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Description
In Schotten Totten, nine boundary stones lie between you and your opponent. In front of each, you build poker-like formations of three cards on a side. Whoever plays the higher-ranking formation wins the stone. And in a unique twist, you may use your powers of logic to claim a stone even before your opponent has played all three of his cards, by demonstrating that the stone is impossible for him to win. Successfully claim five stones, or any three adjacent stones, and you win the game.
In 2000 GMT published a rethemed version as Battle Line which includes an extra 10 "tactics" cards that modify the standard game play, and with cards that run from 1 to 10 (instead of 1 to 9).
The 2004 Edition of Schottentotten has these "tactics" cards too.
Schotten-Totten FAQ.
Year Published
1999
Featured Videos
Review
Schotten Totten 2 - Review
Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 5
This page: 5
Sentiment:
pos 5 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–5 of 5
Video 6kJsoRtRyyQ
Collection Essentials top_10_list at 7:06 sentiment: positive
video_pk 10455 · mention_pk 100374
Click to watch at 7:06 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- tight two-player duel with deep tactical choices
- fast to play but with meaningful decisions
- accessible entry point to abstract strategy
Cons
- two-player only design may limit audience
- strategy can feel punishing for beginners
Thematic elements
- duel-like, tactical block-building with cards
- two-player dueling card set collection
- concise, competitive, skill-driven
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Pattern recognition — Decide to place or misdirect to gain control of stones; end conditions rely on patterns.
- pattern recognition and bluff — Decide to place or misdirect to gain control of stones; end conditions rely on patterns.
- three-card battles per boundary — Each round, players place up to three cards per boundary and compare sets.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Pitch Out is such an underrated game I rarely hear anybody talking about it
- Skull is a game that's all about bluffing
- it's a d little game but absolutely anyone can play it
- Scout is my favorite card game of all time
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video Xsalh1c5lVM
actualol game_review at 5:22 sentiment: positive
video_pk 7534 · mention_pk 85664
Click to watch at 5:22 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Simple rules
- Strategic depth
- Quick gameplay
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Clan rivalry
- Scottish border conflict
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card set collection — Building poker-like sets of cards to win territory
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- More than any video I've ever made I would swear by these games
- We've played over a thousand games together
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video BZexrfakw50
Before You Play game_review at 0:00 sentiment: positive
video_pk 6533 · mention_pk 100570
Click to watch at 0:00 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Elegant asymmetry that preserves the core tension from the original while adding depth
- Travel-friendly footprint and compact two-player format
- Cauldron tokens introduce meaningful risk and timing pressure
- Humorous, high-quality artwork that reinforces the theme
- Two distinct roles create engaging head-to-head decision points
Cons
- More heady and less casual than the original; may be less approachable for casual players
- Cognitive load increases due to tracking multiple wall segments and their conditions
- Strictly a two-player experience; not ideal for solo or larger groups
Thematic elements
- Asymmetric competitive duel with hand management and bluffing, framed through a kitchen siege motif.
- A whimsical siege duel around a central wall where a cook attacks and a chicken defends, framed as a compact two-player cook-versus-chicken contest.
- Humorous, lighthearted with tongue-in-cheek kitchen imagery and art; the theme supports tense, head-to-head decisions.
Comparison games
- Shot and Totten (original)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- advanced variant: tactical cards — An optional tactical deck adds cards with special powers; players can draw from it and play one more tactical card than their opponent, balancing risk and tempo.
- asymmetric roles — Players assume opposite roles (cook vs chicken) with distinct objectives and tactical options, creating inherent strategic imbalance and counterplay.
- cauldron tokens — Chicken can place up to three cauldrons to remove the first card of the opponent’s hand on a chosen line, creating disruption and timing decisions.
- poker-style hands — Wall segments specify a required hand strength; players compose hands from their cards to try to beat the segment's requirement.
- preparation action — On a chicken turn, players may activate a preparation action to use cauldrons; chefs have similar, role-dependent preparation options.
- siege deck and drafting — The deck provides cards; players draw after playing. Sequences and card distribution shape how hands can form and when to push or defend.
- wall-tile mechanics — Each wall segment has a scoring condition. When a segment is claimed, it flips to a new condition and both players discard the current hands.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- this is a very tactical game
- it's a nice delicate balance between the two
- two-player only game
- it's more heady
- it's clever
- the cauldron tokens make it super interesting
- sequels are always really hard to make
- we clearly loved it
- I think we would keep both of them
- there are two things that make it a lot more heady—0s and 11s on wall sides
- you must remove all the cards from the segments that you're removing from you
- time is literally what the chicken is trying to buy
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video BZexrfakw50
Before You Play game_review at 0:04 sentiment: positive
video_pk 6533 · mention_pk 100571
Click to watch at 0:04 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Preserves the core tent of a shared hand-management duel
- Simple, approachable entry point for two players
- Distinct visual style and tactile components that differ from the sequel
Cons
- Less depth and fewer moving parts than Shot and Totten 2
- Original's mechanics can feel more straightforward and less tense than the sequel
Thematic elements
- Two-player confrontation with relative advantage and defense, relying on bluff and hand strength rather than tactical cards.
- Two-player duel around a wall using stones to symbolize segments; a more tactile, stone-based siege in contrast to the 2nd edition's wall segments.
- Minimalist and straightforward duel setup with a focus on core mechanics rather than thematic flourish.
Comparison games
- Shot and Totten 2
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- poker-hand mechanics in a siege — Players form hands to breach segments of the wall, with wall segments driven by a fixed set of rules based on hand strength.
- two-player asymmetric framework — Each player has a different role with specific aims and counterplay options, but the core engine is balanced toward head-to-head tension.
- wall-based scoring/attack structure — Climax occurs when a wall segment is breached or when a segment is completed, leading to endgame conditions similar to the sequel but with different tokens and constraints.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- this is a very tactical game
- it's a nice delicate balance between the two
- two-player only game
- it's more heady
- it's clever
- the cauldron tokens make it super interesting
- sequels are always really hard to make
- we clearly loved it
- I think we would keep both of them
- there are two things that make it a lot more heady—0s and 11s on wall sides
- you must remove all the cards from the segments that you're removing from you
- time is literally what the chicken is trying to buy
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 4Z8_t2e4MEY
Before You Play top_50_list at 50:40 sentiment: positive
video_pk 4734 · mention_pk 119135
Click to watch at 50:40 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- poker-meets-board-game tension
- compact and portable; easy to teach
Cons
- the base game can feel dry to players seeking heavy themes
- some players may find it less accessible if unfamiliar with Knizia's auction feel
Thematic elements
- poker-hand-based competition on a row of stones
- Poker-inspired battlefield; stones and betting
- poker-lie and bluff driven
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Auction / Bidding — Players assemble and bid hands to win stones on the table.
- hand management — Decide when to play strong versus hold resources for later rounds.
- Poker-hand bidding — Players assemble and bid hands to win stones on the table.
- Sequential stone competition — Winning stones adds to your overall position in the round.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- we are embarking on our top 50 journey
- the games for the most part are going to be shipped directly from the publishers
- we have excluded games that we've only played one time
- crossovers obviously because we share a collection a lot
- please keep in mind we are not here to sway you one way or the other but we do have to disclose
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–5 of 5