Mystery Rummy One: Jack the Ripper is still one of my favorite two player games. I was impressed with Mike Fitzgerald's ability to take such a well-worn concept as rummy and turn it into a truly strategic and enjoyably fresh game idea that holds up well even after many plays. Mystery Rummy has become a small franchise, releasing two more editions that continue to build on the essential ideas revealed in the first but each with their own characteristics and interesting twists. Wyatt Earp, while not formally a part of the Mystery Rummy series, is clearly a descendent of this line and its combination of game play, strength with any of 2, 3, or 4 players, and Alea's high quality production make this one a sure winner.

The theme is the Old West, and seven outlaws are causing havoc across the land and must be stopped. Each of these is represented on a large Wanted Poster card, and they are placed in a circle at the center of the table with a small $1,000 reward on each. Each player gets 10 cards, and play begins in a format that will be similar to Mystery Rummy players from the outset.

Each Outlaw has cards associated with them that can be melded to both increase the capture reward and earn points to share in that reward. On a turn, players draw two cards from the deck or the single card at the top of the discard pile, meld what they wish, and then end their turn with a required discard. Play continues until someone goes out, and then the rewards are paid out to those that have the most points for the capture.

When a meld is made for a specific outlaw, the reward increases by $1,000 per card for every card over the first played. So, the minimum three card initial meld would result in the addition of $2,000 to the Wanted Poster for that outlaw. Subsequent outlaw cards played against the initial meld can be placed in any number, but single cards will not increase the reward. Outlaw cards are worth two capture points each. Sheriff Cards, which are like the Gavel Cards in the Mystery Rummy games, add the strategic element to the rummy concept and only one can be played per turn (sound familiar yet?).

Each Outlaw has a Photo Card, designated as one of the Sheriff cards, which is worth four capture points and another $1,000 to the reward but can only be played after an initial meld is made (like the Suspect cards in Jack the Ripper). The rules state that the Photo cards are played on your turn as your single Sheriff card, but Mike Fitzgerald has advised that the preferred way to play the game is to allow the photo to be played out of turn as soon as the initial meld is laid if desired. In practice this works very well and is the recommended way to use this card.

Bank Robbery and the Stagecoach Robbery cards add both capture points and reward dollars, but they are not guaranteed. In a nicely designed feature, each requires a test to see if their "shot" is successful. When played, the top card of the deck is revealed and if it is an Outlaw card the Robbery is successful. The outlaw cards show a bullet hole in their lower left hand corner to indicate this. If another card, one without a bullet hole, is drawn then the attempt fails and the Robbery card must be discarded, but this counts as the Sheriff card attempt for that turn. The Fastest Gun card is similar, but like the Alibi card in Mystery Rummy One only one of these can be on the table at any time. After all, how can there be two "fastest guns?" If successfully played, the previously played Fastest Gun card is discarded.

The Most Wanted card has two abilities and is quite useful. First, it can be used to ask other players for a specific Outlaw card, and it must be surrendered by the player asked if he has it. If not, the request rotates until it is filled or all players have confirmed that they are void of the card. The Most Wanted card can also be used to take a card that has been played by another player, but if used this way it must pass the "shot" test as above. A player can use a Hideout Card to void any played capture points for a single Outlaw by another player. If it passes the shot test, the Hideout is placed on the meld and unless removed those points will not count for that player during the scoring.

The last Sheriff card is of course Wyatt Earp himself. Wyatt is a versatile guy and nice to have around, since he can help you in three ways. First, you can play him to simply draw two cards from the stack. Secondly, he can be used to search through the discard pile and take a card. Lastly, he can remove a Hideout that has been played on one of your melds if his shot is successful.

Once a player goes out, scoring takes place. Unlike other rummy games including the Mystery Rummy series, cards held in your hand at the end do not count against you. Each outlaw is evaluated to see if they were captured. To be captured, at least eight total capture points must have been played by all players cumulatively, otherwise the reward money rolls to the next round. If at least eight points were played, the players with points against that outlaw share in the reward with the most points getting the first dibs and an extra $1,000 in the take. To share in the reward, however, each contributing player must be within five points of the highest point player, otherwise they were not helpful enough and do not participate. The first player to collect $25,000 in reward money wins the game.

The play of the game is fluid and there are difficult decisions to be made about how to play your cards, when to meld, and what to discard. If someone plays a three-card meld for the Sundance Kid, for example, it may be tempting to play your single Sundance Kid card on your turn but in doing so you bring the total capture points up to the minimum which may or may not be wise. In a four-player game, you don't get many turns before someone goes out, so using each turn efficiently is crucial. The variability of the "shot" attempts with the Sheriff cards balances out, but it still adds a sense of randomness that can be disconcerting but is perfectly in theme.

A real strength of the game is its robustness with any number of players. The box states that the game is best with three, and it clearly works very well in this format but is also strong with two or four. Having a good three-player game on the shelves is always a good thing, however, and this one will not disappoint. Like the Mystery Rummy games, Wyatt Earp also includes a lot of historical text about each of the real-life characters on the Wanted Posters. The Alea production is top notch, with high quality cards and nice graphics. This is the first in Alea's small box series, and continues their excellent selection of material for publication that gamers have come to expect after their first four larger box games (Ra, Chinatown, Taj Mahal, and Princes of Florence).