A calm hand is needed !

Keep It Steady

A game of skill for 2 to 4 players ages 6 to 99.
Author: Heinz Meister
Illustrations: Anja Dreier-Brückner
Length of the game: 10 minutes approx.
Contents:
9 yellow sticks (1 point)
9 red sticks (2 points)
9 blue sticks (3 points)
1 wooden ring
1 color die

Aim of the game:

Who proves to have a calm hand at pulling out sticks and thus gets the
most points?

Preparation of the game:

You play on a surface that is not too slippery, for example on a table cloth
or on the carpet.
Setting up the sticks is not as easy as it seems. Therefore this will be the
task of the oldest player.
Gather all the sticks into a bundle in one hand
and slide the wooden ring onto it, pushing it
down to the middle of the bundle.
Hold the bundle vertically on the playing surface
and twist the end of the sticks in opposite
directions until the ring sits firmly in the middle
and keeps the sticks together.
Now carefully loosen the bundle which should
now stand on its own.
Get the die ready.

How to play:

You play in a clockwise direction and pull the colored sticks out of the wooden
ring, one by one.
General rules:
• Ring and sticks may move while you pull.
• The game, however, is over as soon as the bundle collapses and the
wooden ring touches the playing surface. The player who causes this
incident loses the round.

The player with the smallest hands starts the game and throws the die.
Which color appears on the die? Red, yellow or blue?
• Carefully pull a stick of the corresponding color out of the wooden ring
and place it in front of you.
The sticks count as valuable points.
The blue ones are worth three points, the red two points, and the yellow
one point.
• Does it appear too risky to pull out a stick of the color shown on the
die because the bundle may collapse?
If you have already one or more sticks of this color in front of you, you
can decide not to pull out a stick this round. If you decide this, you
have to place one stick of the color in question back into the game
box.
If you do not have a stick of this color yet, you cannot refuse and have
to try to be very very careful.
• Does the die show a color of which there are no more sticks in the
bundle? Then you can choose freely which stick to pull out.
Then it's the turn of the next player.

End of the game:

The game ends ...
... as soon as the bundle collapses while a stick is being pulled out and the
wooden ring touches the playing surface. The player who caused this
incident loses the round and the sticks he/she collected up to this point
do not count. The other players count the value of their sticks.
... as soon as the wooden ring is held by only three sticks. The players
calculate their points.
Each yellow stick counts one point, each red stick two points and each
blue stick three points.
Whoever scores most points, wins the game.
Game Variation:
Play multiple rounds towards a set point goal. The game ends when a player
reaches the points goal.

Hint:

The bundle won't collapse as easily if the ring sits higher up on the bundle.
Round play may be prolonged.