The player with the highest points total wins. The game for three players The rules for 4 players are still used with only the following changes: The unused character card is returned to the box and a Njet stone is placed on the appropriate picture in the top row on the board throughout the game. The four cards worth 2 are removed permanently. Players will receive 12 cards each. The start player decides whether to have a partner or not. In this version, two players will always play against one. When scoring, the single player's score will be doubled. Example: Angy plays alone and wins 5 tricks and 1 booty card. Biggy and Chris have won as partners 7 tricks and 2 booty cards. Each trick/booty card this round is worth 2. Angy's points, [5+1] x 2 = 12, are doubled, making 24. Biggy and Chris have [7+2] x 2 = 18 points. The game ends after six rounds. Shortened game If you want a shorter game, play 3 rounds with 3 players and 4 rounds with 4 players.