Zatre

About this board game

Zatre is a number-placement board game for 2–6 players, with a play time of about 45 minutes. Its title comes from Zahlen & Treppen, meaning “numbers and steps,” and its play combines simple tile placement with surprisingly challenging scoring decisions.

The game includes 121 tiles marked with 1–6 dots, like a standard die or domino: 20 tiles of each number plus one extra 1. Players take turns drawing and placing two tiles, extending the pattern already laid on the board.

• Complete a vertical or horizontal line totaling 10, 11, or 12.
• Score 1 point for a total of 10, 2 points for 11, or 4 points for 12.
• Complete scoring lines on your game pad to earn rising bonuses.
• Cover marked spaces on the board to gain doubling bonuses on your pad.

Twelve is the scoring limit, but repeatedly chasing the highest total is not necessarily the best approach. The central challenge is maintaining an even, balanced score pad while spotting opportunities to place a tile that scores in more than one direction.

Easy to learn and quick to play, Zatre rewards careful observation and consistent scoring. Luck has a role, yet strong players can score highly from game to game, giving the straightforward rules greater depth than they first suggest.

The publisher Perner maintains a website for playing and chatting over the internet, and active Zatre clubs exist in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Player results are recorded on the website’s ranking table. The game was re-implemented as Zatre: Das Kartenspiel.