Michael Schacht’s Gold! begins with a donkey (-2) being dealt to each player and a display of five cards being dealt to the middle of the table*. On your turn, you can then take one of three actions:

• Take a Card: You can take the lowest value card from the display.
• Use a Donkey: You can swap a donkey (-2) in your hand for any card in the display other than a donkey. Thus, the donkey helps you find gold!
• Swap Gold: You can swap any gold card in your hand for any gold card in the display with a lower value.

Collecting a Set: When you collect a set of three cards of the same color, you’ll score them, but first you get to steal a card from one of your opponents. You may choose one card from an opponent in a color that’s not already in your hand. Afterward, your completed trio of cards goes into your score pile.

Refilling the Display: When all five cards in the display have been taken, a new set of five cards is dealt out from the draw deck.

Ending the Game: After the last display card is taken, you may get to score some cards left in your hand. The player whose hand contains the highest total value of cards in each color gets to add his best gold card in that color to his score pile.

Finally, the player with the highest value of cards in his score pile wins. Ties are broken by highest number of cards.

Think about both collecting your own sets of cards and stopping your opponent from doing the same. Though you don’t want to score low-value sets, you do want to steal cards when you can! Also, being first after a new display is dealt is important!