Take 5!

About this board game

Take 5! is a strategic card game for 2–6 players with an approximately 60-minute play time, first released in 1998. Designed by Wolfgang Kramer, it develops the ideas of his earlier game, 6 Nimmt!, into a more strategic format.

The deck contains cards numbered from 1 to 98. Some cards show green bullheads worth positive points, while others display red bullheads representing negative points. These opposing values give the cards distinct scoring significance as players build the game’s rows.

During each turn, players play one, two, or three cards from their hands. As in 6 Nimmt!, cards are used to construct rows in increasing numerical order. The central twist is what happens when a row reaches its limit: the fifth card claims the entire row, reducing the number of rows in play.

• Cards numbered from 1 to 98
• Green bullheads for positive points
• Red bullheads for negative points
• One, two, or three cards played each turn
• Increasing rows that are claimed by their fifth card

With rows becoming fewer as cards are claimed, Take 5! offers a more strategic take on the increasing-row system associated with 6 Nimmt!. Players must manage the cards they play while navigating rows containing both positive and negative bullheads.

Note that some editions of 6 Nimmt! have been titled “Take 5,” which can make the two games easy to confuse. The game described here is the separate, more strategic design built around playing multiple cards and claiming rows with a fifth card.