Käse Würfeln

The player mice in Käse Würfeln want to stack cheese as high as they can. Why? Why don't they just eat the cheese? That's not the issue here – let the mice do what they want!

On a turn, a player rolls eight six-sided dice up to four times, keeping dice between rolls if desired. After finishing, she claims a number card if she's rolled that number on that many dice; e.g., if she's rolled a 4 on four dice, she claims the 4 card. After claiming a card, she either starts a new stack with that card as its base or places that card on top of another card she already has – but only if that card is lower than the top card of the stack.

If a player takes a 1 card, she can place it either glass case side up on top of a stack – closing that stack (since nothing can be placed on a 1) and protecting it from being stolen – or mouse side up; a mouse side-up 1 can later be placed on a stack, and a player can have only two of these cards. When a player closes a stack with four, five or six cards, she takes a bonus card from the table, with earlier claimed bonus cards being worth more points.

If a player can't take any cards, she takes a gift card, which she can spend on a later turn to rotate a die to show a particular face. A player can hold only one gift card.

When three of the number stacks are empty, the game ends immediately. The player with the most stacks claims a 12-point bonus card, then players tally their points. Each closed stack is worth the product of the largest number in the stack and the number of cards in the stack; each open stack is worth the sum of the cards in the stack. The player with the most points wins!