I'm fairly new to BGG, but I've already gleaned a ton of information and want to contribute something back to the community. A review of The Great Dalmuti seemed to be the place where my gaming experience is most able to add something to the site. Here goes my first review!
Overview
The Great Dalmuti is a fantastically fun card game for 6-8 people. With the right group of people, the game is significantly more fun than the sum of its parts might suggest.
Components
The Great Dalmuti is played with a deck of 80 cards consisting of one 1, two 2s, three 3s, and so on, up to twelve 12s. There are also two Jesters that serve as wild cards during the game. The cards are beautifully illustrated with characters from a medieval theme; you'll find yourself playing with peasants, knights, cooks, masons, and other interesting characters. You could, theoretically, construct a Dalmuti deck from a few decks of regular playing cards, but in my opinion the attractive cards add enough to the game to make a purchase worthwhile.
Gameplay
The rules of the game are very simple. Players draw cards to determine who gets to lead in the first hand. Players are attempting to get rid of all the cards in their hand by playing them in sets of the same rank. The leader puts down any number of cards of the same rank - three 12s, for instance, and the player to his or her left (play proceeds clockwise) has the opportunity to play the exact same number of cards of a lower rank. Three 11s, three 10s, three 9s, etc. would all be valid moves. Players never have to play; cards can be reserved for later rounds if a player's strategy so dictates. For the duration of a particular round, each player must continue to play the exact same number of cards of continually lower ranks. If the second player played three 9s, the third player would have to play three 8s, 7s, 6s, etc. 755
A round ends when all players can not or choose not to play, and the last person to lay down any cards that particular round get to lead for the next round. The Jester acts as a 13 on its own, but can be played with any card to increase the number in a set. The person to run out of cards first is the Great <PERSON> in the next hand. Play continues until all positions around the table have been determined by the order people run out of cards. There is no scoring in the game; play continues until someone gets tired of the game!
Life isn't fair
You may have noticed that the play mechanic favors whomever gets to lead each hand. Rather than try to balance this disparity, The Great Dalmuti makes it part of the medieval theme of the game. The player who gets to lead each hand is known as <PERSON> and the player immediately to his or her left is known as <PERSON>. At the other end of the spectrum, the last person to get a chance to play is known as <PERSON>, and the next to last is known as <PERSON>. All players in the middle are merchants. To further simulate the lack of social mobility in the Middle Ages, the <PERSON> are "taxed" at the beginning of each hand. The Greater Peon must give his or her two lowest ranking cards to the Great <PERSON>, and the Lesser Peon offers his or her single lowest ranking card to the Lesser <PERSON>. The <PERSON> choose any two or one cards from their hand, respectively, to return to the peons.
There is also the chance for a "revolution." If any player is dealt both Jesters, that person can choose to call a revolution and suspend taxes for the turn. If the Greater <PERSON> is dealt both Jesters, a Greater Revolution leads to an immediate switch in position for all players - the Great <PERSON> becomes the Greater <PERSON>, the Lesser <PERSON> becomes the Lesser <PERSON>, and vice versa.
At first glance, it seems that all the unfairness might lead to frustration. In practice, it makes it hard to move up ranks but thrilling when a great hand leads to a significant change in position. There is enough mobility to keep things interesting, and while I enjoy being the Great <PERSON> I still have fun when I find myself stuck as the Greater Peon for a few rounds.
Strategy
The game isn't terribly deep, but there are enough strategic decision to keep things interesting. There are a couple of strategic points to consider - should you separate sets in order to have a chance to play or keep them together where they may be more useful later? (Most of the time it is better to keep sets together, but there may be some exceptions. 17