sean johnson
United States
avon
Indiana
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(This review is done in the style of video game website kotaku.com)
Rummy is a classic card game that has spawned a nearly unlimited number of variants, and has influenced the mechanics of several "designer" games. While there is no indication on the box, Bonnie and Clyde is related to the popular Mystery Rummy series. In the interest of full disclosure, I do not like Rummy. I learned Gin Rummy and hated it. I find Rummikub terribly boring, and I find Rummy family games like Phase 10 to be miserable to play. That being said, Bonnie and Clyde has convinced me that Rummy can be fun.
In Bonnie and Clyde, players lay down melds of cards or lay off on already played melds. This is standard rummy stuff, but what Bonnie and Clyde adds to the formula is a board where players move a car along locations where Bonnie and Clyde committed their crimes. The cards correspond to these 10 locations, and if a player plays a meld or a layoff for the location where the car is at, they will score more points. Furthermore, at each location on the board there are hidden cards, and two of these cards are Bonnie and Clyde. If a player plays a meld or a layoff on a location where these cards are hidden and if the car is located there then Bonnie and Clyde will be captured and earn 10 points.
Bonnie and Clyde uses the Rummy formula and an unqiue theme to create a new take on a classic formula. Will Bonnie and Clyde become regarded as a classic like other mystery rummy games or is it destined to find itself in game store bargin bins?
Loved:
Strategy: Rummy by its nature involves a lot of luck, but Bonnie and Clyde adds a new layer of strategy. When a meld is played the car has to be moved forward, but when a layoff is played the car may be moved backwards or forwards. This allows for combos where layoffs are played to move the car in order to score extra points by playing a meld where the car is. This means that sometimes, it is actually beneficial not to play a card as soon as it can.
The Two Player Game: This game plays 2-4 players, but as a 2 player game it thrives. The cards are less spread out so it is easier to to set up combos.
Quick Play: A standard game is to 100 points, and it is feasible for players to score well over 50 points in one round. This means that the game plays quick, and it always leads to a "just one more" feeling.
Hated:
The Artwork: The cards are storyboards for each of the 10 locations. On paper this sounds neat, but in practice it is a muddled mess. When played with more than two players it becomes very, very difficult to tell who has played what.
Luck: The luck factor can be frustrating in all Rummy games, but in Bonnie and Clyde it can become down right agrivating. The Car starts out on locaiton #1, and if by lucky chance the first player is able to lay down a location one meld on the first turn then out of the bat they get 12 points, this can be even worse if this is the hidden locaiton for Bonnie and Clyde. In that sceneario player one scores 22 points, before player 2 has even drawn the first card. This sort of set up is rare, but it illustrates how the luck factor in this game can be oh, so annoying.
Typos: This is a minor nitpick, but there are several typos in the text on the board, usually in the form of bad or non existent sentence structure. On top of that, the blurb on the back of the box explaining the game might be the worse ever, as it sounds like a report that a third grader would write.
Rummy and its variants are classic mass-market games that non-gamers tend to like and graviate to. Bonnie and Clyde adds an extra layer of strategy to the Rummy formula, so Rummy haters like me, can like it. Bonnie and Clyde is in the niche of the "filler" card game, but it can also funciton as a gateway game. If that sounds like the kind of game you are looking for or if you actually like games in the Rummy family, then Bonnie and Clyde would be a recommended purchase.
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Guy Riessen
United States
petaluma
California
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There is no doubt that there is luck in the game, but skillful play will win against luck in the long run (play for more than 100 points if you want to skew the curve even more). The timing of your melds and layoffs and your ability to bluff when you look at the face down cards are the key points which mitigate the luck factor.
Plays very well with 2 or 3, but we have yet to try it with 4.
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Gordon Adams
United Kingdom
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Is that it....a box of cards ?
I ask this because it is described as a boardgame by some online game retailers.
Thanks.
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Steve Duff
Canada
Ottawa
Ontario
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It's got a deck of cards, a small board to keep status on, a car token that moves from spot to spot on the board.
It's mostly cards, but not purely.
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Gordon Adams
United Kingdom
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Ok, thanks Steve.
Still not impressed by the game, though 
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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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I bought this game played it twice and sold it. I did not hate it, I just thought it was so lightweight and dull that I would never feel like playing it again. It makes Ticket to Ride look like Advanced Squad Leader
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John Snyder™
United States
Fresno
California
You and the Cap'n make it hap'n
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Sprydle wrote: There is no doubt that there is luck in the game, but skillful play will win against luck in the long run (play for more than 100 points if you want to skew the curve even more).
This would require a person to expose themself to this horrible "game" for way more time than you could expect.
The second time I played, the first player was able to run out his entire hand before I was ever able to even play a single card.
This is a terrible game (I hesitate to even call it a game, as there really aren't any meaningful decisions for a player to make). It should be avoided at all costs, especially when there are so many better rummy games available.
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Ed Mittelstedt
United States
New Windsor
Maryland
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This is a rummy game, plain and simple. It is a game that follows in spirit of those titles that came before it:
Mystery Rummy: Jack the Ripper
Mystery Rummy: Murders in the Rue Morgue
Mystery Rummy: Jekyll & Hyde
Mystery Rummy: Al Capone and the Chicago Underworld
To expect anything more out of this title is illogical. It is simply the next in line of the Mystery Rummy series, and IMHO, is probably the best out of the series. The new mechanics that it introduces - the board and the movement of the car - refresh a once stale genre, and sets a new standard for future rummy games.
I see no problem with this game taken for what it is.
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Dennis Shaper
United States
Alabama
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Late to the party here, but geesh, a rummy hater like you? Then why even review the game? just so you can say you hate rummy?
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