The Avid Card Gamer's Review of Wyatt Earp

Wyatt Earp is a meld-making game themed to the American west. The deck features 7 suits themed to famous outlaws, as well as a number of sheriff themed cards, which are played for special effects.

The game play is gussied-up Canasta mixed with Rummy. On their turn, players have to draw 2 from the top of the deck or the top card from the discard pile. They may then play cards if they so choose (unlimited standard Outlaw cards, 1 sheriff card maximum) and then they have to discard. As with Canasta, the person who initially plays cards for a given outlaw has to lay out at least 3 of them. From that point on, other players can chip in singletons or pairs if they want to, in other words, they can play off the other person's cards, similar to Rummy.

What makes Earp tick is the scoring system though. Each card laid for an outlaw on a given turn beyond the first puts money chits onto their associated tile. Each card laid for the outlaw also has a capture value. At the end of each round, players will check to see if there are at least 8 capture points on the board, total, for each outlaw. If there are, then someone is going to get the reward money. If the CP totals are close, then the players will split the money pretty evenly. If one player has a blowout lead of 5 or more, then they will get all of the money instead though. So playing cards for an outlaw that you aren't in the actual running for is often a fool's errand. In the event that there aren't 8 capture points on the table for a given outlaw at the end of a round the money present on their tile will ride to next round instead.

A final twist present in the game are the various sheriff cards, most of which serve as wilds that can add money and/or capture points to your board for any outlaw. However, to work many of them require a successful shot, which is game slang for "play the card, flip over the top card of the deck, and if it shows a bullet hole, then the card works." The bullet hole is present on the most common cards in the deck (all of the standard outlaw cards) so it's likely to be successful, at least the first time through the deck, but it adds an element of uncertainty to the game.

A final pair of notable sheriff cards worth mentioning are the Hideout cards, and the Wyatt Earps. The Hideouts, after a successful shot, allow one to cover up another player's meld of outlaw cards, those cards will effectively disappear from the board and no longer count for that player or the on-going capture point total. Wyatt Earp cards, meanwhile, can be used in a variety of ways: to draw more cards from the deck, to take any card from the discard pile, or to counter or remove a Hideout card. Very versatile, very powerful.

The round continues until a player discards their last card. The capture points are then checked, and reward money is doled out. If any player gets to $25,000 or above, the game is then over, highest money total wins.


Game Length
Short, usually about 30 minutes. With reasonably competent play it usually takes about 4-5 deals for someone to get to the money total necessary to win.


Suitability for:
Casual Gamers: High if they have familiarity with Canasta or Rummy.
Medium Weight Game Fans: High.
Heavy Weight Game Fans: Medium to low depending on their tolerance for randomness in card games.

In general terms, this is a game that seems to appeal to casual gamers and people who like the medium weight end of the canon. Many heavy weight game fans dislike the randomness inherent in card games, and there is a fair amount of it present in this game from the draw itself, as well as the bullet hole mechanic.


Scales:
I have only played this with 3, and it is exceptional at that scale, particularly for its category. The box claims 2-4, best with 3, but my impression is that is only because the publisher insisted on having it hypothetically scale beyond 3, as the game was originally designed specifically for the 3 scale, and it shows.


Replayability:
Moderate, it has no real variation from game to game or hand to hand. It is not something that I would want to play heavily because of that, but as a card game it has some inherent "let's play it again" factor.


Aspects to keep in mind:

More filler than main event: A lot of the card games I review are titles that I think of as major parts of my gaming evening, and Earp does not fit into this category. It's a short filler that you can get some enjoyment out of, but it's not going to be the star of the show.

Nice thematic integration: It's strange that a card game so explicitly based on classic melding games like Canasta and Rummy can have such a strong thematic feel, yet it does. The sheriff cards have mostly thematic effects, and the bullet mechanic feels like taking a wild shot and praying. The capture points and reward money mechanics also feel thematic.

Again, the random factor: I have mentioned this before, but be aware of it before purchasing or playing. Games can often hinge on a well-timed sheriff card play, and being able to successfully place or remove a Hideout cad can easily swing an entire round. If big random factors like that bother you, then this game might not be worth taking out for a spin.


My final slant:
Earp is a fun little title. I have a long background in meld-making games, as I religiously played Canasta for a year prior to picking up Spades, and Earp seems to deliver the goods all while playing well with 3, a tough scale for this type of game. Though I am normally someone who is bothered by randomness, I think that it is tolerable in Earp, probably because the game is so short and sweet. The thematic feel is solid, the game plays quickly, and there are always some dramatic moments and fun card plays. It's hard to ask for much more out of a card game. This is not one of my all-star favourites owing to its overall depth and length, but it's a solid part of my collection that I enjoy bringing out every once in a while.