Daniel Chen
United States
Green Bay
Wisconsin
Loki 2004-2011
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My wife and I own both Wyatt Earp and Mystery Rummy: Jekyll & Hyde both also Fitzgerald offerings and have loved them both. I picked up Bonnie and Clyde on a whim (driving through Oregon and stopping at Funagain).
The bits
The board, while I think necessary, could have been implemented with slots or better markings of where cards should go. The wooden car is cute enough.
As the others have commented, the lack of indexing and small lettering on the cards could definitely have been changed, but this didn't really affect our game play. The cards are much easier to shuffle than the Jekyll and Hyde cards, but they might not be as durable. I do like the illustrations on the cards more than the ones on Jekyll and Hyde and Wyatt Earp. The cards can almost be used like a flipbook or storyboard of the shootout at the particular locations.
The rules left a little something to be desired. The way things were worded or organized seemed a bit too tedious (the rules could be simplified - could be more concise and clear).
The game play
Like the other games in the mystery rummy series, this game is built on the very simple draw one card (from stack or discard pile), play event cards or melds and layoffs, and discard mechanic. Very easy to learn, especially if you've played other rummy games.
This game offers a bit more strategy in the progress of the car and the search for the Clyde card and the Bonnie Card(hidden amongst the nested cards at the 10 different locations). The two criminals are each worth a 10 pt bonus. This makes the timing of playing melds and layoffs highly important (since you can only pick up Bonnie or Clyde if the getaway car is also at the location of the meld you've played). It also changes the bonus the player "going out" first gets.
It might take a few hands for players to really understand how this game is different from other mystery rummy games. Going out first doesn't give you the advantage that it does in Jekyll and Hyde. (you aren't penalized for cards still in hand). I went out first and was outscored by quite a bit on the first hand.
The Luck factor
In the game, we both thought that the investigator card and having melds of low cards dealt to you were a bit too much of an advantage. I did manage to still win the game, despite being behind after the first hand (when Christy had melds of locations one and two) and not getting any of the Investigator card in the second or third hands. I think it evens out in the long run (you can increase the length of the game by making the winning value 150 pts instead of 100 if you're worried).
Final Thoughts
Out of the three Fitzgerald rummy variants that we've played, we still prefer Jekyll and Hyde, but J&H only accommodates 2 and we think Bonnie and Clyde will be a nice light filler rummy game for when we have company. (Especially the in-laws who are traditional card games players).
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