6 nimmt! Review: try to make the lowest score!

6 Nimmt! can be considered a classic, for a number of reasons:

- designed by the renowned Wolfgang Kramer;

- winning awards ever since its release, more than 25 years ago;

- 4 million copies sold in over 50 different countries;

Wolfgang Kramer is the designer of more than 200 games. Among them, the following stand out: El Grande, Torres, Tikal, Mexica, Cuzco, Paris, Porta Nigra, among others. And, of course, 6 Nimmt!

Since its release in 1994, 6 Nimmt! has been winning awards, nominations and recommendations. In 1994 it was recommended for Spiel des Jahres, won Game of the Year from À la carte, and Best Family Game from Deutscher Spiele Preis. In 1996 it won Game of the Year from Mensa Select. From 2005 to 2008 it received more nominations in the Czech Republic and in Spain.

In celebration of its 25th Anniversary, 6 Nimmt! received a special edition, released in Brazil by Paper Games in 2020. It includes 28 additional cards, which allow a new game mode, where you open new rows, move and place cards, increase the borders or even lock rows.

Let's play 6 Nimmt!

6 Nimmt! is a 2-to-10 players game, age 8+, by designer Wolfgang Kramer. Art by Design Edge, Bill Herrin, Gatis Sluka, Studio Tapiro, and Franz Vohwinkel.

6 Nimmt! was released in 1994 by AMIGO, and in 2013 in Brazil by Copag. The recent 25th Anniversary was released in 2020 in Brazil by Paper Games. As for the mechanics, the main ones are: simultaneous actions, hand management, scoring and restarting.

Let's play!

The Game

Your have a hand full of cards, or rather, full of negative points. You must get rid of these cards, but to do so you have to strategically put them into play, preventing your cards from being the 6th one placed in a row, otherwise you receive a penalty.

This is the basics of 6 Nimmt!

The objective of the game is to avoid taking cards, since each one results in negative points. The dynamics of the game change as more cards are played, creating a strategic and exciting experience. The visual theme of bulls, or rather, bullheads, is a creative and visual way for the designer to reinforce the idea “carrying the weight” of the cards in hand.

Game Setup is really simple:

- Shuffle all 104 cards together;

- Give 10 to each player;

- Take 4 cards and place them on the table forming 4 rows;

- Put aside the remaining cards, since they won't be used.

And it's done!

There will be 10 turns in total, since we have 10 cards and we will play one of them each turn. The turn is very simple:

- Step 1: choose one of your cards;

- Step 2: reveal your card;

- Step 3: place it in one of the 4 rows.

Step 1 is one of the most crucial and strategic moments of the game, because it is played simultaneously. All players choose a card from hand and place it face down in front of them, so others do not know what card it is.

You want to place a card with the closest possible value to the highest value on the right of one of the 4 existing rows. For example: if there is a 17 in row 1, try to place the card with the highest value closest to 17, so an 18 would be ideal.

In Step 2, reveal the cards simultaneously, and now the game really gets going: the revealed cards are played, or rather, placed in one of the 4 rows in ascending order, that is, from the lowest value to the highest. This is where trouble begins!

Now, we have Step 3, where, in ascending order, each player places their card in the respective row. This is when you finally find out if you chose a “good” card, close in value to the last card in a row, and if some other player had the same idea about the same row. Sometimes, your card will end up being placed after your opponents' cards, so it is time to hope that your card is not the 6th card in the row.

This is where the game's penalties take place, because each row holds up to 5 cards. When the 6th card is placed, the player who placed this 6th card takes the previous 5 cards as a penalty and leaves their 6th card as the starting card in the row.

The total penalty is the sum of the bullheads in the upper center, between the numbers, on each card. Each bullhead is a negative point, and penalties range from 1 to 7 for each card.

If you happen to play a card with lower value than all the rows, which means it can't fit in any row, you'll also receive a penalty. You'll choose an entire row, take all the cards, and leave your lower value card as the starting card of that row.

After all players have placed their card in a row, and all penalties arer resolved, the turn ends. Repeat Steps 1, 2, and 3 again, until all the players have played their 10 cards, ending the round.

After the round is over, add up the negative points of all players, write them down, and now shuffle everything back together again with the cards that weren't used - it's time for a new setup and a new round!

That's how the turns and rounds happen in 6 Nimmt!

Ending the Game

Game continues round after round until one player reaches 66 or more negative points. Then, whoever has fewest negative points is the winner!

If there is a tie, the tied players share the victory.

You can adjust the threshold of negative points if the group prefers a shorter or longer game, or even agree beforehand to a set number of rounds.

6 Nimmt! is about getting rid of your cards and avoiding penalties. The game is pure strategy, with a little gambling and... well, luck... after all, not everything is in your control. There are other players placing cards, perhaps before you, and this really messes with your plans.

It all starts in Step 1, in card selection. The best choice is always a card with a number as close as possible to the highest value on the right of one of the 4 existing rows. Have I said this before? Yes, but I only repeated it because it really is that, otherwise you will be doomed to place your card further ahead.

Imagine a row with 3 cards, where the 3rd and last card is a 17; that is, the highest value on the left is 17, you have a 20, a reasonable value, very close to a 17. The ideal card would be an 18, but that's okay, you go with 20 anyway. In Step 2, when everyone reveals their cards, you notice one player has an 18, and another has a 19. This means that they will put their cards before yours, and now your 20, which seemed like a “good” choice, has just become the 6th card - you take 5 penalty cards.

An important tip, frequently used by yours truly, is to get rid of the bigger cards as soon as possible, since the numbers grow as more cards enter play, and higher value cards make choices really difficult.

This is reinforced by the fact that lower value cards are played first, so it's a good idea to always have a few, in case you need to pick up a row when you have no options. This usually works.

Regarding the penalties, for heavy gamers out there, here they are:

- 2 bull heads: on cards with numbers ending in 5 (5, 15, 25, etc.);

- 3 bull heads: on cards with multiples of 10 (10, 20, 30, etc.);

- 5 bull heads: on cards with repeated digits (11, 22, 33, etc.);

- 7 bull heads: only on number 55, because it ends in 5 and has repeated digits ;

- 1 bull head: on all other cards.

Remember this, manage your strategy, avoid taking too many penalties ,and win in 6 Nimmt!.

Unboxing:

Rules:

Gameplay:

6 Nimmt! is a fun party game, easy to teach, and with excellent stimuli for the kids. If you want a game with these characteristics, look no further!

6 Nimmt! uses numbers all the time: ascending order, adding and subtracting, count the bullheads, that is, non-stop logical mathematical stimulus. This is great for kids!

Managing cards in hand is required to make the best choices, so attention and focus will also be required along with decision-making. Strategy comes into play at all times, to try to get rid of your cards, and avoiding taking penalties.

Last but not least, it's fun: the revealing of face-down cards create really fun moments, with high expectations, “good tension” that makes kids bite their nails and have that mischievous little smile on the corner of their mouth. It always ends in laughter when they see someone taking an entire penalty row. Cherish those fun moments!

From an educational perspective, 6 Nimmt! stimulates management, strategy, decision-making, logical mathematical reasoning and, on top of that, it’s fun!

I recommend 6 Nimmt! for your collection!!!