In 6 nimmt!, four rows of numbered cards lie in the middle of the table. Everyone chooses one card from their hand face down, then reveals their choice together. You place these cards in order from lowest to highest. Each must go at the end of the row whose last number is lower than your card and closest to it.
For example, if the row endings are 25, 47, 68 and 86, a 71 must go after 68. You cannot choose the row ending in 47 instead. But if the required row already holds five cards, you take those five and your played card becomes the first card of the replacement row.
The cards you take stay in a separate penalty pile. Each printed bullhead symbol counts as one penalty point, and the lowest total wins. A card lower than every row ending forces you to take a row of your choice. That can let you accept a small penalty before another player changes where your higher card would have to go.
Your choice: 12 or 71
Here is an invented position in a four-player game. You are deciding between 12 and 71. The other three players have not revealed their cards yet. The 71 appears to fit after 68, in a row with room to spare. If your 12 is placed first, it is lower than every ending, so you would choose a row to take. Taking the single 25 would cost two points.
Pick which card you would play before reading the two possible results below. The table gives each row’s total penalty; the large numbers on the cards determine their placement, not their penalty value.
| Cards in the row, left to right | Penalty points |
|---|---|
| 25 | 2 |
| 32 · 35 · 39 · 44 · 47 | 10 |
| 61 · 68 | 2 |
| 82 · 86 | 2 |
One possible reveal: 18, 78 and 94
Suppose you chose 71 and the other players reveal 18, 78 and 94. The 18 goes first. It is below all four row endings, so its owner must take a row. They choose the row containing 61 and 68, which costs them two points, and replace it with their 18.
Your 71 is next. The row endings are now 25, 47, 18 and 86. The closest lower number is 47, so your card must go there. That row already has five cards: you take its ten penalty points and replace it with 71. The 78 then follows your new 71, and the 94 follows 86.
Now keep those same three opposing cards but choose 12. Your 12 goes first. You take the single 25 for two points and put 12 in its place. The 18 must now follow your 12, so its owner no longer gets to choose a row to remove. The 78 follows 68, and the 94 follows 86. Your two-point penalty has kept the full row ending in 47 out of your way.
A different reveal lets 71 through
Suppose the other players reveal 28, 78 and 94 instead. The 28 follows 25. Your 71 can then follow 68 without taking any cards. Choosing 12 against those cards would still have cost you two points.
Even with the first set of opposing cards, the owner of 18 had a choice. They could have taken the row containing 82 and 86 for two points instead. That would leave the row ending in 68 available for your 71. The costly result was possible, but it depended on another player’s decision.
Why the 12 limits this turn’s risk
In this position, choosing 12 costs you at most two points during this set of four revealed cards. If yours is the lowest, you can take the single 25. If someone plays a card lower than 12, their card goes first and must replace a row. Your 12 can then follow a lower number in a newly started row. With only four cards being placed, that new row cannot reach six cards before your 12 goes down.
The 71 might cost nothing, which makes it tempting. Its risk is that a lower card could remove the row you expected to use. The two possible results above show why you should check the other rows before relying on that space after 68.
You do not need to know what everyone will play to make this decision. You can see that 12 limits the immediate damage, while 71 leaves you hoping its row survives. Choosing between them depends on how willing you are to risk ten points to avoid paying two.
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