John Bandettini
United Kingdom
London
No, no, no, no, no, yes
A new season and all is well in the world
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Since I joined the Geek I have come across quite a few references to the Mystery Rummy series of games. As I don’t have any of them and neither do any of the people I game with, I have not had a chance to try one. When I saw Bonnie and Clyde was being released I though great now I can try Mystery Rummy. I have played it a couple of times now and here are my thoughts on it.
What’s in the box?
Not a lot, but then it is a card game. In the box you get cards, a small narrow board and an orange wooden car. The board represents the 10 locations that feature in the game. I have two problems with the board. Graphically it’s a bit dull when compared to the cards and two you are supposed to put a card under the board in each location. The cards just about fit as long as you leave no gap at all between them. Just a little bit longer and it would have made the cards so much easier to place.
How does it play?
Can you play Rummy? This is a very simple version of Rummy with a few twists. The main cards are marked 1 to 10 and the idea is to collect sets of cards with the same number. The cards are very nice, each number relates to a crime location of the real Bonnie and Clyde. Each card has a different picture on them. Put all the cards together for a single location and it tells the story of their robbery there. It does not affect the game but it’s a neat touch.
There are a couple of fairly obvious problems with the rummy side of things, only 10 cards so no pictures and no different suits. The game however introduces a few wrinkles to make up for the simplified version of rummy. As well as the number cards Bonnie and Clyde get a card each and there are 15 copies of a ‘Ted Hinton’ card. Bonnie and Clyde’s cards go under the game board along with 8 cards chosen at random and are worth 10 points each to anyone who can find them. If you find both, nobody else can score any points for the round. The Ted Hinton card represents an FBI agent who chased after them, it can be used in a number of ways I will explain below.
The game is played in a number of rounds, usually 3 or 4, until someone scores over 100 points (or whatever target you like to set). The turn structure is pretty easy, draw a card (from the deck or the top discard), play cards and discard. Obviously the play of the cards is the main part, things you can do here include playing a Ted Hinton. Ted can do three things for you, allow you to draw two more cards, take any card from the discard pile or look at one of the cards under the board and if you want, keep it (as long as it’s not Bonnie or Clyde)
If you have three or more of one number you can meld the cards (play them to the table), when you do this the crime spree car (the wooden orange one) that starts on space 1, moves one space forwards. If you have one or more cards that match any cards already melded, you can play them as lay offs and you have the option to move the car forwards or backwards one space. In most cases when you meld you just put the cards down in front of you, but if you meld a set of cards that match the location the car is currently in you play them sideways, this is because they score double points. If you meld at the current location you can take the card under the location.
The round can end in three ways, if you run out of cards in the draw pile, if one of the players end their turn by discarding their last card or the car goes of the end of the board. At the end of a hand you score your points, 2 points for every card laid normally and 4 points for sideways card. If the round ended due to someone discarding their last card they score points equal to the position of the car. If no one has scored more than 100 points, play another round.
What do I think?
While there is nothing particularly wrong with the game, there is nothing very groundbreaking with it. It is mostly just a dumbed down version of rummy. The main challenge is in manipulating the position of the car to try to double your melds and maybe trying to get Bonnie and Clyde. It’s a fairly easy game to pick up and plays OK. It’s just not very exciting. I have played it twice and I really don’t care if I ever play it again. If you like the sound of a rummy game, play Gin rummy, it’s a much better and deeper game.
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Alec Chapman
United Kingdom
South London
3m3.posterous.com - a "lovely bunch of wafflers"
The 10:100 system is not a personal attack on you!
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I thought it was horrid when we tried it, and I only played one round!
Sorry you didn't like it either.
A
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John Bandettini
United Kingdom
London
No, no, no, no, no, yes
A new season and all is well in the world
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Alec
I don't so much dislike it as feel pretty ambivalent about it. There are just so many games that are better so why bother?
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Eddie H
United States
Los Angeles
California
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The consensus is that Jack the Ripper is the best of the Mystery Rummy series. The drawbacks of JtR are: best for 2 players (maybe 3 if you're pressed, but avoid 4), and availability comes and goes.
Bonnie and Clyde is OK, but I don't feel the tension that's there in Jack the Ripper.
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Alec Chapman
United Kingdom
South London
3m3.posterous.com - a "lovely bunch of wafflers"
The 10:100 system is not a personal attack on you!
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JohnBandettini wrote: Alec
I don't so much dislike it as feel pretty ambivalent about it. There are just so many games that are better so why bother?
Another game of Formula D, then?
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George Leach
United Kingdom
Salford
Greater Manchester
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Thanks for the review, finally a decent quick review of the Mystery Rummy games. I think I'll go read some reviews of JtR but if it doesn't catch my interest I'll strike them all off my list.
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John Bandettini
United Kingdom
London
No, no, no, no, no, yes
A new season and all is well in the world
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Jugular wrote: Thanks for the review, finally a decent quick review of the Mystery Rummy games. I think I'll go read some reviews of JtR but if it doesn't catch my interest I'll strike them all off my list.
I would not give up on the Mystery Rummy games just because of this one. I have also got Wyatt Earp which although not an official mystery rummy game, really was the first one. It's not the best game in my collection, but it's not bad. A whole lot more to it that Bonnie and Clyde.
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