In terms of card games, the rummy family is both a large and diverse one.
On my favourite game site; Boardgamegeek.com, they list some 200 games within the rummy family. That number may not seem huge until you consider if you sat down one night a week to play rummy with friends, and you played a new version each week you would be looking at March 2019 to play through the list.
Within the broader family, which of course includes games such as the livable old standard gin rummy, exists a sort of sub-family; Mystery Rummy games.
“The Mystery Rummy series consists of variants of the traditional card game Rummy designed by Mike Fitzgerald. All of the games in the series share themes based upon infamous or mysterious characters, events or stories,” noted Boardgamegeek.
The most recent addition to the family is ‘Escape From Alcatraz by Mike Fitzgerald and Andrew Korson and illustrated by Joe Boginski.
The new game brings the Mystery Rummy series to eight, starting with Jack the Ripper Rummy being released in 1998, Murders in the Rue Morgue in 1999, and Jekyll & Hyde Rummy in 2001.
Escape From Alcatraz was actually created back in 2009, but has just now gotten a nicely boxed version.
In the case of ‘Escape’ it is a game for two-to-four players, rated eight-to-adult, with a game time of 45-minutes.
“The goal of the game is to earn points by helping to foil “Escape plans”. The winner is the first player to reach 100 or more points at the end of a round,” details the ruleset.
So as you might have garnered from the names of the early Mystery Rummy games, they have a lot to do with theme.
The artwork also helps create the atmosphere of Alcatraz nicely, which is of course a bonus.
While the basic ideas of set collection, which is a core element of rummy, exists in each Mystery version, there is the theme with adds interest, and of course a few specific rules.
“Alcatraz Island is home to one of the most formidable federal prisons ever conceived. Over the years Alcatraz was in operation, 36 men plotted 14 escape attempts. In the Mystery Rummy game, players have the role of the guards. It is your job to foil Escape attempts by gathering information on plans and capturing the mastermind and co-conspirators.
“Escape From Alcatraz is played out over a series of rounds.
While some of the earlier versions are still better, ‘Escape From Alcatraz’ is certainly a worthy addition to the Mystery Rummy Family. If you enjoy rummy, and fun themes, you will like it.
Check it out at www.eagle-gryphon.com
