5 vor 12 could be read as "five minutes to 12:00" (or more literally, "5 before 12") but in game terms the name is shorthand for the rules: The 5 must come before the 12 when those tiles lie in the grid. In more detail, each player starts the game with a player board bearing a 4x4 grid and twenty tiles (numbered 1-20) for each player are mixed face down in their draw pile. To start the game, each player simultaneously draws one tile, then places it on one of the four spaces on the diagonal line running from upper-left to lower-right on her player board. Then each player draws a second tile and places it, then a third and fourth. Players then alternate turns. On a turn, a player must: Reveal a face-down tile, then either place it legally on that player's grid or return it face-up to the center of the table, or Take a face-up tile and place it legally on her grid. Tiles in each row must increase in value from left to right; in each column, tiles must increase from top to bottom. When a player places a tile, she can place it in an empty space or replace a tile already in play, placing the removed tile face-up in the center of the table. The first player to fill her grid legally wins. (In rare cases, no one will be able to fill her grid; in this case, the player with the fewest empty spaces wins.) Contents: Four 4x4 grids Four sets of numbers from 1 to 20. Sets are yellow, green, blue, and purple. Instructions