Beaver gang

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Beaver gang
Game data
author Monty Stambler , Ann Stambler
graphic Bjorn Pertoft
publishing company GermanyGermany Germany : Amigo , Netherlands : 999 Games , United States : Gamewright , Italy : Gamewright, France : Gigamic
NetherlandsNetherlands 
United StatesUnited States 
ItalyItaly 
FranceFrance 
Publishing year 2002
Art Card game
Teammates 2 to 6
Duration 20 minutes
Age from age 6

Biberbande is the name of a card game by the American game designers Monty and Ann Stambler , which was published by Amigo in 2002 . It is based on the game Rat-a-Tat Cat , which was also developed by them and was published in 1996 by the American publisher Gamewright . The game is similar to the game of golf known in the Anglo-Saxon region , which is played with ordinary playing cards.

Theme and equipment

In Biberbande the players try to form the lowest possible display of cards from four cards that are face down on the table in front of them. The players try to get rid of cards with high values ​​and gradually replace them with lower cards. However, the players only know some of the cards on display and these change their positions with other cards, so that they have to try to remember as many card movements as possible.

The game material consists of 66 playing cards as well as instructions. This contains 45 number cards, where the values ​​0 to 8 appear four times and the value 9 occurs nine times, as well as 21 special cards with 9 “Exchange” cards, 7 “Scout” cards and 5 “Draw twice” cards. There is also a pad to write down the game results.

Style of play

At the beginning of the game, the playing cards are shuffled and each player is given four cards, which he lays out face-down and side by side. The remaining cards form a face-down draw pile that is placed in the middle of the table. The top card of the draw pile is removed and placed face up next to it as the first card of the discard pile.

At the start of the game, each player may look at the two outer cards of his four face-down cards and put them face down again. Starting with the starting player, the players play in clockwise order, each player must either take the top card from the face-down draw pile or the top card from the open discard pile. If he decides on the top card of the draw pile, he looks at it and, if it is a number card, can either discard it directly to the discard pile or exchange it for one of his four face-down cards of his choice; However, he may not look at the card in his display beforehand and he places the exchanged card face up on the discard pile. If the card drawn is a special card, the player may take the corresponding special action:

  • Exchange: The player takes one of his own four face-down cards and exchanges it for a card from another player without looking at the cards beforehand.
  • Peek: The player may look at any of his own four cards and put it back in its place face down.
  • Draw twice: The player may take the top card from the face-down draw pile and look at it. He may use it or discard it and draw a new card, which he must then use.

If the player decides to take the top card of the discard pile, he must exchange one of his four face-down cards. This is not possible if the top card of the is a special card.

When the player has taken their action, it is the next player's turn. The game is played until, after taking action, a player is convinced that he has the lowest cards in his face-down display and knocks on the table to signal this. This starts the last round and all other players have another turn. After the round, all players reveal their cards and add up the card values. Special cards in the display are set aside and, in order of play starting with the knocking player, exchanged for the top card from the draw pile. The points are noted and the next round begins.

In total, as many rounds are played as there are other players. The game is won by the player who has the fewest points overall after all rounds.

Versions and reception

The game Biberbande was published in 2002 by the German game publisher Amigo . It is based on the game Rat-a-Tat Cat by the American game designer couple Monty and Ann Stambler , who developed it back in the 1990s and published it in 1996 by Gamewright. It also appeared internationally as Beaver Gang and in various language editions.

The illustrations are from Björn Pertoft . In 2018 Amigo published the game BiberClan, a card game by Jörg von Rüden , which corresponds in its design to Biberbande and can be combined with this in a game variant.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d e Biberbande game instructions , AMIGO Spiel + Freizeit GmbH 2002
  2. ↑ Biberbande or Rat-a-Tat Cat , versions at BoardGameGeek. Retrieved January 5, 2019 .
  3. ↑ BiberClan game instructions , AMIGO Spiel + Freizeit GmbH 2018

Web links