A great uprising has started in Sherwood Forest. The friends of Robin Hood have stolen many treasures from the Sheriff of Nottingham, but now they cannot agree on how to share the spoils. Everybody wants to gain most and thinks that he has found the safest hiding places for his riches. For this reason, no one stops from taking the treasures of his fellow Merry Men. Robin Hood and Maid Marian will have to spend all their energies to reunite their men. The player who has won most treasures by the end of the game will win...

At the beginning of the game, each player will receive 9 treasure cards from a random pile, containing Gems, Royal Insignia and Gold. The rest of the cards will be mixed into a deck, and from this deck three cards are turned around to give the players a possibility to decide which card(s) they want to draw. The game is divided into turns of the single players, and at the beginning of his turn a player first must take one of the three open cards. Afterwards, a player may perform one or more actions. A player may also decide to take two of the cards, but if he should decide to do so he must perform at least one action afterwards. At the end of his turn, a player discards all his cards in excess of 9, and then turns over enough cards from the deck that the next player again may chose his cards to draw from three possible cards.

During his turn, a player may chose to perform up to three different actions. First off, a player may decide to steal a treasure from the Sheriff and bring it to his hideout. He succeeds to do so if he can play three cards of the same treasure type with an unbroken row of card-values. He then may place the card with the highest card in front of him (his hide-out), whereas the other two cards are discarded. For this action a player will receive a bonus of 3 coins, as long as the stockpile of coins is existent.

Itīs important to note that the treasure cards not only show the treasures and their value, but each treasure card also shows one of the following symbols: Hat, Stick or Bow. These Symbols may be used to steal treasures from other playersī hideouts. If a player suceeds to place three treasure cards with matching values and or or two different symbols in front of another player, he may announce an attempt to steal a treasure from that player. The other player now gets the possibility to play a card with the same value in defence. If such an defence card is played, the attacker will have to discard one of his three cards and then both players may take back the rest of their cards. If the other player cannot or doesnīt want to defend himself, the attacker may chose a treasure of the defender and take it to his hide-out, discarding all three of his attack-cards. If the attacking player actually should succeed to play three cards with all three different symbols, the attacked player wonīt even get the chance to defend himself.

Very important is Maid Marian, who will run to the assistance of the attacked player. After a turn in which a player has lost one or more cards from his hide-out, Maid Marian will go to the assistance of that player, defending his hide-out from all further stealing attempts. She will remain there until a card has been stolen from another player. Players may also opt to secure some of their treasures themselves. Whenever they gather three treasures of the same kind in their hide-out, these cards will be protected from stealing for the rest of the game.

At the end of the game, players add the number of their coins plus the values of the treasures in their hide-outs. The player with the highest score has won the game.

Robin hood is a nice addition to Amigoīs series of small cardgames. Like most of their games, itīs only playable with three or more players, but once enough players are around the table a quite funny and highly interactive cardgame will arise. Players have much influence on the process of the game, since they donīt only collect cards to strengthen their scores but they also have the possibility to influence the scores of other players by hunting for their treasures. The game is well balanced and suitable for players who love a short but worthwile distraction.

Copyright © 2006 Frank Schulte-Kulkmann, Essen, Germany