Play consists of assuming medieval roles and ranks, from the Great Dalmuti (the ruler), the Lesser Dalmuti, various merchants, and the Lesser and Greater Peons (the bottom of the social ladder). Game structure encourages minor roleplaying (the Greater Peon must deal and shuffle) and the rulebook includes suggestions for optional goofiness (the Great Dalmuti gets the best chair and a crown, the Greater Peon sits on a crate or the floor, wears a straw hat, and gets the bubblegum-flavored jellybeans), making this even more of a party game. The play is fast and fun, and rules are simple enough for children, although the less mature may not enjoy the ranking elements.
The Great Dalmutiincludes 80 richly illustrated cards and a multilingual rulebook (English, Spanish, German, French). The cards depict a variety of different medieval professions, positions, and types (earl marshals, masons, archbishops, knights, seamstresses, stonecutters, abbesses, cooks, peasants, shepherdesses, baronesses, jesters, and the Great Dalmuti). Each card type is assigned a number that represents its "rank" in society, and the number of cards of that type equals the number of its rank (from one Great Dalmuti to 12 peasants), except for the two jesters, which have special properties. Cards of equal rank are substantially the same, with some color variations.
Initial rank of players is determined by a random draw, with the best card earning its owner the rank of Great Dalmuti, and so on down the ranks. Game play consists of players laying down one or more cards of equal rank, with each subsequent player needing to match the number with a better rank of cards, or passing play to the next person. When all players have passed, the lead play of the next round goes to the last person who was able to make a play. The object is to get rid of all your cards, called "going out." As each player goes out, a record is kept and the order of going out determines the new rank of the players (from Dalmutis to Peons). The Greater Dalmuti, at the beginning of each round, collects the Greater Peon's best two cards as "taxes" and gives the Peon his worst two; likewise, the Lesser Dalmuti and Lesser Peon exchange one card each. Any player being dealt both jesters may cancel taxation by declaring a revolution, and if it is the Greater Peon doing so, he becomes the Greater Dalmuti, who takes his place as Greater Peon, and the Lesser Dalmuti and Lesser Peon also swap. After all these winnings and losings and shufflings of place and position, the ultimate winner in Dalmuti is determined at the end of however many rounds the players decide as limits for the game.
Game author Richard Garfield wrote The Great Dalmuti as a version of a traditional game he learned in graduate school. Many cultural and regional variants exist ("Super Peasant" in Japan, "Scum" in Utah, and "Rich Man Poor Man" in Alaska). Garfield cites author David Parlett as tracing the game to the Chinese "Zheng Shang You" and Garfield himself believes the Japanese game "Dai Hin Min" to be the origin of the word "Dalmuti."
Very entertaining and well worth the price, earning 9 on a 10-point scale.
For more information about The Great Dalmuti or other Wizards of the Coast games, go to www.wizards.com.
--Sharon Daugherty |
