Game Review: Murdero

By Steve Bennett
November 23, 2007

Publisher: D’Avekki Studios, Ltd.
Designers: Tim & Lynda Cowles
Players: 2-4 (or up to 8 with two decks)
Ages: 10+
Playing Time: 30 minutes
Rules Language: English

The Short Review
Murdero is a richly atmospheric rummy-style game with the added twist of Action Cards that can change the game and the winning conditions. If you’re partial to rummy variants, you should like this one.

The Contents
Murdero consists of a deck of cards, 60 of them, in a tuckbox with a two-sided, quadrifold rule set. I wish the type were larger on the rules, but that’s my 50-year-old eyes doing the talking.

The Object of the Game
In Murdero you’re trying to complete cases by playing Case Cards in sequential order, from one to five. When a case is completed, the round is scored. Each player adds up the point values of all Case Cards they’ve played, then subtracts the point values of any Case Cards remaining in their hands. The player who completed the case doubles the points of the cards in play before subtracting (without doubling) the cards in his or her hand. The game continues until a player reaches 100 points.

The Cards
There are three sets of 15 Case Cards. Each case is represented by a color: red, green, or blue. Each case has a different setting: Red is set in the criminal underworld; blue in the film world; and green in politics.

The case cards are numbered one through five. The distribution of numbers is not even. The higher the card value, the more scarce it is. Cases follow a logical pattern, though I think the logic is off a bit: Cards numbered “1” are always crime scenes; “2” victims; “3” evidence; “4” suspects; and “5” weapons. (I’d argue you can’t have a crime scene until you have a victim—most of the time, anyway.)

Each of the case cards has an evocative black-and-white photo and a hardboiled quote. Think classic film noir in a card game. For instance, one of the five red crime scenes is the Wine Cellar. It shows casks of wine stacked three high. Underneath the photo it says, “With the introduction of prohibition lots of people were dying for a drink.” One of the two red suspects is Rebecca Lane. The photo is that of a sultry, socialite siren holding a glass of champagne. The quote reads, “Ms. Lane had several husbands… but only a few were her own.”

In addition to the case cards, the deck holds 15 Action Cards. These cards have no point value. They come in two types, each represented by a color: Gray is a One Shot Action, while Black is Permanent. As with the Case Cards, the Action Cards have a photo and a quote.

One Shot Actions include things like Destroy, which allows you to remove a Permanent Action Card from the game, and Reverse Charges, which can be played only when you hold four or fewer cards, and it allows you to end the round and score only cards in your hand, not any of the cards in play.

An example of a Permanent Action is Heavy Caseload. With this card any player must solve two cases in order to win the round. Considering that each of the three colors has only one weapon, and that the deck contains only one joker, the Heavy Caseload card is a bear.

Besides getting you in the mood to play Murdero, the cards are laid out well and are easy to decipher at a glance. The colors, which line about a quarter-inch of the left and top, stand out. The numbers, which are black against white in the upper left corner, are readable when the cards are fanned slightly in your hand. The cards are of good stock and should hold up well.

The backs of the cards are attractive as well. The card back is divided into thirds. The top and bottom thirds are black. The middle is white with the Murdero logo across it. Each letter of the word is in its own font and on its own cut or torn slip of paper, reminiscent of a handmade ransom note.

Perhaps I’m making too much of the look of this game, but it does add to the mood. It’s obvious the designers put a lot of effort into the presentation, and I appreciate both the effort and the result.

Game Play
Each player is dealt eight cards. The remaining cards form the Case Deck, the top card of which is turned over to form the Discard Pile.

At the beginning of your turn, you draw one card from either the Case Deck or the Discard Pile and put it in your hand. After that you may build cases or take action. You can do both; you can do neither; you can do one or the other; you can do either one first. It’s your call.

When building cases, you can play multiple Crime Scenes (#1) in a color, but once you play the next number—the Victim (#2)—you can’t add any more Crime Scenes to your case. In other words, you can’t insert a card into your case. Cards to be played have to be the same number as what is showing or the next higher number.

Of course, Action Cards can play havoc with your cases. The Action Cards allow you to change the construction of your hand; change the construction of one of the cases in play on the table, yours or an opponent’s; or change the winning conditions. You can play only one Action Card per turn, and you’re allowed only one Permanent Action per case you are building.

If you choose to not play an Action Card, then you can discard one card from your hand and take the top card from the Case File. This allows you to cycle through cards more quickly in order to complete a case.

That’s it. Play moves to the left and continues until someone completes a case (or two if the Heavy Caseload card is in play) or until the Case File is depleted. In the latter situation, no one has completed a case, so scoring occurs as normal, but no one gets to double the value of their case cards.

Partners in Crimesolving
The game can be played by four players, with competing pairs of partners. The game works perfectly well this way. This fact isn’t worthy of its own subhead, but I gave it one because it was such a good subhead!

The Collectible Aspect of the Game
The publishers make a point of encouraging you to buy two decks so you can put 60 cards together in a variety of ways. For instance, you can remove crime scenes and replace them with a like number of weapons to make the cases easier to solve. You can alter the mix of Action Cards to make the game more chaotic, or less so. You can also make a super deck of 120 cards and play with up to eight people.

I don’t come from a collectible card game background and can’t imagine bothering to customize the deck. I’m sure, though, there are people for whom customizing a deck seems as simple and natural as dropping a Pop-Tart into a toaster. If you are such a person, or if you want a rummy-style game that will play up to eight, you might want to give Murdero a closer look.

Final Thoughts
I’m not a rummy player, so the flow of the game is not second nature to me. Compound that with the game-altering text of the Action Cards, and everything slows down. I feel it always takes me some time to read and digest how certain cards interact with each other and with the game, and I need to internalize all the implications of the various cards before I can really enjoy the game. Not fully grasping all the card interactions in San Juan dampened my enthusiasm for that game at first. All the text on the cards in Jambo is still slowing me down.

All that said, Murdero is a game I’m appreciating more with each playing. Hell, I’m appreciating it more just by writing about it. It’s slickly done. It’s straightforward enough that anyone who likes rummy should like it, yet it’s different enough that anyone who likes rummy should appreciate it. And if you want a card game to take to family gatherings, you just might want to pick up two copies.

I give it a 6 out of 10. I could see it ticking up a little with further plays.

© 2007 Steve Bennett

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Comments:

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How does it compare to mystery rummy? Posted by Lee Fisher on Nov 24, 2007 at 10:33 AM | #

I’ve only played Murders in the Rue Morgue. We always had trouble remembering to feed the beast or whatever it was. It’s been awhile now. I think the Action Cards in Murdero probably juice it up a little more. I’d give a slight edge to Murdero. My guess is if you like the Mystery Rummy series, you’ll like Murdero. Though I haven’t tried it with more than 4, the fact that you can add another deck and play up to 8, might be another point in Murdero’s favor. Posted by Steve Bennett on Nov 24, 2007 at 12:06 PM | #

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