Lots of the games in the
Cabinet come from Germany, France, Belgium, or other countries where English
language rules are an afterthought if they happen at all. Tucked into most of
these games are valiant attempts to capture at least the essence of the rules in
English.
Mike Siggins has consented to make
a small fraction of the mighty Sumo Rules
Bank available on-line. Many thanks to Mike and all the hardworking
translators that stock the Bank.
Also, don't forget to check The Boys Room if you don't see what you're looking for here. Perhaps someone carried a set of rules in for a brief respite and forgot them there...
1835 -
a sample game that serves as a gentle introduction to the rules of
this complex and popular train game
6 Nimmt! -
Take 6 - a game of herding cards, and your opponents
Im 7 Himmel -
a game of romance - sort of
A Qui le Tour -
another attempt at the Tour
Ab Die Post! -
"neither rain nor sleet nor falling snow" takes to the air
Abi '94 -
its final exam time in Germany - will you make the grade?
Abilene -
cattle rustlin' and cow pokin' in those heady days before cholesterol
Alaska -
four wheelin' in the Arctic
Alibaba -
the Forty Thieves have got the old gang back together and Alibaba has
got to put a stop to it before Basra is broke
Am Fuß Des Kilimanjaro -
Reiner races to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro
Am Fuss des Kilimandscharo -
the designer's cut
Arabana-Ikibiti -
compete to dominate an archipelego (includes seafaring variant!)
Ashes of Empire -
empire building on a galactic scale
Athos -
monks scale a (moral?) mountain
Attacke -
jousting with cards (but watch out for those paper cuts!)
Auf Achse -
CW McCall meets the autobohn. That's a big 10-4, good buddy...
Auf Achse Das Kartenspiel -
watch out for Smokies in this trucking card game
Auf Heller Und Pfennig -
to succeed in business you need three things: Location, Location, Location
Ausbrecher AG -
the Great Escape meets the Great Race
Der Ausreisser -
Race Leader - yet another bike racing game
Ave Caesar -
chariot racing adaptation of an auto racing game
Axxa -
a positional strategy game from outer space
Bakschisch -
payola in the world of the Arabian Nights
Banana Republic -
its election time and the cash is flowing (but watch your back!)
Bananas -
a fine bit of monkey business
Banque / Bank -
manipulate the market for fun and profit
Barbarossa -
a chaotic quest for the identities of clay blobs
Bausack (Bandu) Baukette Variant -
a new and challenging way to stack Bausack/Bandu blocks
Big Boss -
corporate ladders are more fun with heavy people involved
Billabong -
high stakes kangaroo racing in the traditional style
Blindes Huhn / Blind Chicken -
a must buy on pun value alone
Bockige -
Awkward Donkey - donkeys race to market with loads of oranges (no. really.)
Bohnanza / Beananza -
hard trading on a bean farm
Buro Crazy / Bureau Crazy -
climbin' the corporate ladder
Camp -
cliquish camping with Sid Sackson
Campanile -
keeping up with the Joneses in terraced housing
Capone -
money laundering and gang mahem in old Chicago
Carabande -
that wacky Carrom racing game
Caracalla -
its bath night in old Rome in this game of placement
Casablanca -
Play it, Sam. You played it with her; now play it with me.
Chalet -
real estate development in detail
Cheops -
trading in the age of the Paraohs
Condottiere -
strategy and conquest in the Italian Renaissance
Daumen Drauf! -
don't get bitten in this game of bluff and reptiles!
David & Goliath -
new edition of classic German election game
Digging -
a prospecting game
Double -
a simple trick taking card game with a split personality
Downtown -
real estate development for fun and profit
Dr Faust -
two devils struggle for the soul of one man
Drunter und Drüber -
a very silly game about rebuilding a town after a visit by a cat
The DTM Hockenheimring Racing Game -
or the tube game
Duel der Schamanen -
shamen duke it out in a mystic game of Tic Tac Toe
Durch die Wüste / Through the Desert -
dry but full bodied - Reiner's win?
Elefant -
the elephant parade - or is it hopscotch? - has begun
El Grande -
political intrigue in Old Spain
El Grande - Großinquisitor & Kolonien / Grand Inquisitor & Colonies -
politics in the Spanish Empire (new translation)
El Grande - König & Intrigant / King & Conspirator -
El Grande 2: The CCG?
El Grande - König & Intrigant / King & Villain -
another attempt at translating this El Grande expansion
Elfenland -
Alan R Moon's latest in the "Elfen" series - no dragon!
En Garde -
very possibly the best fencing game yet invented
En Garde -
amended and rectified by Reiner Knizia
Entdecker -
Teuber's new game of settlement and discovery
Entenrallye -
duck racing, Citroen style
Esels-Rennen -
donkey racing, and there are no lemons involved this time (see Entenrallye)
Der Flaschenteufel -
an unusual card game about a devil in a bottle
Der Fliegende Hollander -
the Flying Dutchman is roaming the seas and you've got to avoid him
Blind Man's Bluff on the high seas
Foppen -
fool your neighbors into sitting out the next round
For Sale -
real estate scams made (too?) simple
Formule De -
not just a race game, a way of life
Formule De -
alternative rules and record sheets for the premiere Formula 1 racing game
Freibeuter / Freebooter -
yo ho! yo ho! Its a pirate's life for me...
Fugger, Welser, Medici -
a trading game set in the Middle Ages
Full Metal Planete -
a French science fiction game on a grand scale
Galopp Royal -
reminiscent of the sedan chair races of my youth...
Geheime Mission -
will you make a better Maxwell Smart than James Bond?
Gold am Yukon -
there's gold in them thar glaciers
Goldener Drache -
a race between golden dragons with wizard jockeys
Grand National Derby -
card based horse racing from Knizia
Greyhounds -
a day of betting at the dog races
Das Grosse und das kleine / The Big and the little -
the long and the short on this Old Maid variant
Hacker -
the other one (but not by the other Steve Jackson!)
Hai Lu Kong Zhan Qi -
Chinese Sea-Land-Air Battle Chess
Hallo Dachs -
badger chips - the latest rage with all the kids
Die Hanse -
a shipping game of the famous Hanseatic League
Hase & Igel -
the cards from Hare & Hedgehog (err, Tortoise, over here)
Hattrick -
another interesting trick taking card game
Heuchel Meuchel / Feigned Favours -
medieval wrangling for power and prestige
High Society -
try to keep up with the Joneses in this Knizia bidding game
Hollywood For Sale -
all that glitters is not on the gilded screen
Converting Homas Tour into Um
Reifenbreite -
differences between the two editions of this classic cycling game
Homas Tour / Um Reifenbreite/ Demarrage! -
event cards from this classic bicycle racing game
Honeybears -
Knizia does kute
Hydra -
a game of mythical monster manipulation
Igel Ärgern / Hedgehogs in a Hurry -
the ultimate hedgehog racing game
Igel Argern Variants -
over forty new ways to play the ultimate hedgehog racing game
Inkognito -
an atmospheric masquerade laced with espionage and intrigue
Intrigue -
rampant nepotism in the Italian Renaissance
Iron Horse -
rail and tile laying game for the backpack set
Isis -
new rules for an old classic: Sennet!
Jagd der Vampire -
vampires hunt for the Big Tomato (it's just a metaphor for
L.A. in the 80s)
Johnny Controletti -
psycho loan shark, qu'est-ce que c'est?
Kameltreiber AG -
yet another camel racing game
Die Kette von Saba / The Sabine Necklace -
pawn off jewelry to a rich sheikh
Kleine Fische / Small Fry -
chicken of the sea, more or less
Knock Out -
manage a stable of boxers (strange hair optional)
Koalition -
the United Europe election game
Kohle, Kie$ & Knete -
Sid Sackson's game of big deals and fast talk
Kuhhandel -
horsetrading - for goats!?
Lang lebe der Konig! / Long live the King! -
great bits but why are we electing a king?
The Last Paradise -
vie to be the greenest estate developer on a lush, Pacific island
Das Letzte Kamel -
a very random camel race
Linie 1 -
Goldsieber's new tramway game
Lowenherz / Lionheart -
who will be king when Lionheart dies? Maybe you!
Die Macher -
rules and turn summary for the game of German elections
Die Macher, 2nd edition -
new edition of classic German election game
Maestro -
a symphony construction game
Magalon -
rival wizards wiz to the death (damp?) - WizWar Lite
Manhattan -
dominate the skyline for fun and profit
Manitou / Great Spirit -
Tribe Goldseiber goes hunting for a theme
Mark / Market -
a game of production and over-production
Marracash / Marracash -
fleecing tourists without all the heat and sunscreen
Marracash -
a more useful translation for this recent favorite
Mare Mediterraneum / Mediterranean Sea -
empire building in the great center of Western empire building
Die Maus im Nacken -
mice, elephants, and couches - all the makings of a fine evening
Medici -
Mercator redux - Knizia does it, again
Members Only -
Knizia's gambling game where information is a bit scarce
Metropolis -
a game of real estate agents, not flying men in tights
Mississippi -
log hauling on the Mississippi
Mississippi Queen -
paddlewheel steamer racing
Momox -
another game whose plays are numbered
Meutre àl'abbaye / Murder at the Abbey -
search for the murderer of Brother Body
Modern Art -
Knizia's klassic kardgame of kultured kitzch
Mogelei -
a family of cheats steals 30 minutes of your life
Mole Hill
(Word file) -
Knizia's latest (due out later this month)
Mü and more -
great new card game from Doris & Frank
Münchhausen -
the famous Baron's favorite card game (wink)
New York -
Sackson revisits the Acquire real estate theme
Nimm's Leich! / Grave Robbers! -
the desicated corpse of a great game system
Nizza -
To Catch a Thief meets The Keystone Cops in this raucous, rooftop race
Njet! / No! -
the game of denial
Nomadi -
valiant caravans weave their way across the desert sands
Nuba -
musical wrestling as seen on late night TV
Ogallala -
aggressive canoeing fun
Oil -
Mine a Million gets crude
Olé! -
throw your hat, or card, into the ring
Olympia 2000 -
the Olympic games without all the training and sweat
Osiris -
ancient religion meets spaghetti western for a bit of mancalla
Ostindia -
event cards from the East India Company game
Packen Wir's -
Let's Get Packing! in this silly game about moving day
Paternoster -
a simple memory game set in an old-fashioned elevator
(aka Comings and Goings/Vanished!)
Paparazzo -
snap embarrassing pix of pop personalities for the big bucks
Phantasia im Kinderhand -
aka Barbarossa, Jr.
Pharao -
a modern game using ancient bits
Pico -
a very small game from Doris & Frank
Pirat -
sea trading card game complete with pirates
Pony Express -
race across the West in this pre-White Wind Alan Moon game
Pow Wow / Clan Meeting -
a game of movement and positioning
Quartier Latin / Latin Quarter -
the rough and tumble world of bistros and bars in Paris
Quick -
an abstract, two player strategy game from Claude Souci
Railway Rivals / Dampfross -
classic train game
Ramses -
a variant of the ancient Egyptian game of Tjau
Rasant -
a very racy car(d) game
Ratselturm -
decode words encrypted in colored towers
Razzia -
police raids, gambling joints, bathtub gin, fond memories
Das Regeln Wir Schon! -
Nomic for the whole family?
Sing Sing -
we're breakin' outta dis joint - pass da woid
Reibach & Co. -
a well refined game of market domination from Alan R Moon
Rette Sich Wer Kann -
the leaky lifeboat game where the only rule is "Every man for himself!"
Revolution -
Knizia mans the barricades
Saludos Amigos! -
a negotiation game set in crooked city council sessions
Schachjagd / Steeple Chess -
a sharp race game
Schlangen von Dehli -
slippery, slithery path game
Schoko & Co. -
a great business game featuring chocolate
manufacturing and sales
Schraumen / Scrunes -
a game of runes, scrolls, and prunes
Schwarzmarkt / Black Market -
scarcity is the mother of inflation
Sechs Tage Rennen -
the key is teamwork in this Six Day Race
See You Later -
an aligator game! err, no: crocodile (shouldn't it be "In A While"?)
Serenissima - the game of trade and combat - in two translations
Shanghai -
another Sackson design is jumped in a dark alley...
Show Manager / Premiere -
"never user your own money..."
Die Siedler von Catan -
a simple and elegant game of commerce
Die Siedler von Cattan Expansion -
add two more players to this popular game
Die Siedler Seefahrer / Seafaring Settlers -
the long awaited expansion to Teuber's megahit
Die Siedler von Catan: The Card Game -
those wild and crazy settlers are back!
Die Siedler Kartenspiel Turnierer-Set /
Die Siedler Kartenspiel:
Tournament Game for New Players -
additional rules from Kosmos
Das Spiel / The Game -
more than 50 games with 281 dice
Stadens Nyckel / The Key To The City -
power politics, medieval style
Stamp -
the game for philatic phanatics
Sternenhimmel -
starry, strategic somnambulism
Sticheln -
a card game about sticking and being stuck
Stonehenge -
line up to get back to nature with Reiner
(MS Word format)
Stratego 4 -
3 and 4 player versions of this classic game
Sunset Blvd. -
are you ready for your close-up?
Suppenkasper / Poor Eater -
a good game for a diet
Das Super-Blatt -
the Sid Sackson tabloid card game
Supergang -
a nice evening of parlor turf wars
Symbioz -
wacky critters consume mass quantities -
they're from France
Tahiti -
a handsome boat racing game set "where the women
don't wear no tops"
Take It Easy -
a deceptive little game of strategy and chance
Takt Voll -
fiercly competitive musical composition
Tal Der Koenige -
pyramid building in the Valley of the Kings
En Teufels Kueche -
cooking the wrong dish can lead to eternal damnation in Hell's Kitchen
Teufels, Teufels -
a merry game of possession and letter collection (a la
the U.S. Post Office)
TerraX -
aka Wildlife Adventure 2: The Search for Political Correctness
Texas -
where the wind comes rushin' down the plain?
Tichu -
Gesundheit! - variations on the Dalmutti theme
Tor -
Knizia tackles soccer
Tutanchamun -
plunder the tombs of Ancient Egypt for fun and profit
Terrain Vague -
a grand battle between four gangs for control of the local junkyard
Totem -
prove you have the tallest pole by breeding the largest family
(rules summary)
Traumland -
take a trick in Dreamland
UFOs -
the US military still deny the existence of this trick taking card game
Um Reifenbreite -
a straight translation of this revision of Homas Tour
Und Tschuss! / So long! -
the latest word in musical chairs
Valee des Mamouths -
adventure in the Valley of the Mammoths
DD>
La Vallée des Mammouths / The Valley of Mammoths -
ug. card translation. printumquick. ug.
Vegas -
Knizia gambles in the Great Southwest
Die Verboten Stadt / The Forbidden City -
a frantic search for the emperor's underwear
Volle Lotte! -
players hope for a Full Roll in this dice and card game
Vendetta -
the struggle for control of a small Sicillian village
Venice Connection -
canal building in a tile laying package
Vernissage -
try your hand at the Scale-o'-Fame in the art world
VIP's -
construct your perfect ideal of a beautiful person for
cash and prizes
Visionary -
architectural blind man's bluff
Was Sticht? -
who gets stung in this Moskito card game?
Wörtersee / Word Sea -
A Boggle-ish game from Kosmos
Wucherer -
a slum lord slugfest
Würmeln -
the diced worm racing game
Zankapfel / Apple of Discord -
a fruity race game
Zum Kuckuck! / For the birds! -
devilish birds steal anything that isn't tied down
Zündstoff -
happy convicts rocket to the sun for shades