Mystery Rummy: Al Capone and the Chicago Underworld
Mystery Rummy: Al Capone and the Chicago Underworld Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
About the Case
In the 1920s, Chicago was a city full of secrets and crimes. Loyalty was the highest good. Anyone who committed a breach of trust was severely punished. One name is inseparably linked with this era: Al Capone, also known as Scarface or as Snorky - though only his closest confidants were allowed to call him that. No matter what one chose to call Capone, one thing was and remained true: he was Public Enemy Number 1.
His crime syndicate influenced practically every part of city life. Nothing remained untouched by the "Untouchables."
Capone's colorful crew of hired killers and financial geniuses forms a highly interesting group of personalities. For more than half a century now, the dissolute life of those gangster godfathers has provided the basis for highly successful books and films. These cards now gather together the villains of that era - for your entertainment and for strategic use.
Game Overview
It is your task to join the forces that ensured Chicago was freed from the grip of unscrupulous gangs. Join Eliot Ness, use a search warrant to your advantage, or even raid your opponents, to help put an end to the rule of Al Capone and his gang. The game is especially interesting with four players: here, two players each should work together as a team.
There are 2 basic types of cards in the game: Evidence cards and Gavel cards. You try to put together and lay out sets of 3 or more Evidence cards of the same color to score points. Gavel cards, on the other hand, cannot be combined into sets. However, they bring a strategic element into the game. The card text on the Gavel cards explains how they are used. A game consists of several hands, usually 4-7. The game ends when at least one player (or one team) reaches a score of 200 or more.
Contents
This game includes 94 cards, made up as follows:
Evidence Cards (68)
- 8 Al Capone
- 7 Murray Humphreys
- 6 Johnny Torrio
- 7 Ralph Capone
- 6 William White
- 5 Samuel Hunt
- 7 Jake Guzik
- 6 Frank Nitti
- 5 Fred Burke
- 7 Jack McGurn
- 4 Mike Heitler
Gavel Cards (18)
- 5 Agent Meeting
- 5 Search Warrant
- 5 Eliot Ness
- 3 Raid
Other Cards (8)
- 4 Overview Cards - Turn Sequence
- 4 Overview Cards - Card Counts
Card Key
The name of the card appears above the card illustration. The words along the left edge of the card give the card's name.
A gavel in the upper left corner marks a Gavel card. A magnifying glass in the upper left corner marks an Evidence card.
The number in the upper right corner is the card's point value.
The card text appears directly below the card illustration. It states the purpose of the card and what action is to be carried out.
The italicized text below the card text gives background information on the gangster's history. It serves the atmosphere and has no bearing on gameplay.
Setup
You will need pen and paper to keep track of the players' scores.
Each player receives one of the two overview cards.
Randomly determine a dealer. (In subsequent hands, the deal passes clockwise.) The dealer shuffles all 86 cards (Evidence and Gavel cards) and then deals 10 cards to each player. Players take their cards into their hand face down and may look at them. (It is helpful to sort your own cards by color.)
Place the rest of the deck in the middle of the table. This pile is called the Case File. Turn the top card of the Case File face up and place it next to the pile. This is the discard pile, called the Underworld. Please note that during the game, only the top card of the Underworld may ever be visible. Players are not allowed to look through the Underworld, unless a played card allows this.
Play Area
Each player has their own area on the table in front of them, into which they place all the cards they play.
Team Play
For games with 4 people, we recommend playing in teams. The two players sitting opposite each other are partners on a team. Both partners share one play area; all cards are therefore laid out in front of one of the two.
Turn Overview
Play proceeds clockwise, starting with the player to the left of the dealer. Each player carries out the following steps before the next player's turn begins:
- Draw (mandatory)
- Play (optional)
- Discard (mandatory)
Each step of a turn is explained in detail below.
Draw (mandatory)
Draw either the top 2 cards of the Case File (draw pile) or the top (only 1) card of the Underworld (discard pile). Take them into your hand. If you decide to draw 2 cards from the Case File, but only 1 card remains in the Case File, then you draw only that 1 card.
Play (optional)
There are 2 different types of cards: Evidence and Gavel. Different conditions apply to each type regarding how they are played.
Evidence
You recognize an Evidence card by the magnifying glass in the upper left corner. Evidence cards are either melded or laid off. You may play as many melds and layoffs per turn as you wish.
A meld consists of a set of 3 or more Evidence cards of the same color. To play a meld, place the Evidence cards that make up the meld from your hand into your play area. These cards will earn you points at the end of the hand.
You may also play Evidence cards individually and place them in your play area, as long as they match a meld that is already on the table, no matter in whose play area that meld lies. This is called a layoff. So, for example, if another player has melded a set of Al Capone, you may lay off a single Al Capone Evidence card and receive its point value at the end of the hand.
If you lay off an Evidence card onto a card of which further cards already lie in your own play area, place your layoff card with it; Evidence cards of the same color within a play area always lie together, never separated from one another.
If you have collected a complete set of an Evidence card (for example, all 6 cards of Frank Nitti), place this set as a stack in your play area. At the end of the hand you receive the point value for the complete set, which is noted in the card text of the Evidence card.
Gavel Cards
You recognize a Gavel card by the gavel in the upper left corner. Gavel cards are always played individually, never in melds. You may play at most 1 Gavel card per turn. To play a Gavel card, place it from your hand into the Underworld. The card text of the Gavel card briefly explains how it is played. A detailed description of all Gavel cards can be found under Individual Gavel Cards below.
If, by playing a Gavel card, you receive a new Gavel card into your hand, you may not play it during your current turn, since you have already played a Gavel card.
If a Gavel card causes a player to draw or reveal cards from the Case File, but fewer cards than required remain in the Case File, then as many cards as possible are drawn or revealed.
Discard (mandatory)
After you have played all the cards you wish, you must discard one card face up into the Underworld. You may discard any card you like. This ends your turn; your fellow player is now next.
Individual Gavel Cards
Here you will find detailed descriptions of all Gavel cards.
Agent Meeting
Choose between the two actions Ask Around and Ask Directly. Clearly announce which action you choose before you begin carrying it out.
Ask Around
Name the name of an Evidence card (that is, a gangster) of your choice, of which no player has a complete set laid out. The first player, going clockwise (starting with the player to your left) who has at least one Evidence card of that name in their hand, gives you exactly one such Evidence card. Take the Evidence card into your hand. That player then draws 1 card from the Case File to replace the card they gave up.
You may not choose this action if the very rare case has occurred that complete sets already exist for all 11 gangsters!
Ask Directly
Name the name of an Evidence card (that is, a gangster) of which you have a meld in your play area. A fellow player of your choice gives you all copies of that gangster that they have in their hand. You may take the cards into your hand or play them. That player then draws as many cards from the Case File as they gave you, to replace the cards given up.
You may not choose this action if you do not have at least 1 meld without a complete set in your play area that you can name!
Search Warrant
Choose between the two actions Search Individually and Search for a Set. Clearly announce which action you choose before you begin carrying it out.
Search Individually
Take all the cards of the Underworld and look through them, without showing them to your fellow players. Choose exactly 1 card that you wish to keep, and take that card into your hand. You do not have to show the card to your fellow players. Place the remaining cards back into the Underworld with your Search Warrant on top.
Search for a Set
Take all the cards of the Underworld and look through them, without showing them to your fellow players. You may take all Evidence cards that match exactly 1 meld in your play area. Show these Evidence cards to your fellow players. You may take them into your hand or play them. Place the remaining cards back into the Underworld with your Search Warrant on top.
You may not choose this action if you do not have at least 1 meld without a complete set in your play area!
Eliot Ness
Choose between the two actions Draw Two and Reveal Seven. Clearly announce which action you choose before you begin carrying it out.
Draw Two
Draw the top 2 cards of the Case File and take them into your hand.
Reveal Seven
Reveal the top 7 cards of the Case File. You may take from among them all Evidence cards that match melds in your play area. Show these Evidence cards to your fellow players. You may take them into your hand or play them. Place the remaining cards into the Underworld.
You may not choose this action if you do not have at least 1 meld without a complete set in your play area!
Raid
Name the name of an Evidence card (that is, a gangster) of which you have a meld in your play area. Collect all copies of that Evidence card from the play areas of all fellow players and place them in your own play area. You may not play the Raid if doing so would not gain you at least 1 card!
Further Game Elements
Ending the Hand
There are 2 ways to end a hand:
A) Discarding the last hand card: A hand ends when a player discards their last hand card into the Underworld. A player may never play their last hand card!
B) Case File exhausted: A hand ends when the Case File has been completely used up, without a player having discarded their last hand card into the Underworld. The player whose turn it is still finishes their turn, after which the hand is over.
In both cases, scoring follows.
The Exclusion Rule
If you succeed in discarding your last hand card into the Underworld, you may possibly achieve an exclusion. To do this, you (or, in team play, your partner) must have a complete set (8 cards) of Al Capone in your play area. If you have achieved this, you carry out normal scoring for yourself (or your team), but your fellow players receive no points!
You do not achieve an exclusion if you (or your partner) have a complete set of Al Capone, but do not end the hand by discarding your last hand card.
Scoring
There are no minus points for cards in your hand — simply discard them. Add up the point values of all Evidence cards in your play area. For each complete set you receive the corresponding point value, which is noted below the card illustration, rather than the individual point values of the cards in the upper right. For all remaining Evidence cards, you receive the individual point values noted on the cards in the upper right.
End of the Game
A game ends when, at the end of a hand, at least one player (or one team) has reached 200 or more points. The player (or team) with the highest score wins. In case of a tie, you play a further hand.
Sample Turn
The following example is meant to show you how the game works. In a normal hand, it is highly unlikely that you would get such good cards in hand and be able to carry out 2 melds right at the start. However, the example shows some of the peculiarities of the game and may be helpful when getting started.
You are the starting player. In your hand you have 3 Evidence cards of Ralph Capone, 2 Evidence cards of Samuel Hunt, as well as 1 each of William White and Frank Nitti, plus 3 Gavel cards.
At the start of your turn you must draw either 2 cards from the Case File or the top card of the Underworld. There lies the Evidence card Johnny Torrio. Since you have no further cards of Johnny Torrio in hand, you decide to draw the top 2 cards of the Case File instead.
You draw a further Evidence card Samuel Hunt and a Raid Gavel card.
You now play both melds from your hand, 3 cards each of Ralph Capone and Samuel Hunt. After that you play an Agent Meeting. You decide on the action Ask Directly and ask your right-hand neighbor for all Ralph Capone Evidence cards from their hand.
Your neighbor has exactly 1 Ralph Capone in hand and gives it to you; they then draw 1 card from the Case File. You immediately play your new Ralph Capone and lay it off as the 4th card of your meld.
To end your turn, you must still discard one card face up into the Underworld. After that, your left-hand neighbor is next.
Glossary
Discard pile: See under Underworld below.
Hand: A hand is made up of many turns of the players and ends when the conditions named under Ending the Hand are met. Several hands make up a game.
Gavel cards: These cards show a gavel in the upper left corner. You may only play 1 Gavel card per turn. Gavel cards cannot be melded.
Layoff: Playing one or more cards into your play area that match the meld of any player.
Case File: This is the draw pile. If a player takes the last card of the Case File, the hand ends after the current turn.
Evidence cards: These cards show a magnifying glass in the upper left corner. You may play as many Evidence cards as you wish during a turn, as long as you meld them in sets of 3 or more cards, or lay off onto an existing meld.
All Evidence cards you play are placed in your play area, even if you bring them into play based on melds belonging to other players (laying off onto other players' melds).
Meld: A set of 3 or more Evidence cards of the same color. Gavel cards cannot be melded.
Game: A game of Mystery Rummy consists of several hands. It ends when at least one player (or one team) has reached a score of 200 or more. The player with the highest score wins. In case of a tie, a further hand must be played.
Set: A complete set consists of all copies of the same Evidence card. If you have a complete set in your play area, push the set together into a stack. Your overview card shows the number of copies of all Evidence cards.
Play area: Each player has their own area on the table in front of them, into which they place all cards that will earn them points at the end of a hand. In team play, both partners share one play area.
Underworld: This is the discard pile. Only the top card is ever visible. Players are not allowed to look through the Underworld, unless a played card allows it.
Turn: In turn, each player takes their turn, which consists of the following steps: Draw (mandatory), Play (optional), Discard (mandatory). This continues until the hand ends and scoring takes place.
Draw pile: See under Case File above.
Credits
Authors: Mike Fitzgerald & Nick Sauer
Illustration: Caroly Van Duyn
German translation: Thygra Spiele-Agentur, Bernd Perplies
Graphic design of the German edition: Christine Conrad
Revision of the rulebook: Thygra Spiele-Agentur
The publisher and author thank the numerous playtesters.
First English edition © 2003 U.S. Games Systems, Inc.
© German edition 2011 U.S. Games Systems, Inc.
A game from Pegasus Spiele GmbH, Straßheimer Str. 2, 61169 Friedberg, under license from U.S. Games Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Other Cases in the World of Mystery Rummy
Case 1: Jack the Ripper Players: 2-4 Duration: 20-40 minutes • Ages 8 and up
Case 2: Edgar Allan Poe - Murders in the Rue Morgue Players: 2-4 (with team variant for 4 players) Duration: 20-40 minutes • Ages 8 and up
Case 3: Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde Players: 2 Duration: 20-40 minutes • Ages 8 and up