Game of the Owl

The owl game was one of the most popular games during Mozart's time in Salzburg. It is a game of pure luck, with three dice for two or more players. Each player receives a decided number of chips (e.g. twelve) and puts half of them in the center of the board. The first player then throws the dice. The combination of the three values of the dice can be found on the board and the instructions written underneath each combination must be followed. If, for example, the field says "bezahlt" (or, in the mediaevel version, "bezalt", meaning: paid), the player has to pay the specified number of chips into the center of the board. But, if it says "nimmt" (or, in the mediaevel version, "nimbt" meaning: take), the player takes the specified number of chips fromt he center of the board. If a player cannot pay sufficient quantities of chips, he places the remaining chips from his/her stash into the center and drops out of this round of the game.

The game lasts until only one player is left with chips, or until any one player has thrown three sixes. In this lucky case, she/he gets all the chips fromt he center of the board and is thus the big winner of the round. Then, a new round can be started.

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