Bell and hammer
Bell and hammer or mold is a game of dice . The game came up at the beginning of the 19th century and within a few decades became successful beyond the German-speaking area (English: Bell and Hammer or White Horse , Dutch: Klok en hamer , French: Jeu du cheval blanc , Spanish. : El juego del caballo blanco ).
It was a popular parlor game during the Hanukkah festival, especially among the Jewish population (as was the Dreidel game). After 1945 the game almost completely disappeared.
Legends about the history of the game
It is often assumed that the inventor was the Viennese art dealer Heinrich Friedrich Müller (1779–1848). Müller contributed to the spread of the game, but nothing speaks for his authorship.
In addition, the thesis is circulating that the game is of Germanic origin: the mold card represents Wotan's mold, the hammer is Thor’s hammer and the bell is a later ingredient from Christian times.
The rules
The following regulations are based on the following sources:
Erwin Glonnegger : The big game book , Drei Magier Verlag 1999, on game editions by Ravensburger and Stomo from 1950, 1960 and 1974 as well as on the website of Alan Winston.
Since these rules on the one hand differ from each other in many ways, on the other hand they do not explain all possible game situations, the attempt is made here to construct a consistent and complete set of rules from these rule descriptions.
The bell and hammer is played by two or more, preferably three to five people.
The game material
The game includes eight game dice, five playing cards and play money or tokens in sufficient quantities as well as a game hammer for the auctioneer and a till.
The dice
The eight specially designed dice each have a value symbol on only one of their six faces, the remaining five faces are blank (i.e. empty). Six of the dice are numbered one to six (i.e. one die shows six eyes on one side and is empty on the other five faces, one die shows five on one side and is empty on the other faces, etc.), in the same way, one cube shows the symbol “bell” and another the symbol “hammer”.
The cards
Five picture cards with the following representations are also required for the game
- Bell jar
- hammer
- Bell and hammer
- Mould
- Public house
The game
Before the start of the game, each player receives an equal number of tokens (e.g. 36 pieces); the excess tokens are set aside. Each player pays a basic stake (e.g. four tokens) into the cash register.
The auction
The five playing cards are auctioned, the highest bidder pays the purchase price into the cash register. The cards will be auctioned in a random order using the English auction method .
A player can bid for one, none or several cards.
The prize draw
Before the pub opens
The players now roll all eight dice in turn; Depending on the result of the throw, the following happens:
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Litters without eyes
- Without a sign : If a player throws “Schimmel” (ie zero eyes) and no sign, i.e. neither “Bell” nor “Hammer”, he pays the owner of the “Schimmel” card a token. However, if the owner of the "Schimmel" card throws a "Schimmel" himself, nothing happens because the player would have to make the payment himself.
- With mark : If a player rolls “Schimmel” and a mark, the owner of the corresponding card pays the owner of the “Schimmel” card a token. If “bell” and “hammer” are thrown, the owner of the card pays “bell and hammer”; if only “bell” or only “hammer” is thrown, the owner of the “bell” card or the owner of the “hammer” card pays. If the owner of the “mold” card throws “mold” with a “bell” or “hammer” or both, the above rule also applies; If the player with the "Schimmel" card has the corresponding card himself, the toss is forfeited (since he would have to make the payment to himself, see above).
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Throws with eyes (total of eyes less than or equal to cash box contents)
- No mark : If a player rolls a number without a mark, he receives as many tokens from the cashier as correspond to the number.
- With signs : If a player rolls a number with a sign, the owner of the corresponding card receives as many tokens from the cash register as correspond to the number.
If a player rolls a number that corresponds exactly to the current contents of the cash register, the cash register is emptied and the game is over.
As soon as a player rolls a number that is larger than the current box contents for the first time, the pub opens.
After the pub opened
The above-mentioned rules regarding throws with eyes (total of eyes less than or equal to cash box contents) all remain in force, but the following also applies
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Throws with eyes (total of eyes greater than the contents of the box)
- Without a symbol : If a player rolls a total that is greater than the current cash point without a symbol, the player has to pay the corresponding transfer to the landlord (i.e. the owner of the pub card). However, if the host rolls such a total, nothing happens.
- with a token : If a player or the landlord rolls a total that is greater than the current cash point with a token, the owner of the respective card has to pay the appropriate transfer to the landlord.
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Throws without eyes : The different game descriptions vary greatly on this point. While some of the instructions here do not distinguish whether the inn is open or not, many other descriptions call for the following:
- Without a sign : If a player throws “Schimmel” without a symbol, the owner of the “Schimmel” card pays one token into the cash register.
- With signs : If a player throws “mold” and a sign (“bell”, “hammer” or both), the owner of the corresponding card pays a token into the cash register.
Playing
If the cash register is exactly emptied, the game ends.
If a player runs out of tokens during the game, he can try to sell a card; if he has none, he is eliminated.
Note : In order to be able to assess the value of the individual cards better, it is advantageous to pile the tokens won on the corresponding card.
Trivia
The Estonian writer Rein Raud published a novel in 2017 called Bell and Hammer ( Kell ja haamer , Tallinn 2017) in which the game plays a symbolic role.
Individual evidence
- ^ Austrian National Library / Collection of manuscripts and old prints: hammer and bell . 2017
- ↑ http://www.geocities.com/albrwi/schimmel/ ( Memento from March 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
literature
- Klaus Reisinger: Bell & Hammer. Vienna 2005. (Not viewed; edition 44 copies according to ÖNB .)