
''Mensch ärgere Dich nicht'' (English: ''Man, Don't Get Angry'') is a German
board game
A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...
(but not a
German-style board game), developed by
Josef Friedrich Schmidt in 1907/1908. Some 70 million copies have been sold since its introduction in 1914 and it is played in many European countries.
The name derives from the fact that a peg is sent back to the "out" field when another peg lands on it, similar to the later game ''
Sorry!'' It is a
cross and circle game with the circle collapsed onto the cross, similar to the Indian game
Pachisi
Pachisi ( , ) is a cross and circle board game that originated in Ancient India. It is described in the ancient text ''Mahabharata'' under the name of "Pasha". It is played on a board shaped like a symmetrical cross. A player's pieces move aro ...
, the Colombian game
Parqués, the American games ''
Parcheesi'', ''
Aggravation'', and ''
Trouble'', the French game
Jeu des petits chevaux, and the English game
Ludo
Ludo (; ) is a Abstract strategy game, strategy-based board game for two to four players, in which the players race game, race their four from start to finish according to the rolls of a single dice, die. Like other cross and circle games, Ludo ...
.
Overview
The most played variant of the game can be played by two, three or four players – one player per board side. The special one has a pattern for six players. Each player has four game pieces, which are in the "out" area when the game starts, and which must be brought into the player's "home" row.
The rows are arranged in a cross position. They are surrounded and connected with a circle of fields, over which the game pieces move in a clockwise direction. There are three fields on each side of the board. At the beginning of the game, the players' pieces are placed in the four fields marked "B" on the far left side, the "out" section. The coloured field just left of centre, marked "A", is each player's "start" field. The white field just to the right of the start field leads to the "home" row, marked "a", "b", "c", "d". Each game piece enters the circle at the "start" field ("A"), moves (clockwise) over the board and finally enters the "home" row. The first player with all of their pieces in their "home" row wins the game.
The players throw
game dice in turn and can advance any of their pieces in the game by the thrown number of dots on the die.
[Spielanleitung (rules of the game)]
schmidtspiele.de
Throwing a six means bringing a piece into the game (by placing one from the "out" ("B") area onto the "start" or "A" field) and throwing the die again. If a piece is on the "A" field and there are still pieces in the "out" area, it must be moved as soon as possible. If a piece cannot be brought into the game then any other piece in the game must be moved by the thrown number, if that is possible. A commonly played variation allows a player who has no pieces in the circle of fields to have three tries to throw a six.
Pieces can jump over other pieces and throw out pieces from other players (into that player's "out" area) if they land on them. A player cannot throw out his own pieces and cannot advance further than the last field in the "home" row. A player cannot be thrown out if he is on his "start" field. Two pegs cannot reside on the same circle. Once inside of the "home" area, pegs cannot jump over other pegs and an exact roll of the dice is required to move inside of the home area. Your peg can only move into the home of the same color. (i.e. You cannot go into somebody else's home and kick their pegs out.)
A worst case scenario for entering home is depicted in the image here:

It would require the person to roll 4 consecutive 1's to get all of the pieces in home before another player could kick the one peg waiting outside of home.
History
Beginnings in the early 20th century
In its present form, ''Mensch ärgere Dich nicht'' was invented in the winter months of 1907/1908 by
Josef Friedrich Schmidt, a native of
Amberg
Amberg () is a Town#Germany, town in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the Upper Palatinate about halfway between Regensburg and Bayreuth.
History
The town was first mentioned in 1034 with the name Ammenberg. It became an important trading c ...
, Germany and the founder of
Schmidt Spiele. This game was invented in a workshop in
Munich-Giesing and was based on the English game, ''
Ludo
Ludo (; ) is a Abstract strategy game, strategy-based board game for two to four players, in which the players race game, race their four from start to finish according to the rolls of a single dice, die. Like other cross and circle games, Ludo ...
''. This game was first published in 1910 and was produced in series from 1914 on. ''Mensch ärgere Dich nicht'' is considered the most popular
parlour game
A parlour or parlor game is a group game played indoors, named so as they were often played in a parlour. These games were extremely popular among the upper and middle classes in the United Kingdom and in the United States during the Victorian er ...
in Germany. In contrast to ''Ludo'', the game's role model, Schmidt left aside all tactical and strategic variations in the rules. Also, the symbolism of the origin game, ''Pachisi'', was eliminated.
The rules of this classic game have essentially not changed since 1914, but now there are different variations of the game, e.g. ' and '. While the game was not particularly successful in the early years, it became popular during the First World War. Schmidt sent 3,000 games to field hospitals so that the soldiers had something to do to escape boredom. Thanks to this tactic and the subsequent word-of-mouth propaganda, it was possible to sell 1 million games at the price of 35
Pfennig
The pfennig (; . 'pfennigs' or 'pfennige' ; currency symbol, symbol pf or ₰) or penny is a former Germany, German coin or note, which was an official currency from the 9th century until the introduction of the euro in 2002. While a valua ...
s by 1920.
Developments and copies after World War II
After the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the game remained largely unchanged. In 1953, Schmidt Spiele introduced an official ''Mensch ärgere Dich nicht'' version as a licensed edition in
East Germany
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
. Soon after, almost identical
counterfeit
A counterfeit is a fake or unauthorized replica of a genuine product, such as money, documents, designer items, or other valuable goods. Counterfeiting generally involves creating an imitation of a genuine item that closely resembles the original ...
s appeared in
West Germany
West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
under the title of "Wir werfen raus!" and "Mensch wir werfen raus!". One version, "Verliere nicht den Kopf!" puts a shortcut across in the middle of the board. Its successor, "Raus!", which had a square-shaped board, was also being sold at the time.
[Andreas Mutschke: "Wie man ein Spiel klont am Beispiel Mensch ärgere dich nicht!" ''spielbox'' 3/1991, June/July; pp. 38–40.] Different counterfeits appeared in other countries, such as "Das Spiel", an Austrian version of the game by the Viennese publisher Werner Schneider Jr.
In addition to these games, many other promotional games appeared in the 1980s that were modeled after the original. Apart from these counterfeits, other internationally refined and independent games evolved from ''Mensch ärgere Dich nicht'' and other ''Pachisi'' spin-offs. These games include: Hexentanz, das VIP Game, Tock, its spin-off, Sorry!, Dog and DOG, as well as Huckepack.
The original board game consisted of painted wooden pegs, but sometime after the 1960's, the wooden pegs were replaced with plastic colored pegs.
Further developments in the 21st century
Additionally, this board game established itself in tournament form. On 11 February 2010 the
Deutsche Post
(, ) is a brand of the DHL Group (listed as ), used for its domestic mail services in Germany. The services offered under the brand are those of a traditional mail service, making the brand the successor of the former state-owned mail monopoly ...
issued a special 55 cent stamp to celebrate the game's 100th anniversary. In January 2014, Schmidt Spiele released a card game with the title ''Mensch ärgere Dich nicht: Das Kartenspiel''.
Schmidt's hometown
Amberg
Amberg () is a Town#Germany, town in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the Upper Palatinate about halfway between Regensburg and Bayreuth.
History
The town was first mentioned in 1034 with the name Ammenberg. It became an important trading c ...
set the world record for simultaneous gameplay of ''Mensch ärgere Dich nicht'' with 1692 people on 375 game-boards in July 2017.
"Weltrekord im M.ä.D.n.-Spielen 2017 in Amberg"
/ref>
See also
* List of cross and circle games
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
References
External links
*
"Mensch ärgere Dich nicht: Geschichte eines Spieleklassikers"
("Story of a Classic Game"), Nuremberg Toy Museum
{{Authority control
Race games
Board games introduced in 1914
Cross and circle games
Traditional board games
Children's board games