Dalmuti
The climbing card game of unfair social mobility. Empty your hand first to rule the next one
How to play
The ladder
Four to eight players sit in rank order, Greater Dalmuti to Greater Peon. Empty your hand first to take the throne; finish last and you're the Greater Peon
The pyramid deck
80 cards. Rank 1 is best, and each rank has as many copies as its number. Two jesters are wild with other cards, but alone they're rank 13, the worst
- 1The Great Dalmuti
- 2Archbishop×2
- 3Earl Marshal×3
- 4Baroness×4
- 5Abbess×5
- 6Knight×6
- 7Seamstress×7
- 8Mason×8
- 9Cook×9
- 10Shepherdess×10
- 11Stonecutter×11
- 12Peasant×12
- ★Jester×2
Taxes and revolutions
Before each hand, the Greater Peon's two best cards go up to the Greater Dalmuti on their own, and the Dalmuti picks any two cards to send down; the Lesser pair trades one the same way. Whoever holds both jesters may call a revolution to cancel taxes; if it's the Greater Peon, the whole ladder flips
Climbing tricks
The lead plays a set of one rank. In turn, play the same count at a lower rank or pass; passing never locks you out. When a set goes around unbeaten, its player leads
AI at the table
Short on players? Seat as many AI as you like. Each plays its own hand, pays taxes, and sometimes revolts