Object of the Game
The players roll the dice for the most valuable sheep cards. The players choose a starting player using any
method they prefer. On his turn, a player sets a goal for his dice roll. If he succeeds, he may choose from the
best sheep cards available. If he rolls below his goal, other players with lower dice rolls may “graze” these cards.
Whoever goes last, hopes all the others before him have roll below their goals as the last player does not roll,
but takes all cards that are left. At the end of the game, players count their sheep (points). In addition, players
get points if a sheep dog guards their herds. If a player has more than one dog, he must supply them with
bones. The player with the most points wins.
These rules are for 3 to 6 players.
The rules for Wool Rules for 2 players at the end of these instructions (page 8).
A mutton-minding dice game to get
the best cards for 2 to 6 sheep connoisseurs, 10 years and up
Since Jacques, the sheep-shearing commissioner of the herd, has been given a present of new scissors, the “Snips 2010”, the
sheep fear him more than ever. He constantly wants to get to their wool. For this reason, the head ram, Roger, announces
that from today on, all sheep may defend their coats.Who performs well can keep covered.The one who gambles
unsuccessfully will not escape unshorn.Wool rules! Let the wool times roll…
Materials and Preparation
60 playing cards
Points
1 bone
Back
Number of
sheep
51 sheep cards
are shuffled together and placed in the middle
of the table face down as a card supply.
25 Wool chips
In each round, the players do these 3 actions in the following order:
1) Lay out cards
2) Make bids
3) Roll the dice
From the card supply, pick one more card than the number of players and lay the cards face up on the table.
(For the last round in the 6 - player game, the remaining four cards are put in the middle of the table.)
Front
… and takes, in addition, one of the
6 miniature clips. Place the remaining
bidding tables and clips back in the
box.
Each player takes two woll chips
D8
D10
and places them in his play area
3 dice – Place one 12 -sided die, one 10-sided die
(on the table near his seat). Put the remaining
wool chips on the table as a wool chip supply. D12
and one 8-sided die on the table. The total
Each wool chip counts as one victory point
maximum amount of the dice is 30.
and may be used to improve the outcome of
1
a dice roll.
Back of the
bidding table
Sheep herd
(collecting pile)
Note: as long as a player has not yet gotten any sheep
card(s) from the middle of the table, his number of sheep is
on the back of his bidding table. As soon as a player has
collected his first sheep card, the number of sheep shown on
the top card of his sheep herd collecting pile is his number
of sheep. (See “What to do with the cards”, page 5.)
3) Rolling the dice
The player who made the highest bid starts. After that, the player with the second highest bid follows, and so
on. The object of rolling the dice is to match or exceed your bid. If you succeed, you take cards from the
middle of the table. This applies also for the 26+ bid and for the 26bid: if the player rolls of 26 or more, he
takes cards from the middle of the table.
To do so, each player, except for the last, has three chances to roll the dice:
Bid
6 bidding tables
are shuffled face up. Each player takes
one of them …
Number
of sheep
What does the bid 26+ mean?
The player who bid 26+ puts a wool chip in the wool chip supply, and goes first.
A player who doesn’t have any wool chips left cannot bid 26+.
If more than one player bids 26+, each of them first puts a wool chip in the wool chip supply.
Then, as above, the number of sheep determines the order of play.
1) Laying out cards
Plus
Minus
8 sheep dogs
The Course of the Game
What happens if the bids are tied?
If more than one player has made the same bid, the number of sheep decides the order of the turn: players
with a lower number of sheep roll the dice before players with a higher number of sheep.
Example: Steven puts aside
the 9 after his second
attempt. Now he rolls the
yellow die for the third time.
3rd try (takes place only if the player did not
take any cards in the second try)
He leaves one of the two dice from the second
roll and re-rolls the third die for the last time. If
he reaches or exceeds his bid now, you takes
any one card. This ends his turn.
If the player does not reach or exceed his bid after three dice rolls, he takes no cards but,
instead, he takes a wool chip from the wool chip supply. This ends his turn.
If a player goes last, he does not roll the dice and does not take a wool chip. Instead, he immediately
takes all the remaining cards from the middle of the table. If there are none left, he takes nothing.
How you find out the result
• The player always sums the pips on all three dice.
• After each of the player’s dice rolls, his results can be
altered by means of his top sheep card and the use of
his wool chips.
If the player has a plus on the top sheep card of his
sheep herd, he may add this to his dice result.
Besides this, he may always improve his results by
using of his wool chips. Each wool chip that he puts
into the wool chip supply increases your result by
one point.
• If he has a minus on the top sheep card of his sheep
herd, he must subtract this from his result.
■
■
1st try
The player rolls all three dice. Then he sums the pips on the dice (see page
4). If, in doing so, he has reaches or exceeds his bid, you takes any three
cards from the middle of the table. This ends his turn.
example. in a 5-player game, put 6 cards face up in the middle of the table.
2) Making bids
Each player, using his miniature clip, secretly marks a bid on his bidding
table. After that, players reveal their bidding tables at the same time and
loudly declare their bids. Later, each player has to match his bid by rolling
the dice. The rank of the bids determines the order in which players
make their dice rolls; players with higher bids go before players with
lower bids.
2
Example:
Katherine’s
bid is 20.
2nd try (takes place only if the player did not take any cards in the first try)
He leaves one of the dice from the first roll and rolls the other two dice
again. He sums the pips on the three dice and if he reaches or exceeds his
bid now, he takes any two cards from the middle of the table. This ends his
turn.
3
Example: Steven needs a second
attempt to roll the dice. He leaves
the 8 and re-rolls the two
remaining dice.
9+8+5
-3
+1
=20
ATTENTION! If the result after the third dice roll is below 14, the player has to take all black sheep
from the middle of the table, if there are any. In this case, he also takes a wool chip. Of course, he may
use a bonus and wool chips to reach 14.
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When does a player get what?
What Players do with the cards
Each player builds a collecting pile in his play area of all sheep cards he takes in the course of the game. This pile
is his sheep herd. Whenever a player takes sheep cards from the middle of the table during a round, he sorts
them immediately in any way he likes and puts them on top of his sheep herd. If a player wants to know whether
he already has certain sheep cards, he must rely on his memory because a player is not allowed to look at the
cards in his sheep herd after he has placed them.
When a player takes sheep dogs, he places them next to his sheep herd, singly and visible to all players. When a
player takes the bone, he places it face up next to your sheep herd as well.
• If there are fewer cards lying in the middle of the table than a player is entitled to, he takes only the
cards that are left.
• If there are no cards left in the middle of the table, the player’s turn is skipped. A new round begins.
He does not get cards or a wool chip.
• If a player makes his bid without using wool chips or a bonus, he has to take all cards he is entitled
to, even if he does not want some of them.
A sheep card of a player’s sheep herd may have a plus, a minus, or a bone in the upper right hand corner.
The Special Cards of WOOL RULES
• Only the plus or minus on the top card of a player’s sheep herd counts.
• If a player takes a sheep card with a bone symbol
Example: Steven’s top sheep card
from the middle of the table, he may immediately –
shows a +2 bonus. He can take
and only once – take the “bone” away from its
advantage of the bonus as long as this
current owner (only, of course, if another player
card is lying on top of his sheep herd.
already has the bone). If a player’s top sheep card
shows a bone symbol in the upper right hand corner,
this has no meaning at all.
Sheep card 3-7-0
Owning one of these cards, gets a player
three points. Owning two of these
cards, gets a player 2 x 7 = 14 points.
Owning three of these cards, gives a
player a complete trio and he gets 0 points. (The 14
points of the first two cards are lost.) With four of
these cards, the player has started a new trio, and for
this fourth card he gets three points, and so on.
Cards in the middle of the table
Example: Connie takes the sheep card with the bone symbol,
along with other cards, from the middle of the table, and
immediately grabs the bone from Steven.
5
Connie
1st roll
2nd roll
3rd roll
5+4+6 = 15
12 + 7 + 7 -3 +1= 24
Penalty -2
Connie’s sheep herd
The game ends as soon as the players have gotten all cards from the middle of the table. Now each player adds
the points on the cards he collected and also adds the number of his wool chips.The player with the most points
wins, and can feel confident of his wool.
When adding the points, the players have to make sure they determine the actual value of the following cards:
3-7-0-card, 0-0-7-card, sheep dog, bone.
Steven
Connie takes a card after bidding 24
Rob MUST take
both black sheep
It is Rob’s turn. He doesn’t want to reach his bid before the third roll, otherwise he would get one or two
black sheep. For this reason, he leaves the 4 from his first roll. He then leaves one of the two 5s from his second
roll. After the third roll, he has only 13, since he has to subtract a minus (-2) from his dice roll result (15). Since
he doesn’t own any wool chips, the total after his third roll is below 14, so he has to take both black sheep.
Bad luck! At least he gets a wool chip from the wool chip supply.
Rob’s sheep herd
Ending and Winning the Game
Example: sheep herd, sheep dogs, bone
Rob wants to use his dice to his advantage, but has rolled below 14 Cards in the middle of the
table during Rob’s turn
Examples
Sheep card 0-0-7
Owning one of these cards, a player gets
0 points. Owning two of these cards, a
player gets 0 points. Owning three of
these cards, a player has the complete
trio and gets 3 x 7 = 21 points. With four of these
cards, the player has started a new trio, and for this
fourth card he gets 0 points, and so on (though he
keeps the 21 points for the first three cards).
Sheep dog
Having exactly one sheep dog gives a player nine
points. If he has no sheep dog, he discards two
sheep of his choice (no black, no 0-0-7, and no
3-7-0 sheep!) from his sheep herd. If he has
more sheep dogs next to his sheep herd than any other player,
he has to subtract five points from his score. If several players
have the most sheep dogs, each of these players loses five
points.
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The Bone
Bones make dogs feel happy. If a
player has the bone at the end
of the game, he gets four points
for each sheep dog he has. The
bone itself has no value and doesn’t keep a
player from subtracting five points if he owns
the most sheep dogs.
25 - 3 = 22.
Conni lässt
die blaue 12 liegen.
22 - 3 =19.
Conni lässt nun auch
die rote 7 liegen.
Mit diesem
Resultat erhält
Conni eine Karte.
After her first roll (12, 10, 3), Connie has already gained a total of 25 points; so she would exceed her bid
of 24 if she didn’t have a minus (-3) on her top sheep card. For this reason, she has to subtract 3 points from
her result, so it adds up to only 22 points. That is not enough even with the one wool chip she owns – that
would get her only 23; consequently, she needs to make a second dice roll.
She leaves the 12 and re-rolls the other two dice (7, 3). Now her result is worse than before. After subtracting
the minus, she has only a total of 19.
Now she leaves the 7 (with the 12 from before) and rolls the remaining die for a third time (7). By putting a
wool chip in the wool chip supply, she increases her result from 23 to 24; in doing so she reaches her bid. Since
this was her third roll, she takes one card of her choice from the middle of the table.
Katherine uses her bonus decisively
after Rob’s 3rd roll
Result = 13
Scoring example
the most dogs
Sum: 27
Sum: 0
Sum: 14
Sum: -10
Sum: - 5
4 dogs x 4 =16
TOTAL SCORE = 42 Punkte
Display during Katherine’s turn
WOOL RULES for 2 players
+2 wool chips
Katherine’s sheep herd
and sheep dog
8+4+9
Result after
Katherine’s 2nd roll
bonus +1
result = 24
Katherine takes these
two sheep cards.
Katherine has made a bid of 24 and wants exactly two cards. She does not want the black sheep or the sheep
dog. After her first roll, she has a total of 21. Now she could claim her bonus of “1” and pay two of her wool
chips to reach her bid. In this case, however, she would get three cards, which she doesn’t want to do. For this
reason, she puts aside one die and re-rolls. She reaches 21 again. This time, she uses her bonus and doesn’t mind
paying the two wool chips. Since this was her second roll, she takes two cards she wants.
7
The 2-player game has the same rules as described above, with the following exception:
Even if a player is second – and that means last – if there are cards still lying in the middle of the table, he tries
to reach his bid by rolling the dice. If there are still cards left even after the second player’s turn, the other player
gets them – even if he already got cards when it was his turn before.
© 2007
Published by Zoch Verlag
Author: Alessandro Zucchini
Venice Connection
English translation by Sybille Aminzadah
and Bruce Whitehill, “Word for Wort”
English translation edited by Jay Tummelson.
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