Der Räuber Hotzenplotz

Up to four players start from one corner of a square board to bring six figures into the middle of the board. There is the den of the "Robber Hotzenplotz", a figure well known in Germany from a bestselling children`s book. Every player has his own way from "home" to the "den", equally laid out, and at first sight without any interaction or connection.

But:

Instead of dice there is a turning plate UNDER the board. On your way some of the points you walk on are holes in the upper board. So, if you step onto one of those, your figure stands on the plate underneath. Now is the time to turn the plate and watch: Is your figure falling into the trap (the box), because the plate has a hole at the same place, or does it keep standing? Through the same turning mechanism numbers change in small window-like holes, telling each player how far he is allowed to go. One more point: Figures you jump over just don`t count. So, if you jump, you go one step further.

The first figure reaching the den gains six points, the second five, the third and fourth four and so on. The winner is the player with the most points in the end.

Looks like a pure game of luck, but the step on a hole also changes the numbers for the other players. There are more twists you have to think of (e.g. a shortcut through the dark wood etc.), so for young children this can be the gate to "tactics" and "strategy": Is my advantage worth the risk? And in which order shall I draw my figures? Because of the "jumped over doesn`t count"-rule, there are smart and dumb actions! And the winner is winning because of scoring points, not only, because he was the first!

Absolutely rare game and predecessor of euro-game-mechanics for young kids from the late sixties.