Stubborn Mules 2022

NOTE: Compared to the former Das Störrische Muli edition, this one is for 2–5 players instead of 3–5 and you have one more die and therefore more choices and some other movement.

The game is quite simple and definitely family fare. Players race mules and men to the end of the track and back. However, it has some interesting features, particularly in the determination of the winner. Depending upon the number of players, in addition to the mules, there are 1 - 3 men in the race, each of a unique color. Each player guides a mule. On a turn, three color dice are rolled and the appropriate tokens moved forward. If two of the same color are rolled, then that token moves backwards one space. But if all three dice show the same color, this mule runs three spaces ahead. Simple enough so far.

The twist is that the next player may opt to keep intact one or two of the dice and only roll the remaining ones. This subtle rules twist allows for some 'catch-up' ability, as well as some nice hoseage as it makes it possible to move one player's token on several consecutive turns if all players keep that color intact. This may sound like a good thing for the affected player, but in reality being the first to cross the finish line is NOT always the best occurrence. What? Well, the game has a very clever mechanism to determine the winner.

If you are the first player to have your token cross the finish line, then you only win if the last piece remaining on the track is a man piece. Otherwise, if the final piece remaining is a mule, then that player is the winner! So, you have to make a judgment during the game as to whether you want to try to finish first or last, then attempt to move the other pieces accordingly.