From the publisher’s rulebook
Who goes first in Mausefalle?
English summary of Schmidt Spiele German rules, standard article 40505
The youngest player starts.
Rule details
Each player receives a mouse and puts it on the start field.
After the youngest player begins, players take turns rolling the die. The German rulebook does not specify clockwise or counterclockwise order.
The youngest-player instruction selects the initial starter. No separate later-round starter or alternative mode is supplied.
This answer summarizes the German page of the standard article 40505 manual for two to six players. The compact article 51405 edition is a separate source and is not covered by this answer.
If there’s a tie
The rulebook doesn’t say.
Source & edition
- Mausefalle — Schmidt Spiele multilingual standard rules, article 40505 (German summary)Schmidt Spiele GmbH · PDF page 1, German Spielverlauf: youngest starts, then reihum rolling and start-field setup; page 4, Dutch text and article 40505 publisher/designer imprint; pages 2–3, French and Italian opening comparison. No visible printed page numbers. German page controls this English summary; non-opening Italian collision wording differs. · Checked 2026-09-26
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