Rette sich wer Kann

As a fan of negotiation games, Rette Sich Wer Kann (by Ronald Wetterling) caught my eye in early 2004 as a game worth purchasing. At the time, there was no local, Americanized edition so I needed to track down a seller in Germany who would ship it over to me (I was in Korea at the time). Due to shipping hassles and whatnot, the game took about 4 months to arrive, but it finally did, eventually, and to my great, great delight.

RSWK is, like Diplomacy, a game that is driven by negotiations. But unlike Diplomacy, its theme is quite silly, so it’s quite unlikely anyone will get their feelings hurt. Losing a game of RSWK can be just as much fan as winning (heck, it’s probably even more fun to lose).

The game board shows a disaster in progress. A sailing vessel is sinking, but lucky for the crew, there are some nearby islands that will provide sanctuary from the cold, raging sea and hungry sharks. The problem is that the crew need to get there via the crummy company-provided lifeboats that are just as prone to spring a leak as they are to stay afloat. Jostling for position, the crew make their way to one of the 7 lifeboats and begin their wet trek for shore.

Each player chooses a color for his crew, which consists of 2 large sailors and 5 small ones. Each player also receives his or her own voting wheel and 3 Captain’s Hat tiles. One player is chosen to go first and can start by placing one of his crew members on one of the 7 empty boats (while the boat colors also match the player colors, the boats don’t belong to any one player). Set up continues in this manner until all crew members have been placed. Once that is done, the first turn of the game can begin. Each turn consists of the following phases:

• A boat springs a leak! Due to their faulty craftsmanship, one of the boats springs a leak. The players are given a few minutes to discuss the matter. Negotiations are done in the open, and no deals are binding. In fact, there are no rules of any sort during moments of negotiations. Once deal-making has concluded, players use their voting wheel to secretly choose the color of the boat that they want to see take water. Votes are revealed simultaneously and the winning (or should I say losing) boat springs a most inopportune leak! If the boat has an open slot, it receives a blue “leak” marker. If, however, there are no open slots for the leak, then the crew on the lifeboat practice democracy at its finest by voting to throw one of their own overboard (to make room for the leak). This triggers another voting round that differs from the others in that the winner is determined by influence in the boat, with large sailors giving their “owner” 2 votes and small sailors giving 1 vote. In other words, only players with a crew member in that vote have a say, and the weight of their vote is determined by their presence in the boat. Either way, the boat is now one step closer to joining the Titanic.
• Progress is made! During this phase, a boat will move one step closer to safety (three moves forward are needed to reach an island). Once again, this is determined by negotiation and a vote, with the winner being the lucky boat. That boat, and the lucky crew members inside, is moved on step closer to land. When, or rather if, it reaches land, then those inside are unloaded and their controlling players receive points as indicated on the board, with the large pawns worth more than the smaller ones.
• Panic! The last phase has the crew members panicking and making a valiant, or perhaps foolhardy, swim for another boat. Beginning with the starting player, each player removes one crew member from a boat. Then, in reverse order, the swimmers are moved to another boat. If this is impossible, the swimmer drowns. The humanity!

And thus ends your turn. To summarize, on each turn, a boat will spring a leak, a boat will move forward, and the crew of each lifeboat will change as individuals panic and look for better prospects elsewhere. And most of this is decided through wide-open negotiations. The game will continue like this until all the boats have either reached the land or have sunk (which occurs at the end of any phase when there are more leaks than crew in the boat).

Regarding the voting, each player has another option: playing the Captain’s Hat. Rather than choosing a color, the player can set his voting wheel to the Captain’s Hat in a move to control the result of the vote. If he is alone in going for the Captain’s Hat, he can overrule the vote results and choose the target color himself. However, if he is not alone in choosing the Captain’s Hat, then their votes are wasted. Each player has 3 chances to use the Captain’s Hat - succeed or fail. Use them wisely.

Worth a special mention are the game’s stellar components. When I mentioned placing crew members into a boat, I wasn’t talking about placing some small tile on a larger tile that is shaped like a boat. The boats are made of actual wood and are about 4 inches long and an inch wide. Each boat has 6 notches for placing crew members and leak markers (both are also made of wood). As for the board, it is large and colorful, and shows a cartoony ship wreck that reinforces the less-than-serious approach to the game that each player should have going into the game. As for the Voting Wheels, I’ve heard complaints about the hassles needed to actually make them, but I found it to be a fun project (apparently, the recent re-issue of this game by Z-Man Games replaces the Voting Wheels with cards, which should work just fine).

I don’t have much advice to give as far as strategy or tactics go. The game is primarily trying to get others to go along without whatever it is that you think is best for your prospects, so if you’re good at cajoling (or begging) you should do well. I would recommend you avoid leaving a large pawn isolated on a lifeboat, however, as they’re worth more in terms of voting and points at the end of the game. If you’re ever forced to send a crew member swimming, you can choose which one gets the flipper.

I’ve only played RSWK a few times, but I’ve enjoyed myself each and every time. It’s easy to learn, the theme is wonderful (though I’ve heard some more sensitive gamers say it’s a tad ghastly), and it’s just plain fun to play. It should be in the collection of any and all gamers who are fans of negotiation games.