Gold Digger
Players: 2 to 6
Age: 7 and up
Playing Time: 10-20 minutes
Publisher: Out of the Box Games
Price: $9.95
Rating: 4 of 10

Review by Brutilus

The Real Scoop:
Gold Digger is a vaguely amusing game, but it's just little too simplistic for my taste. The level of thinking and strategy involved is about on par with Go Fish. Fast game play keeps Gold Digger from being a total loss in terms of fun, but for an average person over the age of 12, I would not recommend this game. The box says 7 and up for the recommended ages, but a reasonably bright 5 year old would have very little trouble with this game.

Gold Digger is very well made. The cards are nicely illustrated by John Kovalic (writer of Dork Tower) and have some amusing bad puns for character names. The instruction booklet is printed on light card stock and laminated to prevent damage and staining.

On to how the game is played...
There are three types of cards in the game: Mine cards, Character cards, and Gold cards.

Mine cards are where claims are staked and in which you find gold. There are six mines: Townsfolk, Prospectors, Settlers, Outlaws, The Law, and Explorers.

There are 5 character cards for each mine. The character cards are the most amusing part of the game. Thanks to character names like Prospector Daniel Boom and Townsfolk Jack Daniels combined with Kovalic's inimitable art style, you'll get a few cheap laughs. The character cards play a very key role in game play because you are only allowed to stake a claim on a mine in the same turn that you play a character card on it. If you don't stake any claims, you can't get any gold.

Gold cards represent the relative wealth of the mine and are used to come up with a point total for each round. There are 15 gold and 15 fool's gold cards. Since only 5 gold cards can be played on each mine, this is where some nice, healthy, cutthroat strategy can come into play. Imagine filling all the gold slots for a mine that your buddy has a claim on. Feels good to mess with him doesn't it?

The game follows a fairly basic play 1, draw 1 format. It's a little awkward to play a card before you draw, but you'll get used to it. You continue playing and drawing until the deck is depleted and all cards have been played. Once the deck is exhausted, the amount of gold in each mine is totaled up and divided among the players who have stakes in each respective mine.

Once the round is over, you tally up the score and then you can keep playing. Or if you are like me, after three rounds I put the game back in the box, put the box back on the shelf and picked up something more entertaining.

Overall, this game is kind of mediocre. Good artwork and good materials couldn't save this game from being all but unplayable for anyone over age 12. No party or drinking variants seemed logical. Any drinking variant would over-simplify to the point where you might as well just do a keg stand.

I would only recommend buying Gold Digger if you have kids under the age of 10 or are looking for a birthday present for kids from ages 6-10. Younger players would most definitely enjoy this game. It is a good intro to card game strategy, but not much else.

You can purchase Gold Digger at Fun Again Games and at fine gaming retailers nationally.

Gold Digger is copyright Out of the Box Publishing. Article copyright 2003 MillionairePlayboy.com. Images copyright Fun Again Games.