Gold!

About this board game

Gold! is a 20-minute card game for 2–3 players about collecting valuable gold across six colors while managing troublesome donkeys.

The game uses a 60-card deck. Each color includes gold cards valued from 3 to 8, along with a few donkeys worth -2. Every player begins with a donkey in a different color, while two cards are removed from play and five cards are revealed face-up.

On your turn, choose one of three actions:

• Take the lowest-valued card on display and add it to your tableau. Donkeys are always worth less than gold.
• Exchange one gold card in your tableau for a lower-valued gold card.
• Exchange a donkey in your tableau for a gold card of any value.

Whenever you collect three cards of the same color, you must score that set. Before scoring, you may pilfer a card in a color that is not currently present in your tableau from an opponent.

When the last face-up card is claimed, reveal five new cards. After the final set of five cards has been taken, players compare their totals in each of the six colors. The player with the highest total in a color scores that color’s highest gold card.

Finally, everyone adds the values of the cards in their score piles. The player with the highest total wins. With its simple choices, changing display, set collection, exchanges, and carefully timed scoring, Gold! offers a compact contest over when to take, trade, and turn a donkey into an opportunity.