“Don’t be angry” – the title alone can be a provocation. When you’re close to the finish and are repeatedly thrown out, it’s sometimes difficult to control yourself.
Game pieces, dice or even the entire game board can then fly around. Nevertheless, “Don’t be angry” is one of the most successful board games ever. Now it’s 110 years old.
According to Berlin-based Schmidt Spiele, 100 million copies have been sold so far. The publisher will be celebrating the anniversary on Tuesday at the toy fair in Nuremberg. Publisher Josef Friedrich Schmidt probably did not expect that the game would be such a success when he developed the game in his kitchen in Munich, said publisher Managing Director Axel Kaldenhoven.
The breakthrough came in 1914 with the First World War: Schmidt sent 3,000 copies to military hospitals where wounded soldiers learned to love the game and later took it home to their families.
With simplicity to success
Generations of children have grown up with “Don’t be angry”, playing it with parents, grandparents or in kindergarten. Even today it is still one of the great family games, says Stefanie Kuschill from the German Games Archive in Nuremberg. “There is probably hardly a gaming household without at least one ‘Don’t be angry’ variant.”
This success is even more astonishing given the competition today. Hundreds of new games come onto the market every year, many of which are much more elaborately designed and have more sophisticated game strategy. But from Kuschill’s point of view, it is precisely the simplicity of “Don’t be angry” that makes it so attractive: “It’s quite easy to get angry across generations.”
Understandable without long instructions
Media scientist Christian Gürtler from the University of Erlangen sees it the same way. Studies show that rules that are too complex can inhibit motivation to start a game, he explains. In “Don’t be angry” the rules are relatively simple, so that small children can understand them. “It’s a good introductory game to learn to follow rules, count and regulate emotions.”
Read long game instructions or even get tips from YouTube or ChatGPT – with “Don’t be annoyed” that’s not necessary. The educator Udo Schmitz from Dohna, Saxony, who specializes in games, thinks this is a clear advantage. “I’ve noticed that people don’t like reading game instructions.”
“Everybody knows it”
This is perhaps also the reason why hardly anyone plays according to the original rules. “Probably the most common deviation occurs right at the start of the game,” explains a spokeswoman for Schmidt Spiele. Most people played it so that you had to roll a six at the beginning to move the first figure to the starting field. According to the original rules, this is already there at the beginning.
You don’t have to think about it for long when you say “Don’t be angry,” says Schmitz. “It’s a game that everyone knows. It’s quick to get out and quick to play.” A game lasts around 20 minutes and there is time for that in between or after a long day at work. But the best thing from his point of view is: “It appeals to all ages.”
Birthplace holds the world record
That’s probably what inventor Josef Friedrich Schmidt had in mind. “He had three sons who were very lively, and he was looking for something to do for them,” says Stefanie Riß, director of the city museum in Amberg, Upper Palatinate, Schmidt’s birthplace. So he drew a playing field on an old hatbox, using other running games such as “Pachisi” or “Ludo” as a template. However, he changed the rules – and introduced the “trouble” factor, as Riß calls it.
However, Amberg is not just Schmidt’s birthplace. Amberg also holds the world record for playing “Don’t be angry.” According to the Record Institute Germany, around 2,100 people came together there in July 2023 to play with each other. This means that the world record went to Amberg for the second time after 2017.
But there are not only world records, but also championships in “Don’t get angry”. The educator Udo Schmitz, among other things, is helping to organize the World Championships in Berlin in November, where, according to Schmidt Spiele, people from all over the world can compete. Events like this show how inclusive “Don’t be angry” is, he says. There, children aged six and over played against 80-year-olds, people with handicaps against those without. “Everyone has the same opportunities.”
Luck or skill?
Because with “Don’t be angry” it’s all about the luck of the dice. Even the reigning world champion and Berlin national champion Phillipp Rathunde says that. The 35-year-old says he didn’t practice specifically for the championships. The fact that he won was more of a coincidence. “But a coincidence like that twice is of course a great coincidence,” he points out. So can you influence the outcome of the game?
“‘Don’t get angry’ is 70 percent gambling, 30 percent tactics,” says expert Schmitz. One tactic, for example, is to always leave the other players’ pieces seven steps behind you so that you can’t be thrown out. Another thing is to run in the slipstream, says world champion Rathunde, “and see that the others do the work for you.” In other words, throw each other out.
