Designed by: Wolfgang Kramer
The admittedly not-snappy title 6Nimmt comes from the German origin – (six takes, though the game is also published as Category 5): the person who puts down the sixth card in a row picks up the other five. And picking up cards in this game is bad.
It’s an exceedingly simple game. A deck of cards numbered 1 to 104 are dealt out – ten to each player. Four cards are then left face-up on the table as the start of four rows. On a turn every player chooses one card from their hand and they are all revealed at the same time, and then added to the rows in ascending order – the card chosen will always go next to it’s closest, lowest number. Thus, a 67 when revealed can only go next to a card value of 66 or lower.
The rows fill up and a row is ‘full’ as soon as it reaches five cards – the owner of the ‘sixth’ card is forced to pick that row up, and keep those cards for the end-game scoring. Every card has a number of bull’s heads on it, and it’s these that count against you in the final scoring – ideally, you want to pick up no cards at all.
When a player chooses a card that is lower than all available rows, they are forced to pick up a row to make room for it – but they can choose which row to take, even if there is only one card in the row. The game is played over how ever many rounds it takes for someone to go over 66 points, and the winner is the player with the fewest points.
It might seem like it’s purely down to luck, but there are choices – and calculated gambles – to be made. Despite the simplicity, with the right group of people 6Nimmt is a lot of fun and works well with a a large range of players.
Not a lot can compare to 6 Nimmt - there are few other games where 10 people can stand around a table and curse their luck and cheer their opponent's misfortune in such a jolly fashion. My only note against it is that is BONE dry. I rarely teach this to friends and family who aren't interested in games, because there's nothing else to latch onto - it's just numbers, and the strategy (such as there is) can take a few games to get to grips with. But people who like card games, and gamers in general, love it.
There is no combative card play, but it is possible to force someone to take a row when placing a low card and removing a row yourself. And if the luck goes against you, particularly with five players, you can find yourself taking cards on each turn, which can be frustrating.
Since everyone play their cards simultaneously there's very little down time, and as your cards diminish so do your options.
It can sometimes be confusing working out which row each played card will go - there is also an element of keeping an eye on what cards are left and second-guessing what others will play, but it's not necessary to do this to enjoy the game.
In every game the cards are random, with a certain amount left out, so it's never the same; but the gameplay is limited in scope - it's probably not a game you'd want to play all evening.
2-8
Players
8+
Years
15-30
Mins
Sam says
Not many games can fill you with dread at the same time as making you laugh. As you see the options closing out on the table and look at the awful cards in your hand, 6Nimmt can. And it can also surprise you when someone has a worse card and takes the hit instead of you. A keeper.