The Great Dalmuti

by Avalon Hill

Product Features

• A light card game where players gain status by going out first.
• The person who first got rid of all his cards becomes The Great Dalmuti.
• 20-30 minutes
• 4 to 8 players
• Ages 8 and up

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 8 x 1 x 4 inches ; 12 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B000BHBUCO
• Manufacturer recommended age: 8 months and up
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #41,295 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Life isn?t fair. And neither is The Great Dalmuti. In one round you?re at the top of the heap, and in the next you could be peasant scum. In this fast-paced game of medieval one-upmanship, players take their places in the pecking order, from Greater Peon to Greater Dalmuti. But the roles change in every round, so get rid of the cards in your hand fast. The quicker you rid yourself of your cards, the higher you?ll go. But don?t get comfortable in the cushy Greater Dalmuti chair because even the lowliest peon can unseat you and boot you out the door. Sounds unfair, sure it is. But the sweet taste of victory could make it all worthwhile. This short, fast-paced, fun card game is easy to learn and play. It takes about 15 minutes to play the game, and is for 5-10 players.

Product Description

A light card game where players gain status by going out first. The deck is dealt out to all players and the object is to get rid of your cards as fast as possible. The hand begins with one person playing one or more card to the center of the table. The cards played must all be of the same rank (although Jesters are wild, and may be played with any other cards). Each player in turn must now either play the same number of cards of a better rank, or pass. Play continues around the table until everyone has passed; at that point, the cards are cleared and whoever played the last set of cards leads the next round. When a player gets rid of the last of his cards, he makes a mental note of who went out before him for the next round. After everyone has gone out, the players are ranked. The person who first got rid of all his cards becomes The Great Dalmuti. Seat positions change and the cards are re-dealt.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Great Dalmuti - Public outcry brings this great game back!, September 30, 2005

By 

Alan Holyoak (The Shadow of the Tetons) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: The Great Dalmuti (Toy)

This is a family and party-friendly card game based on medieval class structure...when life wasn't fair (is it now?). We enjoy playing it as a family: children aged 14, 13, 11, and 6. They all like it.

Each round of the game takes a short time to play, but you can play as many or as few rounds as you like. There is no score to keep, and there is no time limit. Who knows, you may be lucky enough to start out as the Greater or Lesser Dalmuti (royalty) who collect taxes (the best cards) from the Greater and Lesser Peons (in which case you won't be so lucky).

Game play is as follows. When you get ready to start playing each player is assigned a seat based on the card they draw from the deck: the person who draws the strongest card gets to start at the Great Dalmuti to the person who draws the weakest card and who starts as the Greater Peon. Once seated, the cards return to the deck, the cards are shuffled and dealt by the Greater Peon. The Greater Dalmuti then calls for taxes (the best cards from the peons), and play commences. The goal of each round is to get rid of your cards as quickly as possible. The person who goes out first during a round gets to be the Greater Dalmuti for the next round. The last person to go out is the Greater Peon. This goes on as long as you want to play. Oh, watch out for the occasional revolution - when a person is dealt two jesters they can declare a revolution...a way to level the playing field making it easier to dethrown a Dalmuti.

We have additional fun while playing this game by role-playing the social status you have each round. As the Great Dalmuti you can be either benevolent or oppressive. As a peon you can be submissive or defiant. And the merchants can try to schmooze with royaly. We also enjoy having friends over to play. We play a round, then while the new Greater Peon shuffles and deals, the rest of us hit the snack table. Anyway, it's a grand game.

The English language version of this game was out of print for at least a few years, and you could get copies only at on-line auction sites like e-bay. During those lean years an English language copy of the Great Dalmuti in good condition could run as much as $50/game, and I had to replace my lost English copy with an affordable German language copy. I'm extremely pleased to see that Hasbro has brought the English language version of this Wizards of the Coast classic back to the shelves!

I have been a Great Dalmuti player for nearly 10 years, and I look forward to many more years of good times with the Great Dalmuti.

This is definitely a 5-star game. If you don't have a copy, you NEED one! Christmas is coming.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great game!, June 18, 2006

By 

Dana (Orange County, CA. USA) - See all my reviews

= Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: The Great Dalmuti (Toy)

I played this game for the first time: I was hooked. The game is fairly easy for any age to play. We had kids to the hold folks to play. My suggestion is to have a nice comfy seat for the Dalmuti to sit in: why? because its nice being there once you finally get there. The kids were laughing and crying over it. This is defintely a great card came that I will be adding into my bag of tricks for friends and family! It is VERY easy to learn for everyone

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT fun for 8+ We adults love this game!, August 10, 2011

By 

Catherine L. Snow "Georgia MOM" (Georgia USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Great Dalmuti (Toy)

Thanks for quick shipping on this wonderful game. My adult children taught it to me and I love
it and want to share it here in TEXAS!