An easy but treacherous card game of nerve: everyone moves at once, cards fall into four rows in ascending order, and the sixth card in a row collects all the penalty heads 🐂. Fewer heads — closer to victory.
6 Nimmt! is a game of calculation and composure with a deck of 104 numbered cards. Each card shows penalty 'heads' 🐂, and the whole point of the game is to collect as few of them as possible. Cards inevitably converge into rows, and sooner or later someone has to take a row for themselves along with all its heads. Your task is to make sure that 'someone' turns out to be your opponents, not you.
The number of heads on a card depends on its number: an ordinary card — 1 head, numbers that are multiples of five — 2 heads, multiples of ten — 3 heads, and 'doubles' such as 11, 22, 33 … 99 — a full 5 heads. So not all cards are equally dangerous: it is easier to hand an opponent a row packed with small single-head cards than to run into a heavy double.
Each player is dealt 10 cards to their hand. In the center of the table, four starting rows are laid out — one card in each. These four face-up cards set the beginnings of the rows, and it is to them that players will add their cards throughout the game. The deal is the same for any number of participants: at muta.pro a table seats up to 10 players, and any missing ones can be replaced by bots.
The cards in each hand are visible only to their owner. Each round begins with players secretly and simultaneously choosing one card each — there is no taking turns here.
At the start of a round, every player simultaneously and secretly selects one card from their hand and locks it in. While everyone is choosing, the others' cards stay hidden — you have to guess your opponents' intentions.
Once everyone has decided, the cards are revealed all at once. They are then played in ascending order: the lowest number is placed first, then the next, and so on. The order of placement is determined entirely by the numbers on the cards, not by who chose them.
A card is added to the row whose last (rightmost) card has the highest number among those that are lower than yours. In other words, the row whose end your card fits onto most closely from above. Rows grow from left to right.
A row holds no more than five cards. If your card becomes the sixth, you don't add it — instead you take all five cards of the row along with their heads. Your card then becomes the new start of the emptied row.
If your number is lower than the last card in each of the four rows, there is nowhere to place it. In that case you choose a row yourself, take its cards (and their heads), and your card opens that row anew. Here it pays to take the 'lightest' row.
This is how all the chosen cards are played, after which a new round and a new simultaneous choice begin. The game lasts until players run out of the 10 dealt cards.
The fewer penalty heads you have accumulated, the better. All the cards you collected during the game are totaled by the heads drawn on them — 1, 2, 3 or 5 per card depending on the number. The game ends when all 10 cards in hand have been played, or as soon as one of the players reaches 66 or more heads. After that, whoever has the fewest heads wins.
At muta.pro the scoring is done automatically: each player's current head count is visible as the game goes on, and at the end a final table is shown. Tables of up to 10 participants are supported, and empty seats can be filled by bots of various levels.
Watch which rows already hold four or five cards. The card that becomes the sixth will take the whole row — try not to put yourself in the line of fire.
If you have to take a row, choose the one with fewer heavy cards. Five single heads are better than one double worth 5 heads.
Doubles and round numbers give many heads if they settle with you. Play them earlier, while the rows are still short and the risk of collecting them is lower.
A number that is too small easily ends up below every row and forces you to take a row. Keep low cards for the moments when you want to deliberately unload a light row.
6 Nimmt! is a game of calculating rows and reading opponents. You fully control one card, but the result depends on how the others' numbers fall. A good player thinks not 'where will my card go', but 'which row will become dangerous by the time I play'. Below is the foundation on which all tactics rest.
A row with five cards is a mine. Any card that attaches to it as the sixth takes all five heads. Keep in mind where there are already 4–5 cards, and don't expose yourself to exactly those.
The ideal card lands on a short row with a big lead over its end. A number just above the end card of an almost empty row is almost always safe: opponents may still squeeze in between it and your card, but they won't be able to fill the row up to six.
If someone's larger card is played before you in ascending order, it may close a dangerous row before you do. Sometimes it pays to play a number that will resolve after a convenient 'sacrifice'.
A row of five cards (4·17·28·36·41). Card 44 is the sixth in line: it is not added but takes the whole row with its heads.
When there is nowhere to unload — your card is lower than every end — you yourself choose a row and take it. This is not a loss but a tool: a well-chosen 'voluntary' capture costs 1–2 heads and clears the danger. The beginner's mistake is to panic and grab the first row at hand.
Count heads, not cards. Five ones are 5 heads, but one short row with the double 55 is 2 heads. Take from where the total of heads is lowest.
A very small number (1–7) is almost doomed to go below every row. Don't keep it 'for later': play it when you yourself want to take the cheapest row, not when the table forces you.
When taking a row, you put your card in its place. Use the moment: open the row with a large number, so it becomes harder for opponents to attach to it safely.
The double 55 costs 5 heads, while a row of 9 and 14 is only 2. In a forced capture, take two 'light' numbers rather than one heavy double.
The base rules at muta.pro are the classic ones: a deck of 104, 10 cards in hand, four rows, a game to 66 heads. But 6 Nimmt! has well-known variations that change the depth of play — it's useful to know them in order to understand the logic of the table.
In the 'professional' version, the deck is trimmed so that everyone holds exactly 10 cards, and they are dealt around the table face-up or players get to choose. There is less chance — pure calculation. Good training for counting rows.
With two or three players the table is predictable: you can almost see what an opponent is playing, and the 'safe gap' works reliably. With a full table of 8–10 people, chaos reigns — here it matters more not to be precise but to avoid being left last.
You can play a single deal 'for the minimum heads', or a long game to the threshold of 66. The long version forgives one disastrous round but punishes consistently risky play.
At muta.pro empty seats are filled by bots of various levels — handy for practicing reading rows before a live game.
The '💡 Hint' button shows a safe move. Check against it until you start seeing for yourself which row is about to become the sixth.
Players collect most of their heads not through bad luck, but through the same recurring slip-ups. Sort them out — and your average result per game will drop noticeably faster than with any 'system'.
The danger varies: 10 is 3 heads, the double 55 is 5, an ordinary 7 is just 1. Get rid of heavy cards first.