Okay, so I thought I'd write a little article about "Die Sieben
Siegel" cause I have a feeling it will be one of these great little
cheap gems that sadly gets forgotten (although if RGG picks it up
like someone has mentioned, this may not be the case) - designer
Stefan Dorra seems to have this unlucky curse.

First off, it's yet another trick-taking game. But, it's the best
trick taking game I've ever played and very different than most
others in the genre.

For those of you who enjoy "Spades", you will absolutely LOVE "Die
Sieben Siegel". It removes all the things I don't like
about "Spades" and adds some wonderful twists.

I'll assume that everyone knows about typical trick taking games -
With this game, like "Spades", you need to predict how many tricks
you will take during the round. BUT, the big difference is, you need
to predict how many tricks IN EACH SUIT you'll take...and there are
no partners. Lowest points at the end, wins.

So after all the cards are dealt out (cards are numbered 1-15, but
less cards are used with less than 5-players), each player in order
will decide how many suits they will take that round (there are 5
suits, each in a different color) and take the appropriate
colored 'seal'. For instance, if you think you'll take 1 green trick
and 2 blue tricks, you'll take 1 green seal and 2 blue seals from the
center of the table -OR- you have the option of being the "saboteur"
who won't predict any tricks....he just tries to screw everyone else
up. (only one player per round can be the soboteur)

There are only 3 seals of each suit color (except 5 in red) in the
table, if you want a seal that is no longer on the table, you can
take it from another player. That player in turn takes a white seal
(a 'wildcard' seal) from the center.

Once everyone takes their seals, the game begins like any normal
trick-taking game. The red suit is the trump suit. When a player
wins a hand, they place the appropriate seal back into the center.
For instance, a yellow card is the lead card and a player wins the
hand with the highest yellow card, he then places one of his yellow
seals back in the center. If he doesn't have a yellow seal, he TAKES
a black seal from the center. This will give him points at the end
of the round (you DONT want points).

If, for instance, a yellow card was lead then a player trumps it with
a red card and wins...he can discard a yellow OR red seal.

At the end of the round, players look at how many seals they have in
front of them. 2 points are given for every colored (not white or
black) seal. 3 points are given for every black seal and 4 for every
white seal.

The saboteur starts the round with 4 points and for every black seal
in front of a player at the end of the round, 1 points is taken
away. For instance, Stefu & Mikko each have 1 black seal in front of
them, the saboteur will receive 2 points (4 - 2).

The game ends after 'x' amount of rounds ('x' being the number of
players, 6 rounds with 3 players though).

For spades players, this game is heaven. For people who don't like
trick-taking games, you're not gonna like this one. For those who
want to introduce real gamers into the trick-taking genre...this is
your game.

- Phil