Set collection

Contents of the Game:

1 playing board, 3 dice, 3 packs of ‘Commodity’ cards (coloured red green and yellow) 1 pack of ‘Command’ cards (coloured blue) various denominations of ‘Credit’ notes, 6 playing pieces, 6 ‘At Risk Zone Cards’, 1 set of Rules.

Cards: There are 4 packs of cards which are placed on the playing board, as indicated by the 4 colour coded cards situated between the ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ circles. The 4 packs of cards are made up as follows:-

Red Commodity Cards – cheapest range from 500 to 1,000 ‘Credits’.

Green Commodity Cards – middle range from 2,000 to 10,000 ‘Credits’.

Yellow Commodity Cards – dearest range from 10,000 to 100,000 ‘Credits’.

Blue Cards – ‘Command’ cards – instructions must be followed.

This game can be played by 2 to 6 players aged 8 and over. There are 3 different levels of the game, each being a little more complex than the last. The first level enables you to get used to the basic idea. The second level introduces more advanced rules and techniques. The third level encourages you to play the game in its purest form, pitting your wits against the other players until a final winner emerges. (You will find a ‘Quick Start Guide’ on the back of the ‘At Risk Zone Card’.)

The idea of the game is to be the most successful Wheeler Dealer™ and depending on which level is played, be the first to have a total wealth of up to 3,000,000 ‘credits’. Players start with 8,250 ‘credits’ and a random hand of 4 red and 4 green ‘Commodity’ cards on level 1. Players accumulate wealth by selectively buying and selling ‘Commodity’ cards one at a time, until a ‘set’ of 3 or more identical cards has been built. Once a ‘set’ has been built it may be sold to the ‘bank’ for 2, 3 or 4 (sometimes more) times the ‘face value’. It is good practice to place the ‘set’ to be sold to the ‘bank’ in the middle of the playing board. ‘Commodity’ cards sold to the ‘bank’ are placed at the bottom of the coloured coded deck.

Players must start on the ‘outer circle’, from any of the blue spaces, in a clockwise direction. Players may only progress to the ‘inner circle’ when they have sufficient total wealth (150,000 ‘Credits’ level 1). As soon as one player reaches the ‘inner circle’ all other players are permitted to enter also, even if they do not have sufficient wealth. Wealth is accumulated faster on the ‘inner circle’, however, there are greater risks. All players must announce that they are going to enter the ‘inner circle’ before the dice are thrown. Before throwing the dice to move around either ‘circle’, players may buy one ‘Commodity’ card from any other player for 3 times the ‘face value’. Other players do not have to sell and only one card may be bought at a time. If buying a card makes a ‘set’ of 3 or more the player may also sell the ‘set’ to the ‘bank’ before throwing the dice to move around the ‘circle’.

Players may at any time during their turn secure loans on other ‘Commodity’ cards in their possession at ½ ‘face value’ which is known as the ‘At Risk Value’. Such cards must be placed on the ‘At Risk Zone Card’, unless they form part of the ‘set’ to be sold immediately to the ‘bank’. ‘At Risk’ cards may be bought by other players, when it is their turn, at 2 times ‘face value’. If asked, the owner of an ‘At Risk’ card must sell it to the other player, repay the bank the ‘At Risk Value’, plus 10% interest. It is good practice to place the ‘At Risk Zone Card’ to your left, thereby keeping your cards and money away from the other players.

Once the above options have been exhausted, the player then rolls the dice (2 ‘outer circle’ 1 ‘inner circle’) and moves his playing piece the number of spaces rolled in a clockwise direction. The player turns over the top card of the colour landed on and may buy the ‘Commodity’ card at ‘face value’. If buying this card makes a ‘set’, you must wait until your next turn before selling the ‘set’ to the ‘bank’. If a player does not have or cannot raise enough money to buy the ‘Commodity’ card or does not want it, the player must pay the ‘bank’ 10% of the ‘face value’ to cover the ‘Handlers Charge’ and the ‘Commodity’ card is placed to the bottom of the colour coded deck. If the player cannot raise enough money to pay the ‘Handlers Charge’ bankruptcy must be declared. When landing on a yellow space (outer circle), players have the option of turning over a yellow ‘Commodity’ card buying it or paying the ‘Handlers Charge’, or turning over a blue ‘Command’ card and following the ‘Commands’.

If a player lands on a blue space ‘outer circle’ a 5,000 ‘Credit’ bonus is paid to the player from the ‘bank’. The player also takes a blue card (‘Command’ card) from the top of the deck and follows the ‘Commands’ exactly. If a player lands on a blue space on the ‘inner circle’ no bonus is paid but a ‘Command’ card must be taken from the top of the blue deck and ‘Commands’ followed exactly.

A game of outrageous bluffing, honest haggling, and crafty negotiation. It's Halloween! Time to don your scariest costume and run through the neighborhood shouting "Trick or Treat!". Collect costume and treat cards, and you're on your way to winning Halloween Party. But beware - your opponents may play tricks on you!

Simple enough. But is it? Halloween Party has a ghoulish Twist - You can't play your own cards! You must trade with your opponents, playing the cards they give you, and letting them play your cards. Can you trust them to trade the cards you want? Probably not. But that's where the fun begins...

A winner of the 2000 Concours International de Créateurs de Jeux de Société.

In one of his sillier games, Karl-Heinz Schmiel casts the players as semi-psychotic cooks attempting to hone their culinary skills. Each player receives a miniature pan and a hotplate. Then each turn you can either attempt to turn up the heat, season your dish, or attempt to steal another cook's recipe in the making. Heating your hotplate is a random affair with a die, and could raise the heat on everyone's plate. Spicing the dish is heart of the game and done by up-ending small bottles filled with little colored wood pellets. When the pellets tumble out of the bottle (sometimes, if they do), the number of pellets can't exceed two, because over-spicing the dish ruins it and you have to throw it in the trash!

The 2009 version includes some changed rules, a new victory condition, additional recipes and some new mechanics in comparison to the 1989 version.

In Ristorante Italia, each player owns an Italian restaurant, a restaurant that he wants to make better than everyone else's in order to have the most points at the end of the game. To do this, a player must set up the menu, draw recipe cards, go to the town markets to collect needed ingredients, improve and enlarge the restaurant, improve the staff's cooking skills (as indicated by the cook-o-meter), and otherwise do whatever is necessary to have the most exemplary restaurant in the city.

Ristorante Italia lasts four phases, with each phase being comprised of three rounds. In each round, players can perform two actions from this list: draw recipe/wine cards, buy ingredients, buy rooms, take a "personal touch" cube, buy a bonus card, or buy a cooking training course. Special events during the game include VIP visits, culinary reviewer visits and the final National Cooking Contest, in which players will compete with their best recipes.

To achieve victory, players can follow an economic strategy – focusing on a menu which provides a strong revenue – or a quality strategy, in which the restaurant features special recipes matched to unique wines. Both strategies can lead to victory, and a balanced strategy can also be a good idea.

Ristorante Italia, scheduled for release in October 2011, can be played in two versions: Recipes for Novice Cooks (lighter version) and Recipes for Great Chefs (complete version).

From the publisher's website:

It's rush hour at the Ring-a-Ding Diner and you must hurry to serve a table full of hungry customers! Roll the die to add dishes to your tray. Roll a Free Meal or snag the Special of the Day to help fill your order. And if you roll a bell, it's a mad dash to grab your grub before another player beats you to the lunch! Be the first to complete all your orders and - DING! - you're the winner!