Game: Null & Nichtig

Thread: Very unique trick-taking game

crobledo — 2008-05-12T19:52:37+00:00

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Overview

I went to a friend's game night last Saturday and got to experience this very fun cards game. Null and Void (Null & Nichtig) is a very simple game in essence and at first gives the impression of not having a lot of strategy and being all luck. But after a few rounds you can tell that having a sound strategy is the only way to win. It is somewhat of a trick-taking game, but its not played in pairs or anything like that.

What you get in the box

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Like many other card games, the box contains... a deck of cards, a rules insert, and a score pad! The deck contains cards from 0-11 in 5 different suits, with duplicate zeros in all suits (so 12 cards per suit). Nothing distinguishes one suit from another other than color, so colorblind gamers beware! Other than that, the card stock is standard Amigo quality and the rulebook is pretty simple (though in German).

Setup and Gameplay

In a 5 player game, cards are shuffled and the deck is dealt out to all players. With less players, there will be a few cards left out (making card-counting harder). Then each player chooses 3 cards to play as their "starting score piles" and the player to the left of the dealer starts leading the first trick. WE will assume for this explanation that it is a 5 player game.

Tricks are played normally, the leading player playing one card and then the player to their left plays their card and so on, until all players played a card. Whoever played the HIGHEST number of any suit wins the trick. Ties go to the player who played the tied number first. Now here is where it gets interesting.

The player who won the trick collects the card they played FIRST, and adds it to the top of their score pile of that particular suit. Then they take the card from the player on their left and add it to the top of the score pile of that color, and he continues to do so around the table clock-wise. This means that some higher value cards may be replaced with lower value ones! The player who won the trick then leads the next.

When all players have emptied their hands, the round is over and points are scored. All players score the top card of every suit collected.

For example, your initial score piles are:
Red-3
Blue-8
Yellow-2

You win the first trick of the game with a Green-11, and the next cards clockwise are Red-2, Yellow-8, Red-6, Purple-0 and Blue-0. You pick the cards up in order, producing the following score pile:

Green-11 (first green card collected)
Red-6 (your 3 got replaced by the Red-2, but afterward it got replaced again by the Red-6)
Blue-0 (8 got replaced)
Yellow-8 (2 got replaced)
Purple-0 (first purple card collected)

If you did not win another trick the whole round, your final score would be 25 points (sum of all 5 cards at the top of the piles).

Impressions

Here are some of my impressions:

1. For a concept so simple, it was hard to teach. Some of the players didn't seem to get it outright and needed to play a practice round in order to grasp the concept. I think it is because it doesn't follow common rules in trick-taking games (likes suits don't matter while playing the trick, only scoring and; no trump suit).

2. There is a high chance of player collusion and king making. If you see the person in first place taking a trick, people can load his piles with zeros easily.

3. There is a chance to play the avoidance game. If your initial hand is 3x elevens and a bunch of low cards (or something close to this), you can play the elevens as your initial piles and never win a trick getting you 33 points, which was actually the highest score anyone got in any rounds (this was done by normal means, not the play described above).

4. As stated above, hard to play for colorblind people without some modifications from our pal Sharpie.

End of the day, it is a great game, fun to play and relatively quick (you can play as many rounds as you like, though the rules suggest 5). For fans of trick-taking games, this is one of those hard-to-get gems.

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Harlequinlite — 2007-01-08T20:06:08+00:00

Game components

Thread: Null & Nichtig -- Session Report

gschloesser — 2006-11-16T13:28:48+00:00

Each year at the Spiel in Essen, there seems to be a card game that generates some excitement amongst gamers. Geschenkt, which became No Thanks, was one such game. San Juan was another. This year, the card game that was my most pleasant surprise was Null & Nichtig from designer Reiner Stockhausen and Amigo.

The deck of cards contains five suits (colors), with values of 0 – 11 in each suit. There are two zeroes in each suit. Each player is dealt 13 cards, with the remainder being removed from the game. Players each place three cards of their choice face-up in front of them, separating them by color.

Game play is exceedingly simple, as each player in succession takes turns playing one card face-up. There are no standard ‘trick-taking” requirements here; each player may play whichever card they desire. The player who laid the highest valued card takes all of the cards – but they must take them in clockwise order, beginning with their own card. Each card is placed atop the corresponding stack in the player’s face-up cards. For example, red cards go atop the player’s red stack, yellow cards atop their yellow stack, etc. Thus, the previous top card in a stack will be covered if a card of the same suit is taken. This may increase or decrease the value of the top card on a stack.

This is important, as at the end of a round, players will only score the TOP card on each of their face-up stacks. As such, the goal is to take high-valued cards and avoid taking low-valued cards. Certainly this is FAR easier said than done! Indeed, your opponents will be thrilled to stick you with low-valued cards, taking glee in watching you cover that “10” with a lowly “1” – or even a zero! As in games such as Mit List und Tucke, Sticheln and Nicht die Bohne, Null & Nichtig has a deliciously evil mean streak.

Leading in this game is NOT the preferred position, as you are truly at the mercy of your opponents. If you lead with a high card, they can slam you with low-valued cards, forcing you to take them and reduce your score. If you take a chance and lead with a low card, they may still be able to stick you by playing low cards, as any ties in value are broken by the player who played first. The ideal position is to be last in the playing rotation, as you can control the “trick”. The bad news here is that if you opt to take the trick, you will be forced to lead the next hand!

For all its simplicity, there are some tough decisions to be made. Of course, you must adapt your strategy to the hand you are dealt. Sometimes it is wise to play three low-valued cards at the beginning of the hand, and then try to take tricks with your high valued cards. Other times, you may want to play high-valued cards before the round begins, and then try to avoid taking any tricks. Choosing which cards to conserve to the end of a hand is also tricky, as it could result in feast or famine.

Null & Nichtig has quickly risen to one of my favorite card games of the year. It is easy to teach, plays quickly, yet packs a mean punch. Don’t judge this game by its name, which translates “Null and Void”, as there is MUCH more here than the name implies!

Rhonda, Gail and I opted to play three hands. Rhonda jumped off to a big lead after the first round, but we managed to hold her in check in the second round. She prevailed again in the third round, however, to capture the victory.

Round-by-round scores:

Rhonda: 45 + 23 + 43 = 111
Greg: 32 + 27 + 40 = 99
Gail: 5 + 26 + 12 = 43

Ratings: Greg 6.5, Rhonda 5.5, Gail 5

Thread: Re: Null & Nichtig -- A First Look

cbrua — 2006-10-26T12:03:19+00:00

I think a "take no tricks" strategy is pretty good in a 3-player game since so much of the deck is not in play. As you said, it is very different with 5 players. The strategy is still a good one, but it can be harder to achieve since all of those zeros are out there!

--Chris

Thread: Re: Null & Nichtig -- A First Look

coljen — 2006-10-26T08:30:38+00:00

Great review, I bought this at Essen and we played it for the first time on tuesday. This was a 3 player game so only 40% of the cards were in play. I found that it was easiest to lay all my high cards down at the start and then concentrate on not winning any tricks at all. I think leading is bad, bad, bad. Anyway I throughly enjoyed (I did win lol). Can't wait to play with 5, should be a different game I should think.

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toulouse — 2006-10-25T14:04:33+00:00

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toulouse — 2006-10-25T13:15:53+00:00

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toulouse — 2006-10-25T13:15:49+00:00

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giochiusati — 2006-09-19T20:24:38+00:00

Thread: Re: Null & Nichtig -- A First Look

cbrua — 2006-08-23T23:24:58+00:00

Thanks for the feedback!

I was told the game should be out in 3-4 weeks and that Amigo will have them at Essen.

--Chris

Thread: Re: Null & Nichtig -- A First Look

Bobby4th — 2006-08-23T22:59:24+00:00

Thanks for the terrific review/description! I see the number of people wanting the game has jumped from three to a lot more than that. I'm looking forward to being able to get this from an online retailer sometime soon.

Thread: Null & Nichtig -- A First Look

cbrua — 2006-08-23T18:37:33+00:00

Null & Nichtig
By Reiner Stockhausen
©2006 Amigo Spiele

Null & Nichtig is an unusual trick-taking card game for 3-5 players from Amigo Spiele. Unlike most trick-taking games, players do not “follow suit” – the suit (color) of the card has no bearing on card play; it is only used in scoring. This, combined with its unique open scoring system, creates a very different kind of game play that takes a little getting used to but is very rewarding. I enjoy the game and heartily recommend it if you like trick-taking card games. It is a nice change of pace and has the wonderful trait of being very simple to learn (very simple rules) yet having non-obvious game play that rewards calculated risk-taking and thoughtful play.

Game Overview
The Null & Nichtig deck consists of 65 cards; numbered 0 – 11 in five different colors plus a second 0 card in each color. Players are dealt 13 cards each. Any extra cards are kept hidden and out of the game for that round. At the start of each round, each player chooses 3 cards from their hand and places them face-up in front of themselves, sorted by color. This forms their initial scoring stacks.

Game play is quite simple. The person to the left of the dealer leads the first trick. Each player in clockwise order plays a card to the trick. Players are free to play any card they want, regardless of color or number. Whoever plays the card with the highest number wins the trick. Ties are resolved in order of play: whoever played the card first wins.

The trick winner takes the cards played and adds them face-up to the scoring stacks in front of him, creating new stacks for any colors taken that were not represented in the player’s initial 3 scoring cards. Cards are added in the order in which they were played to the trick. So, if a yellow 11 is played, and later a yellow 0 is played on that trick, the 11 will get added to the yellow scoring stack first and then be covered up by the 0. This is important because at the end of the round a player’s score is the sum of the cards that are at the top of each of his scoring stacks.

The winner of the previous trick leads for the next trick. After all 10 tricks have been played, players add up their score. The person who won the fewest points in the round is the dealer for the next round. The game is over after a number of rounds have been played equal to the number of players. Alternatively, the game can be played until someone exceeds a set number of points (e.g., 100). The player with the most points when the game is over wins the game.

Thoughts
What doesn’t come across in the game description is just how evil the game play can be. In this regard it reminds me a little of Sticheln. Only the last to play on a trick has perfect knowledge of what that trick will be worth; everyone else has to take a chance. This creates many opportunities for players to poison a trick for the winner by playing a low numbered card of a color that the trick winner has a good score in – either on his stack currently or something he would be getting earlier in the trick.

Leading a trick is very risky in this game. If you lead a low number, everyone else can throw off low numbers too and you end up winning the trick and tanking your score. Leading with a zero and having everyone else follow with a zero is brutal! The strategy is to lead a card that someone else may want to take. A player without a particular color in their scoring stacks (or a low number of that color) may be interested in the trick of you lead a mid-high value card of that color, for example. If there are several players that can use the card you lead, you are generally safe from getting “stuck” with a poor trick.

The strategy behind which cards to start your scoring piles with is interesting. If you have a lot of high-number cards in your hand you might want to put low-mid number cards in your scoring piles under the assumption that you will take other cards via tricks (which will go on top of these low cards). If you only have a few high-number cards in your hand, you might want to put them down as your scoring piles and then try not to take any tricks for the round!

A final comment: the game plays a bit differently depending on how many players there are. In a 3-player game 40% of the cards are out of the game, making it difficult to estimate what colors and values other players may have in their hands. Conversely, in a 5-player game all of the cards are dealt out so everyone has perfect information about which cards are left (if you keep track of all the cards played). I think 4-players may be the sweet-spot: 20% of the cards are out of play, so card-counting is still somewhat useful but not a huge advantage.

There are variant rules for playing with 6 players and playing in teams. I haven’t tried them.

Conclusion
I enjoy trick-taking games that reward thoughtful play. Mu, Trump Tricks Game, Pinochle, and Spades are among my favorites. Null & Nichtig may get added to that list. I need to play it several more times to be sure it stays interesting, but my initial plays lead me to believe that this will be the case. The decisions you have to make are meaningful and often create a low level of angst that is wonderful. Definitely try this game if you enjoy trick-taking card games, even if you only like “mild” trick-taking games like Oh Hell/Wizard or Die Sieben Siegel. The rules for Null & Nichtig are simple but the game experience is not!