An Econet version of the German card game 6 Nimmt! is available to play. While designed as a multiplayer game (up to 10 players), a configurable number of Bot players can be introduced, adding further chaos to the game, but also meaning it’s possible to play a solo version.

Please only play the game against other players on a local network, or in solo mode.

During play test the game was observed to hang, and lose synchronisation when playing across the Econet Cloud; equally the game also failed to load using a cloud server. This suggests we are bumping up against the limits of the current Econet Cloud trunk implementation, and something we hope to see addressed in PiEconetBridge v2.2.

PAGE Requirements

The BASIC code has been packed to minimise space consumption (removing whitespace, comments and crunched identifiers) but there is still a requirement that PAGE is &1200 or lower.

The code implements the same logic as Mark Moxon’s Econet Elite and will attempt to disable non-essential ROMs. This is done using the provided *KILLROM utility.

Follow the onscreen instructions if required.

Network Location

The game can be loaded using either:

*I AM  6.252 E6N        (for those inside the museum)

*I AM 26.252 E6N        (for those outside the museum)

Both addresses resolve to the same PiEconetBridge.

Setup vs Join

The game is implemented as a single BASIC program. One player starts the game, selects Setup by pressing S, and thus becomes the Games Master. All other players select Join by pressing J, and connect to the Games Master as clients.

Those joining a game in the setup phase make use of the Econet FindServer protocol to discover the network address of the server. The only Econet address you need is the one to load the game.

During game play, client systems send their card choices to the Games Master, which collates and distributes the card choices to all players. In turn, each system then plays out the cards according to the rules of 6 Nimmt! If a choice is required of a player, this again is coordinated via the Games Master, which will relay the particular choice to all clients.

The game initially offers the chance for a game overview (see below), then prompts for Setup or Join (press S or J), followed by entering a (max 3 letters) player name:

Econet 6 Nimmt!

Setup or Join ? Setup
Name (max 3 chars) ?JN

Joining Phase

The Game Master is in control of when the game starts. After an Initial check for any other games in a setup (while only one game can be setup at a time, once game play commences, other games can be started), the Games Master will report:

Query for Game Server…
…Waiting @ 1.013

And on the right hand side of the screen the scoreboard is updated with your player name.

The objective in 6 Nimmt! is to have the lowest score, so try to avoid picking up cards, although sometimes a tactical move necessitates a deliberate pick up!

The scoreboard lists all players with their Econet addresses and scores:

    JN       1.013    0

As other plays join, their names are reported and added to the scoreboard.

Game Start

Once multiple players have joined, the game can be started by the Games Master by pressing S, alternatively there’s a three step sequence to add Bot Players:

1. Press C to close the FindServer service
     At this point no new players can find the Games Master to join
2. Press B to add Bot Players; multiple bots can be added up to a 
     total of 10 players
3. Press S to Start Play

Adding Bot Players adds a degree of randomness to the game. It also provides a way of playing the game in Solo Mode. Bot Players can be identified as they have no Econet Address on the scoreboard.

Solo Mode

Solo Mode makes use of Bot Players. After setup, close the setup phase and add as many Bot Players as you like:

1. Press S to select Setup
2. Enter Name
3. Press C to close
4. Press B an appropriate number of times to add Bot Players
5. Press S to start

Game Play Overview

The Wikipedia page has a good summary of the rules: wikipedia.org/wiki/6_nimmt!

There’s an option to have a brief overview of the game at the start.

For convenience, here’s a copy of that overview:

  • One player selects Setup, and all other players select Join.
  • 6 Nimmt is a card game for 1 to 10 players.
  • It consists of a deck of 104 cards, numbered 1 to 104.
  • The deck is shuffled and 10 cards are dealt to each player, then 4 cards are dealt to the table forming 4 rows.
  • Each card has a number of dots (1 to 7) which denotes the penalty value of the card.
  • The screen is laid out with your hand of cards at the top. The next 4 rows are the table.
  • The bottom row is where chosen cards are revealed.
  • Simultaneously all players pick a card from their hand. When all players have selected a card, all chosen cards are revealed and played out on the rows.
  • Cards are sorted into ascending order and each card is placed on the end of the closest matching row. If it would be the 6th card on a row, the owner of the played card receives the existing 5 cards in the row as a penalty.
  • This is 6 Nimmt, or 6th card takes!
  • If the card is lower than all end values, the owner picks a row to take as a penalty.
  • The played card then forms the start of a new row, and the next card is played out in the same way until all current round cards have been played. Then a new round of picking a card from your hand commences.
  • As each hand consists of 10 cards, there are 10 rounds. Multiple games are played until at least 1 player exceeds 66 points. Lowest score wins.
  • Finally, the top line of the screen is a message box. Lines beginning with ! require your interaction, either press space to continue, or arrow keys and return to select.

ENJOY!