One of the joys of being a boardgame collector is finding one of those long out of print games that only about 20 people admit to owning on BGG.
Waage Mut - Schmidt Spiele (1982)
I picked this up on one of my regular thrift shop trips for the princely sum of £2. Clearly this was some sort of manual dexterity / balancing game which is usually enough to make me run for the hills, "I'm looking at you Bausack!!"
However, the cover photo featuring a five armed plastic balancing spider intrigued me so it came home.
Google lens translates the box cover as - "LIBRA COURAGE - Anyone who doesn't weigh things up and bets wrong. blurs the victory".
An Incomplete Game
The risk of buying any game in a charity shop is that it comes with missing pieces. For a common game such as cluedo or monopoly this presents no problem as the pieces are readily available. However, the older and rarer a game gets the more difficult it becomes to acquire replacement parts.
This is where the 3D printer shines and so I quickly knocked up a replacement blue pawn in Sketchup
If you are missing a pawn you can download a free STL file from:
- Thingiverse - Thing 6773663
- Cults 3D - Waage Mut Replacement Pawn
- Printables - Waage Mut Replacement Pawn
Of course having the abilitle to churn out replacement pieces means it is a trivial exercise to print out a whole 5th player set of pawns.
The Rules (English Translation)
Sadly the game does not come with rules in English and so Google Lens came to the rescue. I will be giving this to me my German friend Jonas who can do a proper translation.
LIBRA COURAGE
For 2 to 4 players ages 4 and up, fun for the whole family.
The
weights must be cleverly distributed in order to achieve as many points
as possible without the star. to cause it to tip over. Who doesn't
weigh up and. If you put it wrong, you lose your victory.
Preparation:
The
arms are attached to the center piece and the resulting star is
inserted into the stand. Each arm has 6 holes marked 1 (center of star)
to 6 (outermost edge).
Gameplay:
Each player receives 6 weights of one color (if there are only 2 players, each player receives 12 weights).
A
weight is alternately inserted into each hole. If the weight causes the
star to tip over, it is removed from the game and may no longer be
used.
Weights can also be "caught" by
placing your own on them. This is an advantage, especially with weights
with high points (in holes 5 or 6).
The
game round ends when all players have set their weights. Each game
consists of as many rounds as there are players, so that everyone has
the advantage of placing the last weight.
Evaluation:
Each
weight is evaluated based on the score of the respective hole. If
several weights are stuck in a hole (they have been “caught”), all
points are added together and they are credited to the player with the
highest weight.
Whoever was able to collect the most points won.
More Photos
A Potential Roleplaying Puzzle?
Imagine a scenario where each player enters a large chamber at a different arm of the balancing beam. Looking down they see only darkness. Their goal is on the center pedestal, they must combine their movement to ensure that the beam stays balanced and they can get to the center.
When they fall do they fall to their deaths or just disappear into the darkness?
To add some peril have some wandering creatures like spiders move onto each of the arms.
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