Skip to product information
1 of 1

MIKADO

NEUSPIEL001

Regular price
€2,50 EUR
Regular price
Sale price
€2,50 EUR
Tax included. Shipping calculated at checkout.
Description

Mikado is a game of skill that originated in Europe and is said to have been known as early as the Romans (see game). However, its Japanese name suggests that it may have been inspired by East Asian oracle techniques. It is played with several colorful wooden sticks, the most important of which is called the Mikado.

The Mikado game consists of 41 sticks, approximately 18 cm long and 3 mm thick. The ends of the sticks are pointed. The sticks have colored markings that correspond to different values:

name Color code Value Number
mikado thin blue spiral line (or black stripes) 20 1
Mandarin blue-red-blue 10 5
Bigwigs (Japanese bōzu 'priest') red-blue-red-blue-red 5 5
samurai red-yellow-blue (or red-green-blue) 3 15
pen(Chinese for "worker") red-blue 2 15

So there are 170 points in total.

Game

The game is played on a table or on a smooth floor. The first player bundles all the sticks onto the table and lets them fall over. There are at least two methods:

  1. Hold all bars with one hand and release
  2. Hold the sticks with two hands, twist to fan them out, then drop them

In any case, the sticks will then be lying chaotically on top of each other on the table. Now, one stick at a time should be removed without moving any other sticks. Here, too, there are several techniques: By hand:

  • just take (“lonely” sticks)
  • carefully roll away (several bars next to each other)
  • pull out (free rod between others)
  • set up by pressing on the pointed end (rods that only touch the ground with one end)
  • touch both ends at the same time and lift them up (resting bar)

Anyone who already owns the Mikado (or, with simplified rules, just a Mandarin) may also use it as a “helper”:

  • Roll the stick away with the tip
  • go under the bar and then throw up

If a second stick moves during the attempt (usually commented on with "it wobbled"), the attempt is aborted. The remaining sticks are collected, and the next player takes a turn.

Usually, the game continues until all the sticks have been taken by players. Sometimes a specific number of rounds (e.g., five) is played, and then the player with the most points wins. If two players are tied, the one with the most sticks wins; if there is another tie, another round is played.

    MIKADO
    Visit us at SPIEL in Essen 23-26 October
    Do you know our Dutch auctions?
    Visit our Feuerland-Shop at www.feuerland-shop.de