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Great Dalmuti is a thinking yet fun card shedding game for 4–8 players, it is a much enhanced commercial variant of the card game called President. The goal of the game is to become the Greater Dalmuti and remain in that office for as long as possible by being the first person to get rid of all the cards in their hand. Great Dalmuti is another term for King or Queen. It was published by Wizards of the Coast in February 1995.
There was a whispered, possibly urban myth, tale of a game designer presenting 4 board and card games to a game publisher, sadly all were rejected. When asked if he had anything else the designer produced a fledging collectable card game which was published with massive, almost mystical worldwide success. The first 4 games were subsequently all published.
Great Dalmuti can be played by families with younger children or groups of Physics Ph D’s. I have run it for both, and the two groups asked to immediately play again.
Gameplay
The game comprises of a bespoke deck made up of 80 cards with identical backs. There are 12 cards with the number 12 and they are called Peasants. There are 11 cards with the number 11 and so on till you get two with 2 and one with a 1, which is the Great Dalmuti themself.
The are also two Jester cards I believe these are best omitted for the first game though purists may want to include them as it is my house rule.
1) All, cards are shuffled and dealt out.
2) A random player starts by laying face up their choice of the same numbered cards in the centre of the playing area. For example, they state honestly “4 cards with a number 11”
3) The next player clockwise must either play a matching set of 4 lots of 10’s or a lower number than 11 say 4 lots of 7. The cards are placed on top of the previous set.
4) This continues until all players have dropped out.
5) The last player left in, then restarts with another set of cards say 3 lots of 8’s.
6) If you had dropped out you can now rejoin
7) This continues until a player sheds all their cards. This is called by the rules “Going Out”. They immediately become the Great Dalmuti
8) Play resumes with the second player with no cards becoming Lesser Dalmuti
9) The next empty-handed players become Merchants
10) However, the Penultimate player left in is the Lesser Peon (peasant) and last one is the Greater Peon
The subsequent game starts with the first player being the Great Dalmuti, next clockwise is the Lesser Dalmuti and so on down to the Lesser and then Greater Peons. The unnamed players are deemed to be merchants.
This will entail getting people to stand up and move around which is a new yet engaging social dynamic for boardgame tables. If members of your group have significant mobility issues you may have to compromise this, but it is important thematically that the Great Dalmuti does not move.
You thus reposition all players in order of victory of course the Greater Dalmuti is far too important to move.
Enhancements
There are two Jesters which personally I omit for first game. They copy the set of cards they are laid down with. So with the 2 Jesters and a 1 you state “3 lots of 1”. If played by themselves or with another Jester they are 13’s which is most unwise and I have never seen this happen in all the decades I have played this game.
Taxation is designed to reward the winners and seemingly punish the previous game’s losers. Sadly here the game follows life!
Taxation happens at the start of the new game. The Great Dalmuti choses any two cards and passes them face down to the Greater Peon. The Greater Peon has to hand over their two lowest cards at the same time. The Lesser Dalmuti and Lesser Peon do the same but with only one card. Jesters count as 13’s for this transfer even if they are passed over with a low card.
There is a scoring mechanism where all players score 1 point for every perso they beat each round. So, in a six player game, the Great Dalmti gets 5, the lesser 4 points and so on down to Greater Peon who receives none. You could play until a set score of maybe 20 was reached.
Thoughts about the Great Dalmuti
Do the Dalmuti look happier than the Peon?
I normally play the game four or five times on the trot as a game takes only a few minutes. It is a great game for introducing new people to the world of modern board games, even though it dates from the end of the last century.
It is great at parties especially if everyone is in the party spirit. It gets played at whatever New Year’s Eve party I attend.
If you think it is a game of chance and little skill, trying playing it with moderately skilled or better players who have a sound memory. I believe you will soon revise that opinion!
I provide my own Crowns and Peon (Xmas) hats which adds to the fun!
It does not have an out and out winner unless you have a Great Dalmuti that never has to yield their crown or use the rules for scoring based on the number of steps you advance each time. Personally, I replay it and stop just before it I feel it is becoming routine to ensure it is requested again! Do watch out for a player who cannot shake the Peon hats and is in distress.
Strategy
Early plans often involve shedding large groups of cards and perchance squandering one’s lower value cards only to be let with a say a 10 and a 9 and they cannot get rid themselves of its burden. Soon the Peon’s daft hat beckons.
It is a good idea to try and memorise the play of lower cards.
Final Thoughts
It is one of my “must pack” party or filler games. Surprisingly straightforward it does lend itself to quite deep playing strategies.
It works well in an educational environment as it gets participants counting and using logical deduction.
It is very effective with groups that have limited common language as you can play it well if you can say or mime low numbers in the common tongue.