Intro
I first discovered Gold! after purchasing the app on my iPad. I had never heard of it prior to that point, but after enjoying High Society, Money! and Kingdoms so much from the same publisher on iOS, I bought this one out of respect.
After 75+ plays on the iPad, having enjoyed it so much, I determined that I needed to get a physical copy for the collection. My wife and I have enjoyed this in physical form now also, such that it does fit our criteria to make our list of games for time poor couples.
To my surprise, I then saw there were no reviews of this great little card game. Hence this post, dedicated to that bestselling phenomenon, "Wish It, Want It, Do It" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZogNLLcVi0). It felt appropriate and also a way to compensate for the threadbare theme of the game, i.e. at least the review can help bolster the link to gold!
Super Fast Game Summary - Brodie's notes
* Six suits of cards with values -2,-2,-2,3,3,4,5,6,7,8, i.e. 10 cards per suit, 60 in total
* For 2 players, leave out one -2 card from each colour.
* For any game, two cards are not included after shuffling and set aside
* Each player starts with a -2 of one colour.
* All cards played face up
* Five cards are dealt, players take turns to either swap a -2 card for any card, exchange a positive number card for a lower value card, or take the lowest value card in the five.
* You score sets of three by colour, each time you score a set, you can steal one card of a colour you don't have from an opponent.
* After all cards have been taken, whoever has the highest total of each colour scores the highest colour card in their hand
* Highest total score wins - that's Gold!
Review Proper
1. Wish It
First of all, think of all the things you would buy with all your gold...ok enough of that...
There are Six suits of cards with values -2,-2,-2,3,3,4,5,6,7,8, i.e. 10 cards per suit, 60 in total used in the game. For 2 players games you leave out one -2 card from each colour. For any game, two cards are not included after shuffling and set aside
Each player starts with a -2 of one colour and all cards are played face up. Start dreaming about just what gold you want!
2. Want It
All cards are played face up including your hand.
Five cards are dealt in the table centre, players then take turns to either [1] swap a -2 card for any card, [2] exchange a positive number card for a lower value card, or [3] just take the lowest value card out of the five with no swap required.
3. Do It
Now the fun starts! You score sets of three cards by colour (i.e. three reds, three blues etc), each time you score a set, you can steal one card of a colour you don't have from an opponent.
After all cards have been taken, whoever has the highest total of each colour scores the highest single card of that colour left in their hand.
Then, the highest total score wins - that's Gold!
Conclusions
A fabulous fast paced card game for 2-3 players, with a bit of luck and a bit of skill, plays in around 10 minutes. Equally a superb iOS game that will get plenty of plays and the AI is pretty good, I am winning about 40% of games after 80 plays, bearing in mind I play quickly and don't let it become a brain burner.
Very proud to have written the first review - this game deserves more attention than it has gotten thus far on the geek.
So in summary, Wish It, Want It, Do It - that's Gold!!
GM