HIGHLIGHTS AMONG GAMES ◄ FROM THE MUSeuM
HUGO KASTNER RECOMMENDS
mensch ärgere dich nicht
„… which is the basis for Europe’s Game Culture“
Dear Readers! The famous and wonderful book on games by Erwin Glonniger, one of the cornerstones in the field of literature on games, is headed by one of the all-time master pieces of our creativity and imagination, by Pachisi, a direct „template“ for the classic „Mensch ärgere Dich nicht“. Supposedly the ancestor of Pachisi (the name means “Twentyfive”, this is the highest possible roll) developed in India in the 6th century A.D., and has branched in due course into numerous variations. In Europe the work of Thomas Hyde, „De Ludis Orientalibus“, in 1694 contains a first reference on this game of dice and movement mechanisms. This strongly suggests that Pachisi was brought to Europe from India by English travellers. During the heydays of the moguls from the 16th to the 19th century Pachisi enjoyed a near-divine status. The emperors and the higher nobility had the courtyards of their magnificent palaces plastered with marble slabs, on which living figurines (usually female slaves) where moved to and fro for the game. The symbolic significance of the cross-shaped board is described by Andreás Lukácsy, an expert on the topic of India, as follows: „The game is … a portrait painted by a human being of his universe, where the figurines start from a center (are born), then circumvent the world in eastern, southern, western and northern direction and finally reach again the start of their journey, their birth place, if they are lucky without encountering any hardship on their travels. If the figurine that symbolizes a human being meets its death during the journey … it must be reborn to reach the final destination, where no resurrection is possible. So this game not only models the ancient perception of our world, but also the concept of reincarnation”. Could the metaphysical plane of Pachisi be expressed more beautifully and eloquently?… [excerpt from: Hugo Kastner - Die große Humboldt Enzyklopädie der Würfelspiele]. If you want to try your hand at a race in a game of Pachisi or the simpler „Mensch ärgere Dich nicht“, maybe even in the Austrian Games Museum at Leopoldsdorf, do not forget the far-reaching historic roots of this classic game in the heat of play. www.spielen.at.
The light of my lamp today illuminated the core component of each standard game box offering the standard games, the classic dice game of „Mensch ärgere Dich nicht“. Even if the “re-creator” of the game, the publisher Schmidt, with his simplified “Original version” of the game might have intended to produce a movement game for the family, several books and numerous essays prove that „Mensch ärgere Dich nicht“ allows an enormous range of variations. I would like to introduce you the – in my opinion – best and most interesting ideas on variations of the original game: (1) Scoring: The first figurine that reaches a spot in the target area, scores 16 points for the owner (in game of a game with four players), the second figurine scores 15 and so on. You continue to play until the penultimate figurine has reached the target area. So the total score in contention is 135 points. (2) Backwards Capturing: This is also possible beyond the starting square, which can result in dramatic changes in the sequence and positioning of the figurines. (3) Target Area: It is not allowed to jump over other figurines when reaching the respective target areas a, b and c. (4) Scourer: Each player may start with an additional figurine in his color on the starting area, this figurine must be clearly distinguishable from the rest of the figurines. In your turn you decide whether you move a standard figurine or your scourer. The scourer moves counter-clockwise and continues to orbit the board. The scourer can capture opposing figurines and can be captured. If a player manages to capture an opposing scourer, he immediately receives another scourer for himself. (5) Vacating: The starting square must always be vacated with the next roll. Exception: The the home area is already empty. (6) 3x-roll: If you have no figurine on the board (with the exception of a possible scourer) you may roll up to three times to achieve a 6, provided that figurines in the target area are placed on the highest possible spots of d, c, and b. (7) Team play / Blockade: When in team play two figurines of a team occupy the same spot, this spot is blocked. Opponents cannot pass this spot. To remove the blockade one player must capture one of the figurines and then roll again to move his figurine away from the blockade spot. The scourer can never enter a blockade spot and there can never be more than two figurines in the same spot. (8) Double piece: Two figurines forming a blockade may be moved together, when the destination spot is empty or holds only one opposing figurine. The double piece can be dispersed any time. (9) Double move: If you capture a figurine, you may roll and move again. All these ideas await your creative experiments – but please without too much anger!
Comments to: hugo.kastner@chello.at Homepage: www.hugo-kastner.at
EMPFEHLUNG # 57
Designer: Schmidt
Price: 15 €
Year: Classic – 1910
Publishers: Many
www.schmidtspiele.de
Players: 2-6
Age: 8 and up
Duration: 30 Min+.
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Taktik Info± Glück
If you try out any or all of the variants described you will soon discover, that this classic gameallows some tactical tricks, too..
Hugos EXPERT TIP
Bring some change into your play by mixing the variants any way you like. The team variant is especially interesting and definitly commendable!
Hugos FLASHLIGHT
„Mensch ärgere Dich nicht“ has not for nothing grown into one of the most popular games of the 20th century. The frustration component is enormous despite the demand not to be frustrated!”
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