Recently discovered this card game and it has been fun to play. It’s a push your luck game where you try to acquire gold to purchase people that give you powers and points. It plays 2 to 5 players but I have so far only played with two and it works great. I also like that it is just a deck of cards since the cards also serve as the coins. I bought it and my wife and I have been playing it a lot the last few days. Recommended.
One word of caution. I bought the English version by Steve Jackson Games. There is also a German version. I have since learned that the German version has English writing on the cards so there is no language barrier and has some expansions available that won’t work with my version since the card backs are different. I don’t regret it since the game alone is fine for me but wanted to mention it in case you wanted to buy it.
The game was designed by Alexander Pfister, an Austrian. It was originally published by Pegasus Games, a German company. The licensing rights for sales in other countries were also sold and Steven Jackson Games bought the rights to sell the game (in an English translation) in the United States.
There’s also a Bulgarian version published by Fantasmagoria; a Chinese version published by Swan Panasia; a Czech version published by Mindok; a Dutch version published by 999 Games; a Finnish version published by Lautapelit; a French version published by Matagot; a Greek version published by Kaissa; a Japanese version published by Hobby Japan; a Korean version published by Popcorn Games; a Latvian version published by Brain Games; a Polish version published by Bard Centrum Gier; a Portuguese version published by PaperGames; a Romanian version published by Cutia; a Russian version published by Hobby World; and a Spanish version published by Ediciones MasQueOca.
I also bought Port Royal recently and have been enjoying it.
I’d recommend Oh My Goods if you’re looking for another game that’s similar. It’s also designed by Alexander Pfister and it’s also played with a deck of cards.