01-009 Land Unter

01-009
Land Unter

“Land Unter”, or “Turn the Tide” in English, is the first German-style card game in my collection. The game was published in 1997 and is one of the earliest German-style card games entering Hongkong market. I played this game long before I met my wife. I remembered all the fun time of playing this card game with friends in the canteen of the City University of Hongkong. After acquiring more than a dozen of American card games into my collection, I decided to buy this as a Christmas present for my son.

"Land Unter", or "Turn the Tide"

Like many other German-style card games, the composition of “Land Unter” is a bit complicated. There are 108 cards in total, but not all of them are for playing. Among the 108 cards, 24 of them are lifebuoy cards. They are for score keeping only. 60 of them are the weather cards and they form only the hand piles. The remaining 24 cards are the tide cards, which are solely for the draw piles.

“Land Unter” is a hand management and trick-taking game. To win the game, it requires both skill and luck.

My deck is imported by the Taiwanese game distributor Swan Panasia. The cards are published by the German game publisher Nürnberger Spielkarten Verlag (NSV). You can find both logos of Swan Panasia and NSV on the box. Instructions are only available in Chinese. The cards are colourful and the cartoons are cute. They are in Skat size, which is slightly bigger than the normal US game size.

The sheep are so cute!

My kids like the cartons but not quite enjoy playing it. They are still too young and do not have the technique to win. It is a good game but it is more suitable for older kids or adults.

General Information

Player	3 to 5
Playing Time	30 mins
Age	10+
Year Released	1997
Designer	Stefan Dorra
Publisher	NSV / Swan Panasia
Family	Hand management, Trick-taking
Score	6.8 (Board Game Geek)

Specifications

Due to copyright issue, I cannot show you the full deck here.

Card size	Skat size cards (58.9 mm x 90.9mm, 2.32" x 3.58")
Deck size	108 cards
# of suits	n/a
Details	The whole deck consists of the following cards: 24 Identical Lifebuoy cards; 24 Tide cards, range from 1 to 12, two each; & 60 Weather cards, range from 1 to 60.

The game play

Where to buy?

Capstone or Amazon

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