http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/44 en-us Sat, 22 Nov 2008 10:47:07 -0600 Sat, 22 Nov 2008 10:47:07 -0600 aldie@boardgamegeek.com BoardGameGeek features information related to the board gaming hobby Sounds good to me. <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2833793#2833793 2008-11-18T03:04:28+00:00 sasoose According to the online rule (<a href="http://www.playrooment.com/Default.aspx?tabid=760" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow"><A target='_blank' href="http://www.playrooment.com/Default.aspx?tabid=760" rel="nofollow">http://www.playrooment.com/Default.aspx?tabid=760</A></a>), <br> <br><i>If all players play the same value card, then the last player to play their card is considered the highest of the same value cards, and the second to last player to play their card is the lowest of the same value cards. </i> <br> <br>Hope this helps. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2830781#2830781 2008-11-17T10:17:50+00:00 Starsunsky <i>Firstly, you determine the winner of the trick. In this case, it is the last person to play a 5, because in the case of ties for the highest, the last one played is the higher. This player will win all the cards except their own 5. </i> <br> <br> <br>Not sure how you come to this conclusion from reading the rules. Why should you determine the highest card first? Why shouldn't the first determination be the lowest card? Why can't you look at the rule "the last card played of the lowest number is considered the loser and takes the highest card."? And from that determine that the last 5 played is actually the lowest card? <br> <br>Can we get a clarification from the designer or game testers? <br> <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2830354#2830354 2008-11-17T04:14:26+00:00 sasoose New metal box from Pegasus Spiele <br> <img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic359902_mt.jpg"> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/359902 2008-08-10T17:18:36+00:00 kuhflecken My wife and I invited another couple over for gaming this past weekend. The couple had a strong stats background and was familiar with trick taking games such as Oh Hell! and Spades. I thought that David and Goliath would be a good choice to play. <br> <br>My wife and I had not played this in several years so I quickly re-read the rules before our guests arrived. I quickly explained the rules to B & J and we were playing within a few minutes. <br> <br>The guests quickly understood the play and startegy of the game and both did a great job of taking only a trick or two in most suits. I had a lot of high cards and, coupled with a few poor plays, had a miserable round. Scores after round 1: <b>J 71, B 66, Wife 31, Me 28.</b> <br> <br>In round two, J got dealt some poor cards and had a horrible round as she took multiple cards in 3 suits but nothing in the other two. B continued his strong play as it pulled away from everyone. The wife and I made an improvement, but were still in 3rd and 4th place. <b>Round 2 scores: B 67 (133), J 17 (88), Wife 50 (81), Me 48 (76).</b> <br> <br>In the final round we finally were able to dump cards on B and cut his score by more than half as compared to the earlier rounds. This was not enough however as he easily won the game. <b>Round 3 scores and final scores: B 31 (164), J 64 (152), Me 57 (133), Wife 50 (131).</b> <br> <br>The game was well received by all and I look forward to it hitting the table more often in the future. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2473900#2473900 2008-07-15T20:49:13+00:00 Larry Welborn This weekend I played my first game of David & Goliath. <br> <br>It's a simple card game in principal but it kind of evolves during play. You become aware of techniques and possible stratergies thru play, that you dont immediately see before starting. <br> <br>The game has a number of suits. A suit is just the cards border color. Red, Blue, green, Yellow etc. Each suit comes with denominations of 1 - 18. Depending on the number of players ( minimum 3 ) you discard a number of these before playing ans thay are not used at all. For instance in the four player game I played you only used cards numbered 1 thru 12. <br> <br>Play is simplicity itself. Shuffle the cards and deal then evenly to the the players <br> <br>With each hand of cards a new player takes a turn as being the starting player. The starting player plays a card from their hand onto the table face up. Then going clockwise every other player must play a card of the same suit ( color ). If a player cant play suit, they may play any card from their hand. <br> <br>Once every player has played one card you determin who gets what cards. <br> <br>The player who played the lowest denomination takes the highest card played and puts it in his score pile. The player who played Highest, gets the remaining cards for their score pile. <br> <br>Then you move onto the next hand. You dont replenish your hand of cards, so on each subsequent hand you have less choice as your cards deplete. <br> <br>When you've played out all of your cards, that the end of the round and you score the cards you've collected. This scoring is what is really interesting. You score each suit seperately. Imagine you had collected Blue 10 and Blue 8, this would score 18. However if you had more than two cards in Blue. you only score 1 point for each. <br> <br>So as you may gather the best way to score high, is to only collect 2 high value cards from each suit. This seems straight forward, but it's complicated by the other players. All of the cards collected for scoring have to be kept face up so other players can play cards to either improve their own score, or to spoil yours! <br> <br>This is a good light game. It's fun for the family. My wife doesn't generally enjoying playing games, but this one even struck her as simple and good fun. <br> <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2095150#2095150 2008-02-19T21:03:49+00:00 FNH1 After a long afternoon playing the World of Warcraft boardgame and my first game of Notre Dame, the group I was playing with decided to wrap-up the night with a light game of David and Goliath. Now, I've never played this game, but I was assured that it was "just like spades (of which I've played a lot" with another rule or two. <br> <br>So the cards were dealt and I thought I was of to a great start - I had virtually all 13's, 14's, and 15's! I should win a TON of tricks with this monster hand! And I did! Doh! <br> <br>After leading the first tricks with high cards, it was explained to me that I didn't really *want* to win that many cards. That I really only wanted to win 2 cards of each color (that'll teach me to listen during the rules explanation, won't it!?). <br> <br>There were 5 of us playing and after about the 3rd round, it finally clicked with me how to avoid tricks and by the 5th round, I started to figure out how to stick others with cards they didn't want. I still have no clue exactly what a winning strategy would be. <br> <br>It seemed very random to me. I somehow finished 3rd ahead of 2 veteran players. Evidently, skill at this game is overrated. The two guys that usually win more than their share of games seemed to get stuck with a ton of cards and finished dead last. <br> <br>I enjoyed the game for what it is - a unique spin on trick taking games - and would be willing to play again... now that I know the rules! <img src="http://files.boardgamegeek.com/images/smile.gif" alt=":)" border="0"> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1773744#1773744 2007-10-09T20:11:52+00:00 willk_1230 <b>Overview</b> <br><i>David & Goliath</i> is a trick-taking card game for 3 to 6 players. It’s designed by Reinhard Staupe, whose previous designs include <i>Edel, Stein, & Reich</i> and <i>Basari</i>, and it’s published here in the U.S. by Playroom Entertainment. While the game features two Biblical figures, there’s really no Biblical theme. Players capture cards over several rounds, by playing either the highest and/or lowest card in a trick, with each captured card’s value depending upon the number of cards captured during the round. The player with the highest score will win the game. Our game times typically come in around 30 minutes, a little bit less with 3 players, a little bit more with 6. <i>David & Goliath</i> came in 2nd place in the Fairplay ala carte awards and was a Spiel des Jahres nominee in 1998. <br> <br><b>Out of the Box</b> <br><i>David & Goliath</i> comes in a small box with a plastic insert to hold the 90 cards. The cards come in 5 colored (red, yellow, blue, green, purple) sets of 1 to 18 value each. The cards are of decent stock with cartoon-type illustrations; along with its numerical value, each card has a picture of either David or Goliath. The lesser valued cards show a small David and as the value goes up, David gets a little bit bigger; when the cards approach the higher values, an incrementally larger Goliath is pictured. The multilingual (English, Spanish, French, German) rulebook is short and straightforward, with a couple of illustrated examples of game play. <br> <br><b>Set Up</b> <br>The number of cards used in a game will depend upon the number of players and the excess, if any, will be set aside. The cards will be shuffled and each player will be dealt 15 cards. The player to the left of the dealer will begin each round. <br> <br><b>Game Play</b> <br>Each round will consist of 15 tricks. During your turn, you must play one card, with play then passing to the left. You must follow the color of the card that was led, if possible; if you don’t have any of that color, you may play any card. Once every one has played a card, the player with the lowest card in the trick, regardless of color, captures the highest card in the trick. The player with the highest card in the trick, again regardless of color, captures all the other cards, including the lowest card. If there is a tie for highest/lowest card then, of the tied cards, the last one played is considered the highest/lowest. Once all 15 tricks have played out, scores are recorded. The cards are then collected, shuffled, and dealt in preparation for the next round. <br> <br><b>Scoring and Endgame</b> <br>After a round, all players sort their captured cards by color. Cards of colors in which you’ve captured no more than two, are worth their face value in points. Cards of colors in which you’ve captured three or more, are worth one point apiece. For example, if you’ve captured 2 red cards (10, 5), 3 yellow (13, 8, 7), 1 blue (12), and 4 green (7, 5, 3, 2), you’d score 34 points (15 + 3 + 12 + 4). <br> <br>The game ends after you’ve played and scored a number of rounds equal to the number of players. The winner is the player with highest cumulative score. <br> <br><b>Observations</b> <br>While there’s a bit of randomness in <i>David & Goliath</i>, I think its impact is fairly minimal. You know beforehand the cards that are in play, and being that you can capture cards with either high or low values, you can usually adjust your strategy to fit your current hand. You can aim for getting just a couple of the higher cards of each color, or you can just try to get as many cards as you can, or you can try a balance in getting lots of some colors and a couple of some others. You’ll need to be aware of what the other players have captured; if they have a couple of really high values in a color or two, you’ll want to dump an extra card of those colors on ‘em to knock down their score. There are really a lot of options to consider in this game, making for many tough decisions. Also, with the unique scoring in the game, how well you can avoid taking cards can be just as important as capturing them. <br> <br><b>Conclusions</b> <br>I particularly enjoy trick taking games and I’ve found <i>David & Goliath</i> to be another good one. It’s fun, family friendly, and plays quickly. It makes for a solid filler and its simple rules, while easy to grasp and teach, belie its depth. Each hand seems to bring interesting (some times agonizing) decisions to be made. I really like the scoring system, as it really makes you think through each trick. If you like trick-taking games, you ought to give this one a try; it’s relatively inexpensive (around $10). I currently rate <i>David & Goliath</i> a slingin’ 7. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1407084#1407084 2007-03-23T16:26:39+00:00 otha62 All of my reviews aim to offer a brief overview that allows people to get a good feel for what the game may offer them. I feel that other reviews can be sought if detailed game mechanics is what you are after. <br> <br>David & Goliath takes the classic concept of trick taking card games and gives it a fair twist in this latest offering from Playroom Entertainment. The game consists of 90 cards ranging from 1 to 18 and they come in 5 colours or suits. The number of people playing will determine which cards are used or left in the box and this is a smart inclusion as it helps to keep the game manageable and the play tight. <br> <br>The game begins by dealing the entire deck of cards out evenly to the players and then the play can begin. Like many trick taking games, a round or trick is played by one player leading a card and the other players following by playing a card of the same suit (colour in this case) or throwing off another card if they cannot match the suit lead. But that is about as conventional as David & Goliath gets – hold onto your slingshots! <br> <br>The player that played the lowest card will win the highest card played in the trick. Whilst the player who played the highest card will win all other cards played in the trick. An example – A red 1 is lead and the other players play a red 7, 5 and 9. The player who led the 1 takes the 9 and the player who played the 9 takes the 1, 5 and 7. Why would you play low cards I hear you ask? Well the aim of the game is to score the most points. If a player can capture only 1 or 2 cards of a colour then they earn the values on those cards. But if they capture 3 or more of a colour then they only get 1 point per card. An example – A player captured the 4 and 8 of green. This would earn them 12 points. However if they captured the 4, 8 and 9 of green, they would only get 3 points. <br> <br>Much of the game’s strategy entails players trying to stick their opponent’s with that nasty third card of a particular colour, whilst keeping their own suit piles to two cards or less. <br> <br>If all this wasn’t enough to worry about the game also has one more nasty surprise. If a player cannot follow suit then the off-suit card they play can still be classed as the highest or lowest. In other words throwing off-suit does not guarantee that you are out of the trick. This makes card counting almost impossible and allows inexperienced card players to match it with their trick taking expert friends. The game lasts for as many rounds as there are players and the highest score is declared the winner. <br> <br><b><u>The Final Word</u></b> <br> <br>On the front cover of the box the phrase ‘The game where size doesn’t matter’ is proudly printed. Not only is this a pun based on the games theme but it is highly accurate. For a game that consists of only 90 cards, David & Goliath packs a strong punch. The rules are easy to learn, allowing a total beginner to be playing within 10 minutes but mastering this little gem is anything but easy. Hands can be completed quickly, which helps keep the game moving and the finishes are fairly close. The cards artwork is also neat as the character (presumably David) gets bigger as the values of the cards increase, until he is a Goliath at card value 18. It is well worth donning your toga and grabbing your favourite slingshot for those that like card games and variations on trick taking games in particular. <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1251673#1251673 2007-01-02T05:36:26+00:00 Neil Thomson I took out my copy of David & Goliath to play with my 5 oldest children late Sunday afternoon. We would only have time for something in the half-hour range, and my kids are always eager to try something new (as opposed to Loot which, because we had played a couple of times already, wasn't as enticing). The oldest child is 9 and the youngest is 4 with a 7-year-old and 6-year-old twins in between. <br> <br>I quickly explained the rules and quoted the old saying "the lowest takes the highest and the highest takes the rest". I then played a sample round to show them how it would all work. I knew the scoring may end up being a little too complicated for them, (the box says ages 10 and up after all), but I wanted to see how well they could grasp it anyway. <br> <br>I dealt out the 15 cards to each player, and we dove in. The fact that each person is dealt 15 cards is somewhat of a drawback to playing this with children. It can be pretty difficult for a young child to hold 5 cards in their hands let alone 15. The 4-year-old simply put the cards I handed to her in a face-up pile in front of her and started looking through them. I explained that showing the cards to everyone wasn't a great idea, and so then she put them face-down in a pile in front of her and sat back waiting for her turn. Over the course of the game, the way she played was to simply look through her stack, peering under the cards one at a time, looking for the first card matching the color of the card led, which she would then play. I left it at that, curious to see how someone playing so randomly would do. She's just happy to play, and I'm very happy to oblige her, especially in a 6-player game like this one. <br> <br>I didn't explain much strategy to the children to begin with (not wanting to overload them), but they developed their own soon enough. The tactic of choice for anyone playing a card first was to lead with as low a card as possible. The twin to the left of me started with a one, and sure enough got the 4-year-old's high card that round, while she got the 5 others - which went over pretty well with her. This actually happened several times, so that by the end of the game, she had a very large amount of cards, although she did manage to have only 2 red ones, which helped her final score. <br> <br>The 7-year-old kept playing low cards too, just not always when leading, which didn't help him out much. I coached him a little so he didn't waste all of them, and he did better as the game progressed. The 9-year-old was playing enough high cards to gain a lot of cards in one color for one-point-each herself. The twin to the right of me was pretty much just grabbing whichever card matched a certain color he could find first in his face-down stack, although he seemed to prefer the medium range values. Meanwhile, my distribution of cards was not ideal. By the halfway point in the game, I only had a few points - there didn't seem to be much I could do. <br> <br>The twin to my left had a strong lead about 2/3 of the way through, as he had been able to get single or double high cards in 3 colors as he continued playing his mitt-ful of low cards. Then I started capturing some cards near the end with the lowest cards I had, which although they were in the 4 or 5 value range, were low enough by this point since the really low cards had already eagerly been played. The 7-year-old had some high cards still in his hand near the end, but since he hadn't had many captured cards before this, and since everyone was forced to play different colors from what was led as the game went into its final few turns, he ended up getting a pretty good assortment across the colors and ended up with a strong 2nd place score. And who ended up in first place? Well, for a dad to brag that he beat such small children would be the height of buffoonery, but I must admit, that the final turn was very, very good to me. It could have gone either way - normally you don't want to be stuck with a high card like I had in the final round. But I acquired just the right combinations of colors to catapult to the lead in the end. Fortunately, that's not too disappointing to the kids. They go in expecting me to win, and just ending somewhere near my point total is usually good enough for them. It wasn't that I was trying to be hard on them - honest. <br> <br>Final Scores: <br>Me (Dad): 93 <br>7-year-old: 64 <br>Twin on my left: 56 <br>Twin on my right: 50 <br>4-year-old: 40 <br>9-year-old: 34 <br> <br>A couple of them definitely understood the scoring by the end of the game, to the point where they could add up their own scores, so I do think the "10 and up" label on the box is a little high. The rest knew enough to have had a good time. Now they want me to bring it out again. I'll look for a slightly easier game first though I think. :-) <br> <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1219887#1219887 2006-12-12T05:58:36+00:00 fehrmeister Opening the Box <br> <img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic167543_mt.jpg"> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/167543 2006-12-11T01:50:46+00:00 fehrmeister The Boy Morphs Into a Giant <br> <img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic167544_mt.jpg"> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/167544 2006-12-11T01:20:06+00:00 fehrmeister How I modified the cards for ease of play with colorblind players. <br> <img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic154569_mt.jpg"> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/154569 2006-10-20T16:07:16+00:00 Verkisto Thank you! These are the cheapest of the "multi-use" decks, although Havoc looks the best. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/902473#902473 2006-05-04T15:37:45+00:00 craniac Five suits of 18 <br> <br>You can play most of the games on this list: <br> <br><A target='_blank' href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist.php3?action=view&listid=1907" rel="nofollow">http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist.php3?action=view&listi...</A> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/902380#902380 2006-05-04T14:41:50+00:00 icheyne So, can this be used to play lost cities or battle lines? http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/900907#900907 2006-05-03T16:51:05+00:00 craniac Had my brother (James, the fehrmeister), his wife (Heather), and his young family over for this last weekend. We get to see them only once every few months, so it was a special time. He also brought down a few of his board/card games. Most of the ones he brought down are on my wishlist... <img src="http://files.boardgamegeek.com/images/biggrin.gif" alt=":D" border="0"> <br> <br>We didn't have too much of a chance to do much gaming until the eve of their departure... so at around 10:00 p.m., James & Heather, my dad, my other brother and sister-in-law (who came down for the evening), and myself started up with a rousing game of David and Goliath. I didn't think the game was so confrontational, but I was pleasantly surprised. (the game went up in my rankings, btw) This game is sooo cool! <br> <br>My dad, who is well-known for not being very competitive, made the game a lot of fun, with the occassional comment about what colours he was running short on. <img src="http://files.boardgamegeek.com/images/laugh.gif" alt=":laugh:" border="0"> <br> <br>James had a forgetful game, ending up dead-last. (that is a REAL accomplishement though, since <i>not many people </i>can beat our dad to the bottom... lol) <br> <br>Heather had an amazing first round, and followed it up with 2 more superb scores. No one really messed her up, and she went into cruise control. <br> <br>Andrew got 15 pts. on round one, but followed that up with the hightest single round score in the game! (93?) He still ended up in 4th place however. <br> <br>Rebecca played pretty consistently the whole game and ended up in 3rd place. <br> <br>I ended up in 2nd by 4 points, if my memory serves me correctly. Yes, I was edged out by my sis in law, Heather. She played awesome the entire game, and despite my 90-something score on the last round, I couldn't quite catch her. I was doomed to 2nd place the entire game... <br> <br>It came down to the wire. On one of the last plays, Andrew put me down JUST ENOUGH points so that I couldn't pass my dear sis. That and combined with Rebecca failing to mess up Heather at an opportune time... lol <img src="http://files.boardgamegeek.com/images/shake.gif" alt=":shake:" border="0"> *sigh* <br> <br>BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME. <img src="http://files.boardgamegeek.com/images/biggrin.gif" alt=":D" border="0"> <br> <br>But then we had a game of Princes of Florence... Can you guess what happened? <br> <br> <br> <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/863257#863257 2006-03-29T21:35:37+00:00 Timothius The cards from the original Berliner Spielkarten version <br> <img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic121698_mt.jpg"> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/121698 2006-03-22T21:42:03+00:00 Arnott Much cleaner back of original Berliner Spielkarten box <br> <img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic121697_mt.jpg"> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/121697 2006-03-22T21:37:16+00:00 Arnott Much cleaner front of original Berliner Spielkarten box <br> <img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic121696_mt.jpg"> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/121696 2006-03-22T21:33:54+00:00 Arnott <b>peacmyer wrote:</b><br><i>I'm afraid that I have to agree with you, Robert. Sorry, Tom & Joe! <br></i> <br> <br>Thanks for your reply! http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/793964#793964 2006-02-05T22:48:07+00:00 Kobra1 I think that Jon's anecdote about playing David & Goliath with a Bridge champion is very relevant to discussion of this review. <br> <br>It is evident from many of Robert's posts that a lot of his gaming is with family members. I don't mean to criticise that, indeed I think that families playing together are a good thing and that it's admirable that he is bringing up the next generation of gamers. This site is dominated by hardcore gamers (I include myself in that group) and its top rated games are our favourites. It's healthy to see a different perspective occasionally. <br> <br>However, when it comes to reviewing games and commenting on their depth, I think it's valuable to play with a wide gene pool of people. I bought the Berliner Spielkarten edition of D&G several years ago, played it a few times, thought it was just OK and rated it a 6. Then last summer I had an experience similar to Jon's in that I was given a lesson in how to play this game by a very good player who had played it a lot. I revised my opinion of the game and upped my rating a notch. Widening my player gene pool gave me a better appreciation of the game. <br> <br>Turning to Robert's reviews, I find that their weakest point is often the discussion of depth and tactics. This is often rather sketchy and couched in general terms. One reason for this may be a lack of exposure to different styles of play. <br> <br>Finally, Robert has frequently emphasised that the physical quality of game components and the attractiveness of artwork are extremely important to him. He seems to have deleted his list of games rejected without being played because they were lacking in those departments, but I'm sure that some will remember it still. While good components and artwork didn't save Ticket to Ride from a critical review, I do wonder how much the whole of this review was influenced by perceived shortcomings with the art and card quality of the Playroom edition. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/785714#785714 2006-01-29T22:02:23+00:00 Andy Parsons Hi Robert, <br> <br>First of all, I'd like to thank you for posting your reviews. I think thoughtful reviews are one of the most important and enjoyable features the geek offers, and it wouldn't exist if not for people like yourself. <br> <br>With that said, I must take issue with some points of your review. The main issue I have with your review is that you say the game has only the <i>illusion </i>of control, and is actually random. I <b>hate </b>games like that. (It's why my rating of Geschenkt, after 30+ plays, has dropped twice, as I've come to realize it's almost entirely luck-based. With almost a third of the deck removed each hand, it's a total crapshoot which runs you should attempt to fill, and the random person who guesses correctly almost always wins. Yippee...) <br> <br>As with any good trick taking game, the successful D & G player correctly evaluates his hand and plays it accordingly. You must decide early in the hand if you are going to take many tricks (because you have many high cards), or "go for it", by trying just to take a few high cards, and attempt to duck out of the rest. Granted, if you are dealt a lot of middle cards, you are probably screwed, because you probably won't take <i>any </i>cards, but that doesn't happen often, and playing several hands should balance things out. <br> <br>As for theme, it's almost impossibe to graft a convincing theme onto a trick taking game. A few exceptions are Flaschenteufel, Twilight, Schnaeppchen Jagd, and Dia de lost Muertos. But even the latter was later reproduced with an entirely different theme, as Four Dragons. What do think would have been a better theme for David & Goliath? <br> <br>For what it's worth, I liked the card art on the original Berliner edition, but I'm a bit color blind, and it was tough for me to differentiate blue and purple. So for me the new editon was welcome. The quality is not that great, but it's so cheap, buying another copy isn't such a big deal. <br> <br>I've played many trick taking games. My favorite is Mu, which is quite a bit heavier than this one. But for many, it's just too much. David & Goliath is easily learned, yet still rewards skillful play. It's been a family favorite of ours for the last five years or so, and I'll play it any time. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/784338#784338 2006-01-28T05:37:03+00:00 themore5@earthlink I agree with Jon. This game has always worked well and rewarded careful play. If play is random, you have to blame the people at the table. To encourage new players to think about their hands and strategy I suggest that they plan on two cards for just a couple colours and point out that it is impossible for cards in their hand to end up in their score pile. <br> <br>The deck quality of the latest edition is nothing special, but it holds up to repeated playing and is inexpensive. If you want better cards, use <i>Sticheln</i> or <i>Die Sieben Siegel</i> cards. <br> <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/784167#784167 2006-01-28T01:29:49+00:00 mlvanbie I can't comment on the quality of the production, but I suspect you are playing the new US edition. As for the theme, the original name was David & Goliath (the pictures showed a callow youth developing into a brawny man) and that name suits the game exactly. I find it hard to understand how a game in which the smallest captures the largest does not fit this famous mythological story. <br> <br>As for it being boring, random, chaotic or lacking control, well then you haven't been paying attention. I played this one time with a champion Bridge player. He won the first round with more than 100 points (meaning that he took only two high cards in each colour, the optimum position). We stopped playing immediately, he was obviously going to thrash us all. <br> <br>Evidently, if one can play trick-taking games well, one can turn one's hand into a winning result. My experience is that many players struggle with the basic concept at first, but realise after a few tricks what they should be doing. <br> <br>Like any trick-taking game, you are at the mercy of the hand you are dealt and must make the best fist of it. Like any trick-taking game, you are obliged to follow suit. Like any trick-taking game, your choices become fewer as the round draws to an end. The nature of D&G does help players with more high/low cards than middling ones, but that's the bleedin' point. The questions do come as to when to take the lead, how to get rid of it, when & what to dump on someone. You need only take a few cards to make a good score. <br> <br>Each to their own Robert, but I respectfully suggest readers of this review check the comments on the game to get a better overall view: <br><A target='_blank' href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/viewcollections.php3?gameid=44&comment=1&orderby=rating&dir=-1" rel="nofollow">http://www.boardgamegeek.com/viewcollections.php3?gameid=44&...</A> <br> <br>Yours is not a lone voice, I grant you. And I gave it a 10, I grant you. But your derision is undue. I do not claim to be an expert player, but there's a lot more to David & Goliath than has met your eye, despite your several sessions. There's certainly more decisions in D&G than in Geschenkt, which you give a 10. <br> <br>Cheers, <br>Jon. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/783898#783898 2006-01-27T21:44:26+00:00 EYE of NiGHT I'm afraid that I have to agree with you, Robert. Sorry, Tom & Joe! <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/783838#783838 2006-01-27T21:04:24+00:00 peacmyer <b>David & Goliath <br> <br>The Components (Bits):</b> <br>This is a fairly poor production throughout. The box is quite cheap and flimsy without the quality linen finish we’re so used to now. The cards are awful, cheap paper with barely any coating on the cards, and the artwork is just terrible. Complete disappointment here, and one of the poorest productions I’ve seen. Even worse, the last card in the deck on the copy I received wasn’t even punched out right, and it took 3 weeks to get a replacement from Playroom. <br> <br><b>The Setup and Rules: </b> <br>The rules are probably the best part of this game; they are printed on nice thick glossy paper and in full colour. They are concisely written and well presented without any obvious errors or omissions. Set is fast, depending on the amount of players, cards are removed from the game so that each player only has a 15 card hand, these are dealt out and the game begins. <br> <br><b>The Theme: </b> <br>The theme is pasted on and wafer thin with this game, and amounts to the fact that the highest card takes the trick, while the lowest card takes the highest card. Hence the name of the game is supposed to symbolize the “Struggle” of large and small. However it just doesn’t work as well as I thought it would, and part of that failure may be the fault of the awful artwork with deformed figures. I'd rather of had a themeless game with nice graphics than deformed figures and bad colour choices. <br> <br><b>The Gameplay:</b> <br>Quite simply, this is very basic a trick taking game with a twist. The twist is that the highest card played regardless of the suit wins the trick and the lowest card played (regardless of colour) takes the highest card as a reward. Endgame scoring drives this system home with the fact that any colour that you have taken only 1 or 2 cards in receives full face value of those cards. Any other colours will receive 1 point per card. You are supposed to follow the suit (colour) but if you can’t, then any suit of your choice may be played. That aspect throws off many people – and rightfully so. That’s it! <br> <br><b>The Depth and Tactics:</b> <br>David and Goliath tries to give players the impression that they have more control than they really do. This might work when the game is new, but it surely won’t fool people who invest a few sessions into it. The fact is, you really don’t have much control, and this game is chaotic and luck filled, and smart tactics or play will have very little effect on the outcome of this game. After my first sessions with this game I was quite at a loss to explain any real tactics that might work, and figured it was because I was new to the game. I was wrong, there really aren’t any concrete strategies that work in this game, and it is too random to facilitate them. A further four session (leading to eight total) with this game didn't reveal anything revolutionary in the way of tactics, perhaps I missed something that eight sessions didn't reveal, but I find that unlikely. <br> <br><b>Summary:</b> <br>I don’t know how I can put it any other way than to say this is a fairly poor game in my opinion. It is devoid if any deep tactics or tantalizing decisions, and is a random mess of a trick taking game. You might THINK you have tough decisions each round, but you really don’t, and at some point you’ll discover this for yourself. The groups I’ve tried to introduce this too are left under whelmed, and give me puzzled looks like they wonder WHY I subjected them to this game. With so many great trick taking games out there, I see no reason to give this game even a cursory recommendation. <br> <br><div><img border=0 src="http://www.boardgamespiel.com/downloads/davidrev.JPG"></div> <br> <br>Kobra <br><A target='_blank' href="http://www.boardgamespiel.com" rel="nofollow">www.boardgamespiel.com</A> <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/783084#783084 2006-01-27T06:10:15+00:00 Kobra1 Complete box contents. <br> <img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic113299_mt.jpg"> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/113299 2006-01-26T15:53:39+00:00 Kobra1 from Gamefest / Rick Thornquist <br> <img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic112142_mt.jpg"> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/112142 2006-01-20T02:58:01+00:00 markmist Space Saving Technique: Print out a rules summary, and everything fits into an Ultra-Pro Deck Box. <br> <img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic97877_mt.jpg"> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/97877 2005-10-18T04:57:50+00:00 Verkisto One of my favorite stories to tell in Children's Church is the story of David and the giant Goliath. The story appeals to every small child who faces big challenges in their life and always keeps them fascinated. When I heard that there was a card game version of David and Goliath (Playroom Entertainment, 2004 - Reinhard Staupe), I was initially wary, since I've found that most games with Biblical themes are usually garbage or worse. Still, I saw a couple of good reviews on the internet, so gladly participated in a demo of the game when at Origins one summer. <br> <br> And I was amazed at just how much fun the game really was. The idea was simple, really - have the small card take the largest card, and the largest card take the rest - but it just worked well. I immediately enjoyed playing the game, and it has remained, since then, one of my favorite trick-taking games. It's enjoyable because I can get many people to play the game - some who normally don't play games at all, and I've seen many "non-gamers" fall in love with the game, requesting it time after time. It's destined to be a classic card game, one on the top tier. <br> <br> There are five suits of cards in the game, denoted by color (red, yellow, blue, green, and purple). Values of each suit (depending on the number of players) are added to the deck, from 1 to 18. The deck is shuffled, and fifteen cards are dealt to each player. On a round, the starting player chooses any card and plays it on the table. Each other player must "follow suit" (play the same color), placing it in front of them. If a player doesn't have a card of the played color, they can play any card from their hand. The player who played the card with the lowest number (regardless of color) receives the highest card for their score pile. The player who played the card with the highest number (regardless of color) receives all the rest of the cards. All won cards are placed face up in front of each player, sorted by color. The player who played the highest card starts the next round. <br> <br> This continues for fifteen rounds, until all cards have been played and won. Players then total their points. For each color, if a player has only one or two cards of that color, they receive points equal to the numbers on the card. If they have three or more cards of a color, they receive one point per card. Each player adds their sum to the final total, and another round begins. After one round for each player has occurred, the game is over, and the player with the highest total wins! <br> <br>Some comments on the game… <br> <br>1.) Components: The cards have some neat artwork on them by Alexander Bradley. If you put the cards in order, from "1" to "18", and flip through them, you can see wee David growing up to be fearsome Goliath. This is nice and gives a certain visual appearance that the bigger numbers are "giants". The only problem with the card designs are that the colors are pretty much indistinguishable from each other outside of color, making them difficult for color blind folk. The cards are of good quality and fit snugly inside a plastic card insert in a small, sturdy box. <br> <br>2.) Rules: The rules take only four pages of a multilingual rulebook and wouldn't even need to be that long except that there are full-color illustrations, making it so that absolutely anybody can understand the game. And there's just something that's naturally intuitive about the theme. The big number gets all the small numbers, but the smallest number pegs the biggest number in the forehead, winning it. Even teenagers and children can pick up the game (perhaps not the subtle strategies), and it's easily one of the most successful card games I've ever introduced. <br> <br>3.) Scoring: The scoring system is simply ingenious. Players strive to get a couple high numbers in each color, and then not take any more cards. But it's a real struggle to keep from taking that third card in each color. If I have two yellow cards, "14" and "9", that's worth twenty-three points to me. Taking a third yellow card will make them worth a whopping total of three points, which is a twenty point loss. Therefore, players are often attempting to play middle cards - cards that are neither high nor low, for much of a round, trying to take only a few cards at most. Once a player goes over their three cards in a color, though, they might as well go "whole hog" and attempt to take every color card that they can. There are other games that have a similar concept, Relationship Tightrope and Turn the Tide. While both of those games are excellent games, David and Goliath beats them for sheer simplicity and fun. <br> <br>4.) Fun Factor: When writing this review, I realize that there's really not a whole lot more I can say about it. I'm sure that many paragraphs could be written about the nuances of strategy, but I simply enjoy the game because I have fun doing so. David & Goliath is quick and easy, but more importantly, it's fun to everybody who plays the game. <br> <br>Okay, maybe not everybody will like the game, but I haven't run into any yet who don't. There are times where I enjoy a good game of Puerto Rico or Princess of Florence with their various options and deep strategy. But many other times, I'm simply content with a light card game - one that is easy to teach to others and play. <font color='#FF0000'>With many people understanding the trick-taking genre, and the interesting theme, David & Goliath is one of my most successful "gateway" games, and will stay on my shelf for quite a long time (except for those multiple instances where people demand to play it.)</font> <br> <br>Tom Vasel <br>"Real men play board games" <br><A target='_blank' href="http://www.tomvasel.com" rel="nofollow">www.tomvasel.com</A> <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/660120#660120 2005-10-17T14:07:56+00:00 TomVasel We’ve been playing David and Goliath quite a bit over lunch break at work. Great little game. We’ve noticed a lousy round score is something below 20. A decent round score is typically in the mid 20’s. An outstanding round score will be high 50’s or 60’s. <br> <br>Today’s scores: <br> <br>Round #1 Scores: <br>Brent:43 <br>James:19 <br>Dan:23 <br>Juan:45 <br> <br>Round #2 Scores: <br>Brent:16 <br>James:54 <br>Dan:24 <br>Juan:33 <br> <br>Round #3 Scores: <br>Brent:22 <br>James:20 <br>Dan:45 <br>Juan:64 <br> <br>Round #4 Scores: <br>Brent: 28 <br>James: 68 <br>Dan: 44 <br>Juan:49 <br> <br>Totals: <br>Brent: 109 <br>James: 161 <br>Dan: 136 <br>Juan: 191 <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/61915#61915 2004-10-26T21:13:07+00:00 RFWarrior Having just received this one from Fair Play games, I was anxious to give this a try. Trick taking card games (like Mu, Rook, Euchre, Hearts, ...) are fairly well received, so I figured everyone would like this. David & Goliath is a no-trump trick taking game with a twist in the scoring. The lowest card (David) takes the highest and the highest (Goliath) takes all of the rest. When you score, if you only took one or two of a suit, you get face value. Otherwise, you get one point per card. The strategy is trying to take just one or two cards in a suit while preventing your opponents from doing the same. Everyone had great fun in ruining the others winnings by dumping unwanted card(s) on them. <br> <br>After four hands, the score was tight. This is a fun little game. The final score was: <br> <br><b>Final scores:</b> <br>Rob: 158 <br>Gail: 155 <br>Nathan: 127 <br>Bonnie: 121 <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/55454#55454 2004-09-21T19:08:36+00:00 rgtft DAVID & GOLIATH: Phil, Eric, Ben, Mike, Mark <br>Eric taught us this clever trick-taking game where the scoring is based on how many cards of each color you win. With one or two cards you score the face value, while with more than two cards you score 1pt for each card. Although the highest card wins each trick, the player who played the lowest card gets to take the highest card into their pile. I managed to have lots of low cards and scored face value points in three of five colors to take the win. <br> <br> <br>DAVID & GOLIATH: Ben, Phil, Eric, Mark, Mike <br>The first game took perhaps 15 minutes, so we decided to play again. This time I had lots of high cards, and so tried to win as many tricks as possible. This worked in Ben's favor, who had lots of low cards, and wound up scoring face value in all five colors! He scored in the 70's, while I was only at 40. <br> <br> <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/55587#55587 2004-09-21T19:08:36+00:00 DangerMouse Duckula (#34975), <br> <br>David & Goliath is now available in stores for those looking for it! <br> <br>-Elisa (Playroom) http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/49584#49584 2004-08-16T16:51:37+00:00 elisajaeger Duckula (#34975), <br> <br>Just for the record, I could infer from the instructions on the Geek that there are 5 colors (or suits) in the deck and 18 cards total in each color making 90 cards total. I would assume that these 18 cards are numbered 1-18. <br> <br>If you play with fewer than six players, then you need to set some cards aside (according to the instructions). See the word document in the files section. <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/37897#37897 2004-05-29T16:00:01+00:00 wiseguy thatmarkguy (#35325), <br> <br>Was at the Playroom site checking to see when the next booster was coming from another game they make and saw D&G listed. Looks like brand new packaging, so the cards will probably be different too. <br> <br>The game isn't for sale anywhere yet as far as I can tell...has anyone found it yet? <br> <br>-paula http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/35537#35537 2004-05-07T18:36:58+00:00 kssngpaula avmartin (#35083), <br> <br>I'd be interested to know if the current printing has the same 'card marking' problem as I illustrated in one of the images... at least my deck (and presumably all others from its print run) had a serious blue-ink problem in printing the backs of the cards, and as a result, the card backs vary a lot more than any deck's card backs really should. <br> <br> <br>If anyone gets a hold of the new pressing can you take and submit a digital photo of a dozen or so of them facedown on a table, to identify if this problem has been remedied? http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/35325#35325 2004-05-05T20:20:47+00:00 thatmarkguy Duckula (#34976), <br>Martin, you'd still have to know how many to remove according to the number of players.... http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/35321#35321 2004-05-05T19:31:07+00:00 EYE of NiGHT Duckula (#34976), Suposedly it is again available....don't know why it hasn't been picked up by the online stores yet... <br> <br><A target='_blank' href="http://www.playrooment.com/davidgoliath.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.playrooment.com/davidgoliath.html</A> <br> <br>However....it's not on thier online ordering system...perhaps an e-mail to them to find out if it's really available?? <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/35083#35083 2004-05-03T22:48:34+00:00 avmartin Duckula (#34975), Note to self: Can work this out on your own without the need to ask. Dunderhead. <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/34976#34976 2004-05-03T07:49:40+00:00 Duckula This game seems to be currently unavailable but is an interesting trick taking game. Would anyone be prepared to list the number of suits and card distribution in each suit so it can be played with other cards? http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/34975#34975 2004-05-03T07:46:56+00:00 Duckula themore5@earthlink (#32904), <br> <br>Firstly, you determine the winner of the trick. In this case, it is the last person to play a 5, because in the case of ties for the highest, the last one played is the higher. This player will win all the cards except their own 5. <br> <br>Then you determine the loser of the trick, which in this case will the second-last person to play a 5. In the case of ties for the lowest card, the last one played is the lower. They take the winning player's card to their score pile. <br> <br>So if Alan, Bob, Carol & Dave all play 5s, Dave wins the first three and Carol wins Dave's 5. <br> <br>David & Goliath is an excellent card game and I'm very pleased it is back in print. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/32911#32911 2004-04-12T08:54:54+00:00 EYE of NiGHT What if everybody plays cards of the same rank? We had a 3-player game where we all played a "5". I couldn't figure out who was high or low... http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/32904#32904 2004-04-12T06:32:36+00:00 themore5@earthlink It’s been nearly 2 ½ years since this wonderful trick-taking game has hit the table at a Westbank Gamers session. That is FAR too long. It’s also a testament that I simply have too many games, so even really good ones like this one don’t get enough table time. Ooops … I hope my wife doesn’t read that last sentence! <br> <br>Jason, R.J., Spouey, Joey, Jim and I conspired to stick each other with unwanted cards. Since the hour was late, we opted to play only three hands. Each hand was very spirited, as we tried our best to stick it to folks who had high scores in progress. Of course, it is impossible to stick everyone, so each round someone would break through with an impressive score. <br> <br>I took an early narrow lead over Jason and Joey, but was surpassed by R.J. in the second round. Try as we might, we were unable to smack R.J. hard enough in the final round, so he claimed the victory. <br> <br>Round by round scores: <br> <br>R.J.: 49 + 40 + 83 = 172 <br>Jason: 55 + 13 + 73 = 141 <br>Greg: 56 + 32 + 49 = 137 <br>Jim: 38 + 27 + 60 = 125 <br>Joey: 51 + 33 + 23 = 107 <br>Spouey: 32 + 26 + 34 = 92 <br> <br>Ratings: Greg 8, R.J. 8, Jason 8, Joey 7, Jim 6, Spouey 6 http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/17351#17351 2003-07-24T13:02:55+00:00 gschloesser Players: Mark K, Nige, Mark G, Garry <br> <br>We finished of with four hands of David & Goliath. I really like these simple little card games and D&G is one of the best. It is a straightforward-ish trick-taking game with a couple of twists. You have to follow suit if you can but, if not, you can play any card (there are no trumps). The highest card, regardless of suit, then wins the trick but here is twist number one: the player of the lowest card takes the highest card into their scoring pile and the trick winner takes the remainder of the cards. The second twist is in the scoring: Your scoring cards are separated by colour and in each colour you either score the number of cards taken in that colour (if you have 3 or more) or the value of the cards in that colour (if you have fewer than 3). So you ideally want to win two high cards in each suit, whereas everyone else wants you to win none or three. <br> <br>Well, I got off to an awful start (obviously still gloating from the Moderne Zeiten result), but Mark K had a flier scoring 65 points to my 14. Nige just about caught Mark up on hand 2 but then wasn’t able to push past and Mark grabbed a good win. He scored consistently well in all 4 hands. <br> <br>Result: Mark K 185, Nige 179, Mark G 145, Garry 143 <br> <br>Ratings: Mark K 7, Nige 7, Mark G 7, Garry 7 <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/6886#6886 2003-03-13T23:59:05+00:00 garrylloyd While we were waiting for the other table to finish, we played one single hand of 6-player David & Goliath. (See Misadventure # 10 for more on David & Goliath). <br> <br>This game saw the BIGGEST differences in ratings in a long time. We’ve sort of got out of rating games recently, but for some reason, this one got rated. <br> <br>Jeremy hated the game. He thought it was 100% luck. (He no doubt is currently devising a variant - see earlier session report on Galopp Royal and how a single play of a game may or may not give a good impression). And of course, this wasn’t even a single play. It was ONE single hand. One round only. <br> <br>Anyhow, Jeremy could see no strategy or skill in the game whatsoever. He rated the game a 1. <br> <br>A ONE! He rated it a one! That’s an extremely rare rating! <br> <br>But - to each his own. This was Jeremy’s very first ever playing of David & Goliath (and no doubt also his last....) I’ve had the benefit of playing many more hands of it, and I have a different opinion of the game. I like it, and I think there is indeed a fair amount of strategy to the game. <br> <br>What makes it different is that being the LAST person to play a card (especially in the last half of the hand) is often a much stronger position to be in than if you are the FIRST person to play a card. David & Goliath has a lot of room for Dscrew-your-neighbour tactics in it. <br> <br>So - the final scores for our one-hand 6-player game: <br> <br>Dan - 73 (winner) <br>Tracey - 66 <br>Jeremy - 57 <br>Patrick - 39 <br>William - 36 <br>Tim - 30 <br> <br>Ratings: <br>Dan - 8 <br>William - 7 <br>Patrick - 5 <br>Jeremy - 1 <br>Tracey and Tim didn’t rate it. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/6522#6522 2003-02-27T14:32:03+00:00 Dan Bosley An enjoyable afternoon of games was brought to a close by a few hands of David and Goliath. The trick taking game of Low takes high card, High card takes the rest, with scoring occuring at face value of cards won if you won no more than 2 in a colour otherwise its 1 per card won in that colour. <br> <br>We played first to 200 points. Tel got off to a flyer in the first round after two lucky wins in the last 2 tricks, but his scoring steadily reduced as the game went on. Andy managed to win 38 of the 90 cards in the first round but still only got the fourth best score. After the second round Oggie had acquired the miserly total of 34 to be over 30 points adrift of 5th place. Boog was playing very consistently scoring over 50 in each round. Into the third round and Oggie suddenly decided to play, scoring a big total however Boog was still averaging over 50. Oggie managed an even bigger total in the fourth round to break through the 200 barrier however Boog managed yet another 50+ score to take the game. <br> <br>A game that always goes down well at the end of a session within the group as players are given the opportunity to screw up fellow players. <br> <br>Final Scores <br>Boog 209, Oggie 201, Steve 179, Andy 168, Tel 157, Paul 131 <br> <br>Ratings / 10 <br>7's all round http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/16360#16360 2002-06-24T16:42:03+00:00 telbert And so with six of us we decided to try another new trick taking game for the group. David and Goliath provides a few twists to the usual rules. Firstly although you must follow suit if possible, there is no penalty if you can't. Favour is given to the last card played to resolve ties. The highest card played wins the trick and claims everyone elses card, however the lowest card played claims the winning card. And finally into scoring, for each colour where you have won more then 2 cards you score for the number of cards won. However for the colours where you have on won 1 or 2 cards you score their value. <br> <br>Into the game, Boog got off to a flier, helped by a handful of low cards and being able to play last for many hands. It was only due to winning the last hand that he didn't score a huge total having to make do with 90. A lot of the fun of this game is seeing people expressions as they realise their 2 cards worth 30+ points is now 3 cards worth 3 points. Oggie seemed to struggle with this during the middle of each hand but a special mention has to go out to Kev by managing to perfect the art of ruining his score by winning the last hand on a few occasions. <br> <br>As the game progressed 3 battles emerged. Tel trying to claw back the Boog, Paul and Oggie battling for mid table supremacy, and Kev and Steve fighting to avoid the wooden spoon. The final scores came through and Steve won his battle with Kev, Oggie overtook Paul on the last hand to claim third and after a re-count Boog held on to the lead he'd held throughout the game by a single point. <br> <br>Given that the group are fans of Hattrick it was no real surprise that this one was also a hit. However since we played the suggested 6 rounds (1 round per player), the game did take just under 2 hours to play. In future we'll probably restrict it to a couple of rounds. <br> <br>Final Scores <br>Boog 345, Tel 344, Oggie 261, Paul 220, Steve 198, Kev 168 <br> <br>Ratings <br>Boog 9, Tel 9, Oggie 8, Paul 7, Steve 8, Kev 7 http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/15469#15469 2002-06-12T11:13:16+00:00 telbert Finished the evening with the low wins highest card, highest card wins the rest, trick taking game. Because you only score face value for cards where you have only won one or two cards in that colour, it is often very difficult to determine who is likely to win, as a bad last hand can ruin a score. <br> <br>Possibly because this was the last game of four in a busy session, this was not as vicious as previous games. In previous games everyone seemed intent on ruining everyone elses score often at the expense of their own score. The game didn't play this way with only a couple of hands getting "nasty" ( Boog has threatened to spend the whole of the next game in a vendetta against Steve - which should be fun). Most people seemed to be, largely unsuccessfully, trying to play defensively. Tel managed to quietly accumulate a reasonable score in the first round. Everyone complained of a bad hand in the 2nd round. Paul looked favourite for the round going into the last hand, however the fates transpired against him as he won the last round. This had a catastrophic effect on his score, capturing a third card in two colours. Steve also won with the lowest card taking a high card he didn't want. This gave Boog the round but Tel won the game by a large margin from Steve, Paul and Boog all close together. <br> <br>Paul scored the game down due to the lack of "nastiness", but it didn't seem to detract from the game for everyone else. <br> <br>Scores <br>Tel 57 + 38 = 95 <br>Steve 37 + 26 = 63 <br>Paul 35 + 27 = 62 <br>Boog 19 + 40 = 59 <br> <br>Final Ratings <br>Tel 8, Steve 8, Paul 6, Boog 8 http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/15668#15668 2002-03-01T19:05:32+00:00 telbert And to end the evening a quick hand of David and Goliath - the "low takes high, high takes rest" trick taking game. 20 mins of fun later and Paul by keeping a low profile during the game had stormed it. A very close battle for 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Boog grabbing 2nd by a point from Kev who in turn beat Andy by a point. Tel emphatically won the wooden spoon. <br> <br>Scores <br>Paul 52, Boog 41, Kev 40, Andy 39, Tel 16 <br> <br>Ratings / 10 <br>Paul 7, Boog 8, Kev 8, Andy 5, Tel 7 <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/15514#15514 2002-01-23T16:09:25+00:00 telbert I've had the chance to play several games of D & G. It's a light snack that is very filling. <br> <br>Everyone plays a card face-up one at a time. The lowest card takes the highest and the highest takes all the rest. If you get two or less of a color, your points are the face values of the card(s). If you get three or more of a color, you only get one point per card of that color. Devilishly simple! <br> <br>All cards are dealt out and those that have been played remain face-up for everyone to see. This makes it high on strategy but not too brain-numbing. <br> <br>It makes a great starter, or a game to play over coffee. <br> <br> <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1249#1249 2002-01-01T06:00:00+00:00 BoardGameGeek John, Tim, Ken, Derk <br> <br>Once George got his tire fixed, and Ken found an alternate route through traffic, we chose a quick game of David & Goliath to kill some time. We all quickly found out that even though the rules are quite simple, a winning strategy is hard to see at first. It’s basically a standard no-trump trick taking game with some screwy point rules. You must follow suit, but if don’t have the suit lead you can play any card in your hand. The winner of the trick is the highest card played, regardless of suit. The winner gets all the cards, minus the high card he used to take the trick. The high card is given to the player who laid the lowest card of the trick. After all fifteen cards in each player’s hand are gone, there’s a round of scoring. If you only took one or two cards of one of the five suits, then you score the face value of the cards. If you have three or more of a particular suit, then each card counts for one point. <br> <br>The game was very odd. Ken and I started out winning too many cards of a single suit to really score any good points, while John and Tim played very conservatively. The scores for the first hand showed that Tim scored 62 points, with John and me next at 37 and 34, and Ken got really hosed in the closing tricks with 17 points. The second hand was much closer, with each of us scoring from 27 to 37 points. But Tim was proving to be the person to beat. And in the third hand, Tim was able to capture 49 more points. John got his usual 36, and Ken and I were following with 35 and 34 points. The total score was definitely favoring Tim for the overall win. He really seemed to have understood the trick dodging and taking that make the game interesting. John seemed to have pretty good handle on things, but we each started to see a glimmer of strategy. So the final hand’s scores were decidedly lower, ranging from 24 to 28 and Tim’s 38 points. <br> <br>Tim 181, John 139, Derk 128, and Ken 101 <br> <br><em>Tim: Interesting variation on trick-taking. Rating: 7</em> <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/10724#10724 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00 derk John, Tim, Ken, Derk <br> <br>The Stars hockey game was going to start soon, which meant Tim and John would have to leave. But we figured we could get a quick game of this trick-taking game in. This would be the second game of this for all participants. The one game experience was obvious from the start; we all played much better. Well, that’s not entirely true. John would be the designated dog boy for the game (of course after the his mastery in last game, his karma was probably running a little low). Anyway, Ken and I had the high scores for the first round. The second hand, Tim was able to make up ground by scoring fifty-nine points, which was a metric buttload more than John’s sixteen. I was surprised to do as well as I did because I had been dealt all five of the twelve’s (all the highest cards in the game). The third hand was rather nondescript with no one winning a significant number of points. The scores going into the fourth and final round were very close: Ken 143, Tim 134, me 133 and John 81 (well, most of the scores were close). But Tim would be the man, with a repeat of his last David & Goliath victory. <br> <br>Tim: 182, Ken: 176, Derk: 153, John: 109 <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/10739#10739 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00 derk Tim, Ken, Charles, Elizabeth <br> <br>I’ve frequently razzed Neil and his extreme dislike for the entire trick-taking genre of games (he likens them to spending time in a retirement home), so I just assumed his tastes would apply to Elizabeth too. But such was not the case. In fact, she mentioned that her family used to play all kinds of games with a standard deck of cards, much to Neil’s chagrin (and all without the help of Geritol, butterscotch candy or aluminum walkers!). Tim and Ken were anxious to give this wonderful little game another shot after the first initial tries, and Charles and Elizabeth were more than willing. Once again, I wasn’t in the room, so I can’t comment on the game itself. About the only thing I know is that Ken got smoked something fierce in the first round, and the trend continued for most of the game. The scores ended relatively close, with Charles taking the veteran Tim out and followed closely by Elizabeth’s stellar final round performance. <br> <br>Charles: 65 + 26 + 58 + 28 = 177 <br>Tim: 62 + 45 + 30 + 30 = 167 <br>Elizabeth: 42 + 25 + 27 + 56 = 150 <br>Ken: 27 + 31 + 40 + 22 = 120 <br> <br>After the games were finished, the food was ready. We cleared the tables and set out all the dishes. We had the fish, corn on the cob, real German potato salad (courtesy of Ken’s wife), assorted chips with Tim’s homemade guacamole (which actually was long gone by this point, because peckish gamers and dip will never be separated for long), biscuits, and other assorted succulents. As we were ladling the food onto our plates, Tim, a fellow transplanted Norski from Wisconsin, observed that this was typical Midwesterner food because it was all white or off-white. We all got a chuckle from that. After the meal, Marissa disappeared into the kitchen to ice a batch of brownies and we munched on those delicious little chocolate chunks for the rest of the evening. But on the games again! http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/10778#10778 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00 derk Ken, Drew, John E., Derk <br> <br>Last weekend, Ken and I went home for our ten-year high school reunion. While we were there, we played a couple games of Apples to Apples which received an expected warm reception, as it’s a light and humorous party game. However, Ken and I also introduced his mother to David and Goliath. We mostly picked it because of the time constraints and its simplicity, and we both fully anticipated a three-player game to less than spectacular. But we were both pleasantly surprised to find out that while the game is better with four, it was still a very good game with three. It’s always a good thing to find a viable three-player game. <br> <br>But on to the current game. I knew that Drew was a major Bridge fiend, and I was anxious to see what he thought of this interesting take on the trick-taking family of card games. After explaining the brief rules we started in. The first round went exceptionally well for me, and I was able to knock out a very respectable score, while John and Drew turned in some average performances. Ken, on the other hand, just got hammered, and I don’t think he was able to score any face value cards. <br> <br>My initial successes were not necessarily a good thing however, as everyone lined up to take me down. Combined with some truly reprehensible cards, my second round was passable only because I took sooo many single cards. Drew and John started to understand the card-play a little more and took some decent points. However, it would be Ken’s round as he took as many points as Drew and John scored combined. <br> <br>The third round would be where I really got hammered. I turned in a truly pitiful performance, while Drew and John racked up some serious pointage. Almost everyone took twice my score. As we entered the final round, the scores were very tight and anyone could take the game. However, John would prevail and narrowly take his first victory with our group! <br> <br>John: 34 + 24 + 55 + 39 = 152 <br>Ken: 16 + 46 + 42 + 42 = 146 <br>Drew: 31 + 20 + 49 + 46 = 145 <br>Derk: 51 + 31 + 22 + 30 = 140 <br> <br>I’m really start to love this game. It’s a perfect blend of light/heavy, and although I’d like to play a trump-variety of trick-taking game sometime soon, I’m constantly surprised by this game’s depth. I love the fact that the game can explained to a trick-taking gamer in two seconds, and that the game is scalable from three to six players. This is easily the best card game I’ve bought/played in recent history. <br> <br><em>Drew: I really enjoy games like this. Another play or two will let me know if my initial impressions are as good as they should be. Rating: 8</em> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/10802#10802 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00 derk Ken, George, Scott, Drew <br> <br>This game is one that Derk really enjoys, while I am neutral. I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised, since Derk and I often have divergent tastes in games. I don't really like the game mechanic, since a card can almost never take itself, so you will never be able to score the cards in your own hand. To me, this means you are strongly at the mercy of your opponents, a feature I usually dislike in card games (this flaw is even worse in Mit List und Tuecke, but I am not sure which of the two games I prefer). <br> <br>Nonetheless, if played just to play, it has the advantage of being a good filler while waiting to do something else. Also, when actually played it can be quite enjoyable, since people try desperately to set one another up for a fall. For what it claims to be, it is a good way to spend twenty minutes. <br> <br>In the first round, George was able to make good use of the high cards, and was able to secure good scores in four suits. It was well played by George, and he marched off to a good lead. The second round showed the high random element of the game. Ken secured the big bonuses this time, doing well in every suit but Purple. My normally decent second place rather pedestrian at that point. The third round saw Ken pull away, with another solid performance, leaving him solidly in the lead, with George and I fighting over second place. Scott was the unlucky guy, getting the bottom score in each of the three rounds, and Ken nearly matched his third round score on the second round alone. Overall, a fun but random game. <br> <br>Ken: 24 + 64 + 54 = 142 <br>Drew: 30 + 49 + 42 = 121 <br>George: 57 + 26 + 31 = 114 <br>Scott: 24 + 22 + 22 = 68 http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/10825#10825 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00 BoardGameGeek Following the swim-fest and some pizza, I taught the group David & Goliath. After the first hand, Brent had finished terrorizing the kiddies, so I gave up my spot to him so he could experience the game. Shay captured the three hand game: <br> <br> <br>Shay 180, MaryAnn 161, Brent 115, Peter 87, Kim 67, Ty ???? ( I ignored his 3rd round humorous entry of 202 points!) <br> <br> <br>Gail and I played a low-scoring match of Lost Cities at the next table and I managed to earn the victory: <br> <br> <br>Greg: 30 + 43 + 38 = 111 <br>Gail: 16 + 24 + 41 = 81 <br> <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/10936#10936 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00 gschloesser In spite of the late hour, Jason was still ready for one more game, so we easily convinced Bill to remain for three hands of David & Goliath. <br> <br>David & Goliath is a wonderful trick taking game with some nasty twists. There are six suits valued from 1 - 18 (we used 1 - 9 with 3 players). Players must follow suit if possible. Once all players lay a card, the person who played the lowest valued card (regardless of suit) takes the highest valued card. The player who played the highest valued card takes the rest. The mantra I use is, "Low card takes the high card, high card takes the rest". <br> <br>Easy enough. The scoring is where this game gets wicked. At the end of a round, if a player collects only one or two cards of a suit, he scores the face value of the cards. So, if I collected a yellow 5 and a yellow 6, I'd score 11 points. If, however, a player collects MORE than 2 cards of a suit, he only gets one point per card. Thus, if I collected three yellow cards, I'd only score 3 points for yellow. <br> <br>Thus, the game becomes a slam-fest, with players trying to stick their opponents with cards they don't want, forcing them to exceed the desired two cards per suit optimum scoring limit. A simple trick-taking game that, due to the scoring mechanism, is converted into a thinking man's game. It truly is wonderful fun. <br> <br>The game is much better played with more than three players, but Jason really wanted to learn the game so we gave it a go. It's still fun with three, but the game really gets wild with 5 or 6 players. <br> <br>Round by round scores: <br> <br>Jason: 33 + 25 + 46 = 104 <br>Greg: 33 + 28 + 36 = 97 <br>Bill: 31 + 22 + 34 = 87 <br> <br>Ratings: Jason 7, Greg 7, Bill 5<br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/11451#11451 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00 gschloesser Janet Ford writes: <br> <br>A filler which we played while waiting for the others to finish the first game of Vinci. We only managed to get three hands played before Vinci finished.... <br> <br>Janet: 135 <br>Roger: 128 <br>Craig: 122 <br>Bernie: 105<br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/11556#11556 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00 dougadamsau