Käse Würfeln (2013)

Overview

The player mice in Käse Würfeln want to stack cheese as high as they can. Why? Why don't they just eat the cheese? That's not the issue here – let the mice do what they want!

On a turn, a player rolls eight six-sided dice up to four times, keeping dice between rolls if desired. After finishing, she claims a number card if she's rolled that number on that many dice; e.g., if she's rolled a 4 on four dice, she claims the 4 card. After claiming a card, she either starts a new stack with that card as its base or places that card on top of another card she already has – but only if that card is lower than the top card of the stack.

If a player takes a 1 card, she can place it either glass case side up on top of a stack – closing that stack (since nothing can be placed on a 1) and protecting it from being stolen – or mouse side up; a mouse side-up 1 can later be placed on a stack, and a player can have only two of these cards. When a player closes a stack with four, five or six cards, she takes a bonus card from the table, with earlier claimed bonus cards being worth more points.

If a player can't take any cards, she takes a gift card, which she can spend on a later turn to rotate a die to show a particular face. A player can hold only one gift card.

When three of the number stacks are empty, the game ends immediately. The player with the most stacks claims a 12-point bonus card, then players tally their points. Each closed stack is worth the product of the largest number in the stack and the number of cards in the stack; each open stack is worth the sum of the cards in the stack. The player with the most points wins!