Fraser_McHarg: Mystery Rummy 3 - Players 0

I have mentioned before that I was defeated by the Mystery Rummy: Jack the Ripper rules.  I read them twice and after the experience felt that I actually knew less about the universe than I had before.  I then shelved the game until someone could teach me.

Some time later that day came and within a hand or two it clicked.  Fast forward a while and someone pointed out that we had been scoring incorrectly.

We were playing “the cards you can play don’t count” part but had missed the next sentence which stated that Victims and Scenes were an exception to that rule.  It was only a minor mistake probably worth a point or two on average, but a mistake nevertheless.

A trap for young players or lazy rules readers is that the Mystery Rummy games are mostly the same, but the minor differences can be enough that you really should check to see that you have identified them all.  Two cases, pun intended, follow:

A friend recently cracked open his shrink copy of Mystery Rummy: Al Capone and did a quick flick through the rules and we started played.  We had covered the bonus points for sets, the shutout for the set of Al Capone, checked each of the gavel cards, overall scoring and the number of cards dealt and off we went.

After a couple of games I was feeling under whelmed.  The game felt slow and low scoring compared to the other Mystery Rummies.  On the next outing one of the new players was reading the rules as we started and said “You draw two cards blind”.  What the???

Sure enough there it was in the rules, but we had missed it before.  It certainly makes the game quicker, more interesting and results in higher scores too!

With Mystery Rummy: Jekyll and Hyde I recently found myself giving a quick explanation to two newbies at another table whilst I was fighting for my survival in a four player game of Kingdom Quest.

I successfully covered the Jekyll and Hyde card, the gavel cards and where they are played, the transformation card, the fact that melds can only be played when the appropriate persona is face up, the fact that Jekyll or Hyde cards score double if the relevant persona is face up at the end and that the J/H cards are never double.  I also covered the shutout conditions.

What I missed in my quick précis whilst trying to protect a princess was that only melds must be played when the appropriate persona is showing, but layoffs can be played at any time.  Luckily one of the players was flicking through the rules at the time and could correct me.

If I ever get my hands on a copy of Mystery Rummy: Murders in the Rue Morgue I will check the rules more carefully than I have for the others.

© 2008 Fraser McHarg

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Comments:

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Al Capone is out?? Posted by Lee Fisher on Apr 15, 2008 at 06:19 AM | #

Since 2003, I think you may be thinking of Mystery Rummy: Bonnie and Clyde which is currently slated for 2008. Posted by Fraser McHarg on Apr 15, 2008 at 06:45 AM | #

oh yeah that’s what I get for reading early in the morning.  And hey, both gangsters right. Posted by Lee Fisher on Apr 15, 2008 at 06:59 AM | #

The rules for the Mystery Rummy games are an unalloyed mess. Since each game has many little differences from the others, the fact that the rules are poorly laid out and inconsistent in presentation between releases really hurt the games. Since Wyatt Earp has, in stark contrast, a pretty good rulebook, I’m hoping Bonnie and Clyde will as well. Posted by R. N. Dominick on Apr 15, 2008 at 07:16 AM | #

We made that mistake for Al Capone as well. Posted by John Farrell on Apr 16, 2008 at 01:51 AM | #

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