How to Zufall

Zufalling is easy! You can Zufall to help you make just about any decision, but Zufall is mostly used to find an adventure – whether it’s for a day, a dinner or a whole weekend. You can Zufall by foot, bike, car,boat, plane, cab, bus, or subway. Anyway you can move, you can Zufall.

RULES

There are only two rules in Zufall:

1. Always state your parameters before you roll
2. NEVER re-roll

Other suggestions include – have fun, enjoy the journey and take on the challenge of making the most of what the dice lead you to. And of course, use your common sense.

DECIDE WHAT TO UN-PLAN!

First of all, decided what you want to “un-plan” because Zufall is all about letting chance direct you. So what will you Zufall today – a date, a day in the city or a weekend away?

DETERMINE YOUR BASE VALUE

How far are you willing to go? Based on your time or travel limitations, determine the absolute furthest you are willing to walk, drive, bike, etc. This could be in distance or in travel time. Once you have that figure, divide it by 6. This will be your Base Value.

For example, say you are looking to Zufall your way to dinner. If you are on foot and there are lots of restaurants around, you could decide the furthest you want to walk is 12 blocks. This makes your Base Value 2 blocks of walking.

STATE PARAMETERS

Now, state your parameters. Of course, if you want to do a Tru-Zufall, there are no parameters but time, geography or other restrictions may mean parameters are necessary. Parameters are simply put, the restrictions you are putting on the dice. Say for example, you live on the coast and since there are no restaurants on the water, you just can’t go west – well your parameters would be nothing west. Or if you are planning a week long vacation and you know that you have to eventually be somewhere to the north, you could simply say no south – now this can mean just south is out or it could mean south, southwest, and southeast are out – just make sure you are clear before you roll.

Parameters can also be placed on the directional dice. This often happens when it makes the math easier. Say for example the furthest you are willing to drive is 50 minutes…well, it’s just easier to make your Base Value 10 and eliminate the 6 on the blue dice. Hey, Zufall is supposed to be fun, you don’t have to make it difficult! But remember, always state your parameters before you roll because there are no re-rolls!

ROLL THE DICE

This one is simple. Find a flat surface and roll away. Whatever compass direction is on the green dice is the general direction you are headed, Take the number on the blue dice, multiply it by your stated Base Value and that will tell you how far to go in that direction.

If you roll one of the directions or numbers that were voided in your parameters – only re-roll the dice that turned up the void number. Say you’ve rolled a SW/3 but you stated nothing south before the roll. Only re-roll the green dice. You already know that you are going 3 times your base value.

Traditional Zufall rolls are done at the moment of departure. If you can handle the suspense and you want to fully embrace spontaneity – don’t roll the dice until you in your car (already packed for the weekend) or until you are walking out the door for dinner. On a bike, roll the dice on the sidewalk seconds before the first pedal stroke. In a cab, wait until you are in the back and the door is shut – hey, why net the cabbie roll for you?

ZUFALL!

Once you’ve rolled, off you go! The whole point of Zufall is to remove expectations and find spontaneous fun so head off and keep your eyes open. Just because you know there is a great restaurant directly east 10 minutes drive doesn’t mean you should head there. Because you always go there, you may have missed that there is a new restaurant just three doors down. Let the dice lead you as best you can and be open to new experiences.

A good rule of thumb when trying to find your Zufall location is to use the same rules as math on rounding up or down. If you roll south, you don’t have to be perfectly south just as long as you are more south than southwest. If you roll a 3 and your base value is 10 km, well once you are past 25 km and before you get you 35 km, you are in the range of your 30 km roll. It’s not a science, it’s just a guide.

The great thing about Zufall is that it helps put the emphasis back on the journey and not on the destination (since you don’t really know where you are going to end up). But, if you prefer you can Pre-Zufall – this is when you roll the dice well in advance of you adventure so that you can book a hotel or make a reservation. It’s still up to chance!

LET BLUE DECIDE

Keep the un-planning going by using the blue dice to make decisions along the way. If you are headed east you may find your self at a fork in the road. Roll the blue dice – if it comes up an odd number you take the left choice, if it’s even, go right. You can use Blue to make any decision – which side of the menu to order from, which path to take, which form of transportation you’ll use, which outfit to wear – the options are only limited by the imagination. Hey, you may never make another decision again!

USE YOUR COMMON SENSE

Hate to includes this, but it does beg to be stated that when Zufalling, use your common sense. Don’t over extend yourself. Don’t stress out about making it to your Zufall destination (sometimes life gets in the way – make the most of that roadblock or border line-up). Try to be respectful of people’s property – just because the dice say to walk east doesn’t mean directly across someone’s yard. Use the paths available to you and correct as you go. If you can’t go directly southwest then go south for half the distance and west for half the distance. Zufall is not meant to be exact, it’s meant to be fun!

Zufall Adventures is not responsible for the roll of the dice or the actions of those who choose to follow the dice.