Game: Dia de los Muertos

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Verkisto — 2007-12-02T19:54:40+00:00

Samples of the cards.

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archivists — 2007-10-21T15:40:29+00:00

contents of box

Thread: Re: Is it possible to try this with another deck of cards?

BrenoK — 2007-09-13T21:37:05+00:00

Thanks!

Thread: Re: Is it possible to try this with another deck of cards?

fbranham — 2007-09-13T20:46:50+00:00

No change in the distribution between Muertos and Four Dragons.

The worst problems are that:
I use 0's as one of the ranks.
0's have 3 different special powers.
The 4's are all one suit (in Four Dragons)
0, 1, 2, and 10 are all single suit ranks.

You would probably kill your brain trying to map all of that and try to learn the game at the same time. It isn't the easiest game to get the hang of as is.

Thread: Re: Is it possible to try this with another deck of cards?

bwingrave — 2007-09-11T17:03:34+00:00

It seems like it would be very tricky.

Check the file below to see the distribution of cards needed.
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/fileinfo.php?fileid=10250

The file is for Four Dragons, but the distribution is about the same as Dia de los Muertos. See the thread below for differences:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/85236

I believe it would be best to use card sleeves with inserts to indicate what the 0-4 cards' special powers are.

Thread: Is it possible to try this with another deck of cards?

BrenoK — 2007-09-11T16:46:09+00:00

Is it possible to try this with another deck of cards, like Sticheln or 6 Nimmt?

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NateStraight — 2007-02-15T16:14:26+00:00

Some replica chinese coins make a great replacement for the wooden "coins" included with the game.

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hbsvb — 2006-05-12T06:21:48+00:00

sample cards from the original game issue

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hbsvb — 2006-05-12T05:12:17+00:00

sample cards from the original game issue

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EndersGame — 2005-11-29T16:20:53+00:00

The fourth DRAGON card in the game

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EndersGame — 2005-11-29T16:08:59+00:00

The actual cards with the Dragons (from the Four Dragons rethemed version)

Thread: Re: Differences between Dia de los Muertos and Four Dragons

fbranham — 2005-11-12T02:26:30+00:00

There are only two changes between the game's intended rules: (I'll get to the ones you listed below. Yours aren't really changes.)

1. The Swap card in Four Dragons is not simultaneous. You hand a card to your partner, then they look at it and hand one back. I changed this so that it matched the swap procedure for the Gift Exchanged, and it made the Swaps a little more useful. (In the original, I was also concerned that the Swaps might slow the game down too much. I don't know why...it doesn't.)

2. The Ask card now allows asking a question that can be answered by Yes, No, or a number from 1 to 10. I think the original allowed any number, which allows for question hacking like asking for the sum of the cards in your hand.

The reason for Rain and Earth were changed to fit the theme. The reason to make all Earth cards red is to get rid of the rule about changing colors every round. The changing colors tends to confuse new players, and even I tend to forget what color the Dead are this round.

The Choose card still works the same way. It may NEVER be the same color as the Muertos color in the round. (Check the DdLM rules. It is there.) There are 8 tricks, and there are 8 color cards in each hand, so I didn't want to make it TOO easy to block out scoring cards. I've still managed to block 3 of them once.

I have to admit that I've never actually tried the game allowing the Choose cards to block Muertos cards. In retrospect, I wonder if it really makes much of a difference. It would make the Choose cards more valuable, but it would probably also drop the scores.

Moo,
Frank

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EndersGame — 2005-11-10T01:14:01+00:00

The gold "coin" tokens that come with Four Dragons for advanced play

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EndersGame — 2005-11-10T01:14:00+00:00

The black-suited SWAP cards

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EndersGame — 2005-11-02T20:24:46+00:00

Reference card for "Four Dragons" which comes with the game

Thread: Differences between Dia de los Muertos and Four Dragons

gashlycrumb — 2005-11-02T08:36:22+00:00

I've noticed a couple of differences in the rules for 'Dia de los Muertos' and 'Four Dragons'.

For one thing, in 'Four Dragons' you are just trying to collect matching pairs of Rain and Earth. In 'Dia' you collect different cards in different suits to match with Food cards.

The suit blocking card in Four Dragons can prevent all of the colored suits, except for Red. The similar card in Dia can basically block any suit and as a result, can prevent a point card from being played.

I am curious to know why these changes were made. I have no complaints, it is just pure curiosity. Also, what other differences are there between the two games?

Forgive me if these questions were asked before.

Thread: Re: Dia Die Los Muertos is finally out of print

peacmyer — 2005-09-17T18:03:59+00:00

Hey Kevin, I've gone with card protectors, which seems to avoid the problems as well....

Thread: Re: Dia Die Los Muertos is finally out of print

Kevin_Whitmore — 2005-09-17T13:27:40+00:00

Yes, I corner cut my deck as well. I recommend doing this to every owner. Those sharp corners on the cards are slightly annoying. I had no problem using a craft corner rounder - not a single card was defectively cut. However, my hands were quite sore when done.

Congrats Frank - I'm really pleased to have a copy of this game. I know the theme was a personal choice for you and Sandi.

Kevin

Thread: Re: Dia Die Los Muertos is finally out of print

RPardoe — 2005-09-08T23:44:31+00:00

pronoblem wrote:
I did go to the local craft store looking for a suitable wood hinged box for the cards .... I'd like to store this game better than a zip lock.
While you are looking, you can always use the custom tuckbox generator found at: http://www.cpforbes.net/tuckbox/tuckbox.cgi

Input the size of the box you want, print it out on some nice cardstock, cut and assemble and you have a nice box.

Examples of such tuckboxes can be found here in images from:
Arkham Horror: ]]>
Das Zepter von Zavandor: ]]>

Thread: Re: Dia Die Los Muertos is finally out of print

fbranham — 2005-09-08T18:23:05+00:00

Oooh! I do need to look for one for a couple of my personal copies.

One thing I did do is to pick up a decent metal craft corner punch, and I've punched a couple of my decks. They handle a lot better, although it kills your hands to get through that thick cardstock with the punch, I didn't have any cards mangled in the process.

(It was easier of course for me to be brave about the process. I have spares. )

Moo,
Frank

Thread: Re: Dia Die Los Muertos is finally out of print

Verkisto — 2005-09-08T17:55:57+00:00

Well, I'm glad I decided to pick this up about a year ago, but I'm sorry to say that it still hasn't hit the table. I have a handful of 4-player games that never see any play time....

Oh, and kudos to Frank for being cool enough to sign my copy of the game!

]]>

Thread: Re: Dia Die Los Muertos is finally out of print

pronoblem — 2005-09-08T14:42:39+00:00

If you find out about the boxes and the become available for purchase please post it in the game articles. I'd like to get one. Thanks.

I did go to the local craft store looking for a suitable wood hinged box for the cards but did not find one (they did have some that fit two decks of standard cards). I'd like to store this game better than a zip lock.

Thread: Re: Dia Die Los Muertos is finally out of print

fbranham — 2005-09-08T14:22:31+00:00

I don't have a solid count on how many were actually produced given the erratic production method. I think it was about 1500-1600 copies. After the first two years, orders dropped off heavily. I think I sold only about 40-50 copies this year, and I didn't expect them to last this long.

The Four Dragons version *IS* still in print. Sorry about the confusion there.

I suspect the rarest copies will be the O'lantern, Longshadow and McCobb version. The never-launched website olantern.com bought about 40 copies from me a couple of years back. They were going to be an online Halloween type store. They bought cards from me and had boxes made for the game that were printed on an antique victorian letterpress. The layout artist they were working with was Jacob Walker, which is how I was introduced to him.

I need to figure out what happened to the boxes.

Moo,
Frank

Thread: Re: Dia Die Los Muertos is finally out of print

Remo — 2005-09-08T13:56:54+00:00

Congrats, Frank!! But you fooled me along the way ;) I was in contact with you a couple of years back, where I was inquiering about the game. And it all ends with me not getting a hold of it, but have to settle for Four Dragons!
Anyway, I'm happy for you, but will stil be cruising the net to get a hold of a copy...

Best
Remo from Norway

Thread: Re: Dia Die Los Muertos is finally out of print

pronoblem — 2005-09-08T12:36:56+00:00

JeffyJeff wrote:
Aka "Four Dragons", BGG link http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/950

Looks like some copies still left at the end of the pipeline... http://www.thoughthammer.com/product_info.php?products_id=306 has it for $9.75 and listed as in stock.

Jeff

That is not the same one.

Thread: Re: Dia Die Los Muertos is finally out of print

Spielfreak — 2005-09-08T10:10:45+00:00

fbranham wrote:
Almost 5 years! I finally sold my last copies off and am totally happy to have a game fall out of print.

I know that most of you don't care so much, but I'm terribly happy and had to share. Sorry. Back to the normal stuff.

Moo,
Frank

Congratulations, Frank!

I don't know if you're at liberty to say, but how many decks were produced? Were they all produced at the same time, or did you have multiple printings?

Finally, check out this image, which was first seen hanging in Gialmere's Coffee Haus at the bottom of this page:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geekforum.php3?action=viewthread&threadid=71746&pageID=8

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/Gialmere/picCH66.jpg[/IMG]

- Phil

:meeple:

Thread: Re: Dia Die Los Muertos is finally out of print

shawn_low — 2005-09-08T06:32:02+00:00

fbranham wrote:
Almost 5 years! I finally sold my last copies off and am totally happy to have a game fall out of print.

I know that most of you don't care so much, but I'm terribly happy and had to share. Sorry. Back to the normal stuff.

Moo,
Frank

Great!

I must say that I got 2 copies of the game. I assumed it was OOP but emailed Frank anway. To my surprise, he said he had copies left.

Great game, great art. Love it!

Thanks!

Thread: Re: Dia Die Los Muertos is finally out of print

Frog — 2005-09-08T05:55:32+00:00

Aw... it was my understanding that it already was out-of-print.

Of course, I've got a copy of Four Dragons and was pleasantly surprised with how well the retheming works, but nevertheless it would have been nice to own an original copy (considering I liked the theme and all).

Thread: Re: Dia Die Los Muertos is finally out of print

peacmyer — 2005-09-08T05:50:41+00:00

Great game, Frank, particularly for where I live (New Mexico, USA). Glad I got a copy through BGG just after your GeekSpeak ... err, BoardGameSpeak episode!

The cards are now neatly ensconsed in card protectors. When I'm a skeleton will I still be anal retentive?

Thread: Re: Dia Die Los Muertos is finally out of print

fsumarc — 2005-09-08T05:22:30+00:00

I care! and I'm glad I have it already! great theme! :arrrh:

Thread: Re: Dia Die Los Muertos is finally out of print

JeffyJeff — 2005-09-08T05:18:46+00:00

Aka "Four Dragons", BGG link http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/950

Looks like some copies still left at the end of the pipeline... http://www.thoughthammer.com/product_info.php?products_id=306 has it for $9.75 and listed as in stock.

Jeff

Thread: Re: Dia Die Los Muertos is finally out of print

daw65 — 2005-09-08T05:05:21+00:00

Gah! I didn't know it was still in print. If I had...

:shake:

Thread: Dia Die Los Muertos is finally out of print

fbranham — 2005-09-08T04:57:08+00:00

Almost 5 years! I finally sold my last copies off and am totally happy to have a game fall out of print.

I know that most of you don't care so much, but I'm terribly happy and had to share. Sorry. Back to the normal stuff.

Moo,
Frank

Thread: Session Report

TamiWhitsett — 2005-05-01T20:24:12+00:00

I grabbed Frank Branham, Phil and Henning to play Four Dragons, which is a game designed by Frank and his wife. This is a re-theme of one of Frank and Sandi’s other games, Dia de Los Muertoes. It’s a team-based trick-taking game where only certain cards (Earth and Rain, in Four Dragons) score points. Like most trick-taking card games, I really struggle with how to play, but I enjoy trying. I should have had an advantage in this playing, because Frank was my partner, but I’m afraid that I hurt him more than he helped me. In the end, Phil and Henning won, and although I don’t have the final scores written down, I’m fairly certain they won by a lot.

Thread: Who translated the Chinese Rules?

fbranham — 2005-01-05T20:50:49+00:00

Inquiring minds want to know.

Moo,
Frank

Thread: User Review

msaari — 2004-12-21T13:54:18+00:00

As you might already know, Four Dragons is a reincarnation of Frank Branham's self-published Dia de los Muertos. The rules have been edited a bit (nothing major) and there's a new theme with gorgeous new card art (not that the old was bad). I'm a bit sad to see the days of the dead theme gone, but the new Chinese folklore theme is good as well.

Four Dragons is a twisted little point trick game, where players try to win tricks with rain and earth cards - thus making the rain fall on dry earth. Each pair of rain and earth is a point and the partnership with more points after three hands wins the game. So far it's quite simple and straightforward.

The trickery starts with the cards. The distribution is odd. There are four colours, which are not identical. Well, three are, but then there's black. In each trick, players can play only one card of each colour, except black, which is always allowed. That's a good way to restrict what your opponents can do. The cards run from zero to ten, with highest cards beating smaller cards. Several cards have special abilities like ask (you get to ask a question from one of the players about their hand), swap (swap cards with your partner) or kill 10 (the card nullifies one 10 played by an opponent).

Learning the card distribution could be tricky, but fortunately the game has player aids. Pity there's only two of them in English and German - why couldn't they have four double-sided cards in English and German? Anyway, you won't need those for long, because the card effects aren't that hard to remember.

The tactics are interesting. Four Dragons is not that simple, because winning empty tricks is rather pointless. When fighting for the good tricks, there aren't that many high cards that can't be blocked in some way. Playing well takes some thought. The card set is small, giving good opportunities for card counters - except all used cards are displayed face up, sorted neatly. End of a hand is a kind of puzzle, where it's often possible to figure out a good strategy given the cards that are left in the game.

I wouldn't recommend Four Dragons to just anybody. First, it's strictly four player game. There's rules for three players with a dummy player, but that's unsatisfying. Second, the learning curve can be a bit steep. Prepare to be confused in your first game. It gets easier after a while, but in the end it's not the easiest trick-taking game to figure out. Many will be satisfied by something lighter and less confusing. For fans of convoluted trick-taking games, however, Four Dragons is a must.

My recommendation extends to Dia de los Muertos as well. Get whichever you can find, which is probably Four Dragons. The rules are slightly different and I'll recommend playing by the Four Dragons rules as I think they are a bit better.

Thread: Session Report

s2alexan — 2004-11-22T16:32:02+00:00

We had our first game of this with a couple of friends of ours. They're quite used to learning new games, so I thought it would go pretty smoothly.

I was impressed with the quality of the cards. Nice and thick, great artwork (I'm a big fan of Mexican culture though so I'm a bit biased), and good finish. I make a lot of cards myself, so I have a corner punch, so I just rounded the corners myself, and they look great.

The rules are quite straightforward. I thought with all the extra powers that cards have, it might be a bit confusing. But, we picked it up pretty quickly. By the second hand, we all knew what we were doing, and using the rules to our advantage.

There's a lot of strategy to this game, and the luck is minimized quite a bit by the extra rules. I especially like all the cards being layed out on the table, since I hate counting cards (i.e. I'm terrible at it).

We'll definitely play again! By the end of the first game, we really understood how to play - the next games should be a lot more tense (and a bit longer as people start taking their time to think).

Thread: Four Dragons now available

Tycho — 2004-06-15T20:25:33+00:00

The re-themed version of Dia de los Muertos from Jolly Roger Games is on sale in the UK, and Funagain in the US are taking pre-orders for delivery this month.

"In The Four Dragons, players portray dragons competing to capture pearls so they can bring rain and prosperity back to the land of man. The game is one of trick taking for points."

Thread: Re:Going OOP

fbranham — 2004-06-03T16:05:38+00:00

DougOrleans (#24023),

That Calavaras variant is still a variant, but some "coins" are going to be included in the game. I have reigned in the coin count a bit to be 3 coins per partnership.

I've waffled on putting it into the final game. 3 coins per player was far too many, and the current value is about right---it gives you just enough to make it fairly tricky to decide when you desperately need some bit of information.

That said, the reason it is still a variant is that:
1. Only after you've played a couple of games do you really understand enough of what is going on to make use of the coins.
2. I actually like the uncertainty of the normal game, which makes your plays more angst-ridden.

It does bring out the deduction aspects of the game, and it definitely doesn't detract from the game---just makes it a bit different. Sounds like what a variant is supposed to be.

Moo
Frank

Thread: Re:Session Report

fbranham — 2003-12-29T15:27:15+00:00

Henry Rhombus (#23944),

About leaving the cards faceup: We did briefly try not turning up captured cards. It was VERY hard to count cards in this game. Because you are not taking out 3-4 card in a suit at once, AND a lot of the smaller cards are so powerful, we were unable to track cards.

Moo
Frank

Thread: Re:Going OOP

DougOrleans — 2003-12-18T20:31:59+00:00

fbranham wrote:
Actually after much discussion back and forth, I requested the theme change. The original theme is tied to Sandi and my anniversary, and since it was our game, I decided that letting other folks getting involved, it should get a new theme.

I'm sad to see the theme change, but I'm glad to hear that the designer requested it rather than had it forced upon him. Is anything about the game play going to change? Is the variant rule about giving each player 3 free questions during the game going to be included?

Thread: Session Report

Henry Rhombus — 2003-12-18T00:11:05+00:00

Phil and Eric: 7
Matt and Bob: 5

Matt groaned when he found out Bob was his partner, thus indicating that Phil and I should have an easy game. While we did score early points and shut out Bob and Matt in the first round, gameplay was much tougher than I would have imagined.

Having all played cards laid face-up is a great idea as it removes the advantage of a player's good memory. I can't see doing this in all trick-taking games, but it works here, possibly because the "same colored cards can't be played" rule proves vital in determining how you can shut out an opponent.

The "swap" cards -- while close to useless when you have all four, as I did in the second round -- are nice for passing a colored card to your partner when you're loaded with too many. When the Blue adults were in play in the final round, I had a hand of three blue cards, meaning I would likely be unable to take anything, but I was able to swap one blue with Phil, then stick Matt with the blue 5 after he took a point card.

The balance of play in terms of potentially losing good cards after scoring (or even merely setting up a future score) is nerve-racking. Of course if Phil could have ever remembered which card Matt took, the nerves might have been a bit less racked.

In the final round, we had a major food advantage, thus forcing Matt and Bob to win all the food to have any chance of winning. They couldn't do it, since by the third-to-last hand, Phil and I knew pretty much what they had and could play to score an adult to seal the win.

Thread: Re:Going OOP

mlvanbie — 2003-11-17T22:01:05+00:00

fbranham (#22305),

These card do look really nice. The old theme would have prevented giving this as a gift but the new one increases its appropriateness.

Thread: Re:Going OOP

fbranham — 2003-11-17T16:10:06+00:00

mcbeth (#20676),

Actually after much discussion back and forth, I requested the theme change. The original theme is tied to Sandi and my anniversary, and since it was our game, I decided that letting other folks getting involved, it should get a new theme.

The new theme btw, is a Chinese myth of the Four Dragons. I'm VERY happy with the artist, who is working on the illustrations now.

He is updating us with previews as he finishes the cards. You can see them at: http://www.elijahart.com/fourdragons/

Moo
Frank

Thread: Re:Going OOP

Malachi — 2003-11-15T22:36:22+00:00

Wardo (#9556),
Cool. I guess it's lucky that I just noticed and bought this game this week.

:D

Thread: Re:Going OOP

mcbeth — 2003-10-13T16:39:45+00:00

Wardo (#9556),

So much for Knizia's claim that theme only matters in the US. It'll be a shame to see the theme go. Well, I'll second that this is a great game, and besides AdvCiv is the only game I purposely own multiples of.

Thread: User Review

shadowkeeper — 2003-09-17T13:35:37+00:00

I recently realized that my game collection was lacking a good trick-taking game and, as if on cue, someone sent me a copy of their new game "Dia de los Muertos" for possible review. Feeling that the serendipitous timing of this arrival must bode well, I agreed to cover the game without even having read the rules. And then, of course, I immediately began to fear that I had made a huge mistake. What if I hated it? I really wasn't relishing the idea of telling this guy that his game was a dud . And to make things worse, "this guy" was Frank Branham, curator of The Gaming Dumpster and editor of The Games Journal! Even though I had never met or corresponded with Branham, I still viewed him as a kind of friend (or at least kindred spirit). I began to think that my rush to fill my trick-taking-game-shaped-void, I had put myself in a terrible position.

So it was with great relief that I played my first game of Dia de los Muertos and discovered that, while I wasn't exactly hooked on it, it played passably well. In fact my group and I enjoyed it enough to play it a second time. And then we played it again. And again. And again. Now, having played it half a dozen times, I am pleased (and a bit surprised) to report that I am hooked on it. It's exactly the kind of game I had been looking for, and probably better than anything I would have picked up on my own.

"Dia de los Muertos" refers to the three-day Day of the Dead celebration in Mexico, during which the souls of departed animals, children and adults return to Heaven. As a trick-taking game, Muertos shares many similarities with the classics of the genre. It's played in partnerships, with members of each team sitting across from each other. Someone leads a trick by playing a card from his hand, and the other players, clockwise around the table, must then each play a card. The person who played highest card takes the trick and leads the next. So far we're in familiar territory, but at this point the mechanics of Muertos take a hard left and heads down the backroads.

The 48 cards in the deck come in four suits (red, blue, green or black) and are ranked from 0 - 10 (but no 9's,go figure). The card distribution is not uniform; instead all of the cards lower than 3 are black, all of the 10s are black, and most of the cards in the middle are of the color suits. All of the cards with ranks lower than 5 have secondary functions. The cards ranked 2, for example, are Food Cards, while the cards ranked 4 are Muertos cards. Other special cards allow you take actions after the card is played, such as asking another player about the contents of his hand or prohibiting the play of Food Cards.

The object of the game, by the way, is to collect sets of Food and Muertos cards. If, at the game's conclusion, you and your partner have four Food cards and three Muertos cards, you final score is three (the unmatched Muertos card is ignored). The scoring cards are removed from the deck prior to play. Then, before each of the three rounds, the deck is built using three Food cards, four Muertos cards, and the 25 cards of other ranks. These card are then dealt out, eight per player. The Food cards are always the of the same suit (black), but the Muertos cards vary in color and name from round to round: in the first they are green Animal Muertos, in the second they are red Child Muertos, and in the final round they are blue Adult Muertos.

Someone leads the first trick, and each other person now plays any card from their hand with one crucial restriction: once a card of a given color appears in a trick, no further cards of that color may be played (but black -- it's not technically a color, you know - -is always an option). If someone has no playable cards, as often happens at the end of a round, he instead discards. The person who played the highest ranked card takes the trick; if multiple cards are tied for highest rank, the first one played nabs it. If the trick contained Food or Muertos cards, these are placed before the player (or his teammate), and the player who took the trick must now "Exchange Gifts". To Exchange Gifts, the player allows the opponent to his right to take a card at random from his hand; the opponent then looks at the chosen card and then gives the original player any card from his own hand (which may be the card he just took). Play then resumes with the person who won the last trick leading the next.

As in all trick-taking games, keeping track of what has been played is a crucial aspect to success in Dia de los Muertos. This task is made simple by a rule that states that all played cards do not go to a discard pile; they are instead set off to the side, face-up and ordered by rank, so you can see at a glance which cards remain in play. An odd decision on the part of the designer, but a wise one, I believe. With only 32 cards in each round, card counting would be an entirely manageable (although not necessarily enjoyable) task for those who wished it employ the brainpower, but Branham has relieved us of this burden. Those adept at card tracking would be justified in complaining that this rule denies them an opportunity for skillful play, but for folks like me -- who find card counting laborious and difficult -- it's a great relief.

Spared the tedium of card counting, and considering that only 24 tricks are taken during the entire game (compare to the 26 tricks taken in just the first two hands of hearts), you may expect a game of Muertos to cruise by at a respectable clip. Not so. The reason: given the knowledge of all the cards still held in a round, the players are able to use their powers of deduction to the greatest advantage. This is enhanced by a number of cards that allow you a glimpse into someone else's hand. The "1: Swap" cards, for example, allow you to give a single card from your hand to your partner, while he, in turn, gives you a card from his. Having done this, you now know at least one card your partner holds. The same is true after Exchanging Gifts with an opponent. And there's even a "1: Ask" card which allows you to query another player about the contents of his hand (e.g. "How many cards higher than 5 do you have."). Even without these special cards, the savvy sleuth will find plenty of opportunities for educated guessing. A player who discards a card instead of playing to a trick, for instance, has just announced that his remaining cards are not black and in colors that have already appeared in the trick. Take note.

But knowledge is a fickle thing in Muertos, which owes as much to Three Card Monte as it does to bridge. Asking an opponent how many 10s he holds is great, but the next time he Exchanges Gifts or Swaps cards with his partner, your vision into his hand becomes cloudier. At any given moment you may have a pretty good idea of what another player holds, but it's rare that you'll ever know for certain. And this, I believe is, the true brilliance of the design: a clever balance between mechanisms that reveal information and mechanisms that serve to muddy the waters. It's also what makes the game longer than you might expect, as players hem and haw over their partial information, trying to reason out who gave what to whom. This can make the game drag a bit, although periodic shouts of "c'mon, play a card!' at the active player seem to keep things moving quite nicely.

The rule stating that no two cards of a like color can be played in a single trick makes for some interesting decisions. If you're in the first round, say, and you are don't think your team will capture the trick, why not play a green 5? That way, your opponents cannot play (and win) a Muertos card, which also happen to be green. Of course if your opponents have already collected five Muertos cards and only two Food cards, you may not care if they get it; after all, if they finiah the game with six Muertos and two Food, they still only get two points. I could go on and on about all the insidious subtlety tucked away in this game, but much of the fun comes from discovering them yourself.

The theme is largely irrelevant to the game, although some elements (such as the Gift Exchange) are well integrated. The best part of the motif, to my mind, is the artwork it allowed Branham to use. The images come from public domain clipart collections, but are very nice nonetheless and capture the mood quite nicely. (They remind me of the illustrations in "The Milagro Beanfield War", a book this game inspired me to reread.) It's also worth noting that while Muertos is clearly a "homebrew" game, the production quality is rather good: the laminated cards are shuffled, although dealing is a bit of a chore. It would be nice to see this game get picked up and get the production values it deserves.

As far as I know, the only place currently selling Dia de los Muertos is Funagain Games (http://www.funagain.com), at a price of eight bucks. A little steep for an indie press game with public domain clip art, perhaps, but as fine as any professional produced game youdl find at the same price. Indeed, the only real strike against Muertos is its slightly steep learning curve: new players will have no difficulty learning the rules, but catching all the nuances does take a game or four. And it's best played when all players are equally experienced: strategies which eventually seem obvious will sail over the head of a first-timer, which a can be infuriating when the first-timer is your partner. But once you've cultivated a group of players who are comfortable with the game's unusual mechanics, you'll doubtlessly hear the cries of "Bring out your Dead" whenever you get together.

Thread: Re:User Review

mcbeth — 2003-07-03T16:06:16+00:00

fbranham (#10119),

The artwork is absolutely beautiful. The lack of a corner rounder is immediately obvious, and it makes the cards look flimsier than they actually are. We play a fair amount, and have had much less trouble with the Dia de los Muertos cards than most games.

Thread: Re:User Review

Eric Haas — 2003-07-02T22:37:16+00:00

fbranham (#10119),

It was more the feel of the cards than their look that bothered me. I do like the artwork. "Cheap" is not really the right word for what I wanted to say but, I couldn't think of a better one.

Thread: Re:User Review

fbranham — 2003-07-02T16:26:44+00:00

Eric Haas (#9979),

Actually, the cards are printed directly on the stock, then were coated by the press with a printer's varnish. But we didn't have access to a corner rounder, and the stock is much thicker and stuffer than cardstock usually used for games. The cards will definitely hold up, but the stiffness makes them a pain to shuffle.

One more question...as you found the components cheap-looking, do you think the artwork is cheap-looking as well? I think the game definitely needs better cover art, but I'm quite partial to the Posada illustrations, myself.

Thread: User Review

Eric Haas — 2003-06-27T19:20:24+00:00

This is a trick taking partnership card game and, if you like that sort of game, this is a pretty good one. In this game, there are three suits (red, blue and green) and black, which is the lack of a suit. The cards have various ranks, like most card games. The twist to this game is, unlike other trick taking card games, you must NOT follow suit. So, if someone leads with a red card, no one else can play red.
You can always play black however. If you can not play a card, you must discard. Highest ranking card, regardless of suit, takes the trick. The only cards that score however, are the red, blue and green cards of rank 4 (representing children, adults and animals) and the black cards of rank 2 (representing food). When you win a trick, you keep only the scoring cards. The rest of the cards are placed to the
side, face up, so everyone can see what has been played (no card counting necessary). Any scoring cards you win, you keep until the end of the game.

When you win a trick, you must "exchange gifts" with the player to your left (who will always be an opponent, of course). To exchange gifts, your opponent takes one of your cards at random and then chooses one card to give back to you.

Some of the cards have special abilities. If you play a black 1, you swap a card with your partner. If you play a 3, that will nullify one 10 played by either of your opponents. There are a couple of others.

The game is played in three rounds. In the first round, 4 extra green rank 4 cards are added to the deck (and then removed at the end of the round if they haven't been won in a trick). In the second round, 4 extra rank 4 red cards and, in the last round, 4 extra rank 4 blue cards.

At the end of the game, each partnership counts up how many matching pairs of rank 4/rank 2 cards they have won. The partnership with the most matching pairs wins. If there is a tie, then single cards act as a tie breaker.

The game is fun and plays fairly quickly. The quality of the
components is a little on the low side, however. The cards feel like they were printed on paper, laminated and then cut out. They have square corners, which adds to the cheap feel. They are probably quite durable but, they don't feel like "real" cards to me.

Despite the components, I recommend the game to anyone who likes card games in the vein of Hearts or Spades.

Thread: Going OOP

Wardo — 2003-06-15T16:31:47+00:00

Read the Game Journal review (link below) for a full description and review. I noticed that there was gold available and I'm willing to snag it because I bring important news. The Atlanta Board Game Group helped Frank collate the last of the sets for a Funagain order, so this will soon be OOP. I've played this very good game and definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys a rich and rewarding trick-taking game. It will probably see print again, but rethemed as the Germans don't really "get" the Mexican holiday. So your chance to snag the original is going away. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Thread: Quick Comments

abnon — 2003-02-18T03:22:48+00:00

A very clever trick-taking game!
When my friend told me about this game, I honestly wasn't expecting anything special. It seemed too "homemade" to be a good strategy card game. However, I was amazed by what he brought over!
The cards are on nice stock with professional printing. The images themselves are authentic day of the dead images, adding to the theme.
The game itself is played with three rounds (one for each day of the celebration). Each round, the player or team competes to gather tricks of each of the various types.
The game adds some complexity and strategy, by having "following" rules - a color or item played can determine what cards can and cannot be played next.
The game can be played with 2 people, or 4 people (2 teams). It is acceptable with 2 people, but more of the exciting game play happens with 4 people playing.
Overall review: recommended! Not only is it a great game with great art, but it's very cheap - a no-lose situation!

Thread: Re:Review

2002-12-20T16:57:06+00:00

Thank you for the kind words. (And for quoting my favorite band at the top of the review.) A couple of notes:

While Sandi did the graphic design, the b/w illustrations are the work of J.G. Posada. He is from the period of the Spanish Civil War, and used Day of the Dead imagery all through his work. Many of which were political satirical cartoons.

And...the game was played maybe 6 times before we decided to print it (with 3 of those tests being early playtests of not-terribly good versions.)

I've since played it close to 100 times. The card balance still seems ALMOST perfect. I am pretty convinced that the Ask card is too weak.

Thread: Review

JasonMatthews — 2002-12-19T17:00:37+00:00

Dia de los Muertos -- It's a Dead Man's Party. Who Could Ask for More?

"Its creepy and its cooky ? mysterious and spooky. Its altogether ooky ? Frank Bra-na-ham's new game. Da da da dum. Click click."

Dia de los Muertos is one of those rare gems in the gaming world. Its got theme; its got atmosphere, and its got a $8 price tag. For those of you who are more fiendishly inclined, the theme will be the main draw. Yet for gamers of all alignments, this game has a lot to offer. What we have in this little package of 46 cards is an inventive, partners trick-taking game. Of course, the German game market is rife with trick taking games. Even partners trick taking has been done well with Tichu. But ask yourselves, how many of those games feature pictures of monkey skeletons in goucho outfits? In fact, there really is a dearth of good games featuring monkey skeletons in any capacity. Thankfully, a company has hit upon the right theme to rectify this missing link. You see, Dia de los Muertos translates to Day of the Dead. Those of you living a little nearer our neighbors to the south, will recognize that as "Mexican Halloween." While American children are doing such mundane things as collecting candy in plastic costumes, our Mexican neighbors have a rather different spin on how to ring in the holiday.

In Mexico, Halloween is celebrated over three days (they include All Saints Day and All Souls' Day). Not unlike most American holidays, dead creatures return home to visit their relations. Of course, no visit by relatives can be free of hassles. Thus, Mexican families go about building little alters with a variety of macabre snack food. After all, would a day of the dead be complete without skull-shaped cookies, candy coffins, and of course, the bread of the dead? I think not.

Well, somehow Frank Branham and Sandi West saw the makings of a fine card game in all of this. Sandi, in particular, outdid herself on the graphic design of the game. The artwork is totally compelling. Somehow, though the mechanics of this game have almost nothing to do with Mexican Halloween, Dia de los Muertos posses real atmosphere. I can only attribute that to the very stylized artwork. The cards give players a sense of the tongue-in-cheek approach to death that is the hallmark of this holiday.

For those of you who have met the designers, their approach will come as no great surprise. They possess something of the ghoulish charm that one encounters in a Tim Burton film or a Danny Elfman lyric. Creepy, yes, but in a fun way. Therefore, while the theme is not surprising, the fact that they found such an original niche for a trick-taking game is unusual.

So, leaving aside theme, what kind of monster has Frankenstein created? The bare bones are as follows. The game is played with two teams of two players. Each game lasts for three rounds. Each round represents some new poltergeist showing up on your front door and asking for some figgy pudding (well food anyway). In round one, its animals, and who would not want fluffy back from the grave? In round two, its dead babies (insert your dead baby joke here), and in round three we reach the adults. These rounds correspond with the three day celebration of Halloween in Mexico.

Like most trick taking games, everyone plays a card and the high card takes the trick. Each round consists of eight tricks. The first difference between Dia and more mundane card games is that everyone must avoid suits already played. Though this mechanism has been used elsewhere, the black suit (the suit of morning perhaps?) provides some additional twists. No matter what other suits have been played, you may, as Wesley Snipes noted, always bet on black. Furthermore, most of the game's interesting mechanics are "buried" in the black suit. The suit consists of four "0" cards, four "1" cards, nine "2" cards, one "3," one "6," and three "10s." Other than a funky card distribution, what is so interesting about these cards you might ask?

Well, some "0" cards allow you to choose their suit. When taken in tangent with the "avoid following suit" rule, that can make a zero card very powerful under the right circumstance. Those of you who have played Galaxy, the Arena will recognize a familiar design element. Most low cards in Dia have another function or special power. Therefore, its hard to be dealt a hopeless hand. Like Lazarus, you can always come back from the dead. Other examples of special powers include the "0" card that allows you to ask an opponent a yes or no question. The "1" cards that allow you to swap a card with your partner and the "3" cards that cancel your opponents "10" cards. One Dia's best aspects is its delicate balance between all the numbered cards. During play you will definitely note the elegance of a game that has been thoroughly playtested.

All of this interplay between the cards can make the normally mundane task of choosing a card in a trick taking game very agonizing. What makes it even more interesting is that Dia contains some elements of a deduction game. To help those of us who could not count cards if our lives depended on it, Mr. Branham requires that all cards be placed face up on the side of the table after each trick. This, combined with the card swap, allows all but the most Zombie-like players to make some pretty educated guesses about what their opponents have up their sleeves. Furthermore, anytime a player wins a trick that will result in points, that player must "gift" with the opponent to their right. A gift, basically is a random card draw by your opponent. They can keep your card and give you back something they don't want, or they can return it. Either way, your opponent obtains valuable reconnaissance.

The terms for success are also odd. You are not just trying to win tricks. You are trying to win tricks with food cards ( always black "2"s) or one of the three variety of corpses (always a colored 4). Every food card your team matches with a body counts as one point. The team with the most points wins.

It would be difficult to capture all the subtleties to this game, but they are many, and like the dead themselves, merely wait to be unearthed. Of the homebrew productions that I have played, this is the one I return to most often. It has become one of my favorite trick taking games. It ranks even higher among partnership games. I highly recommend that you go out and get yourself a copy ? or at least die trying. Da da da dum, click click.

Thread: Quick Comments

Skyjack — 2002-11-29T20:09:39+00:00

I purchased Dia de los Muertosmainly because the designer happens to be a regular here a BGG. I always have liked trump card games so there was 2 reasons to buy. The fact that the price was low made 3 reasons. I play games at the counter of our local game store ( mainly GamesWorkshop store but working on them). This game fit the mold of a play at the counter game so there was 4 reasons. At least 4 reasons to buy I ordered.

Dia de los Muertos which means day of the dead is actually a fun game to play. Everyone tries to take tricks with either a 2 or a 4 in it which represent Food and The Dead as part of the theme. If you take one of these point cards you get to lead next trick but your opponent gets to draw a random card from your hand. You play 3 separate deals of the cards with new 2's and 4's added each deal. Then the partnership that has the most pairs of 2's and 4's
wins the game. One kicker the cards are different colors and you cant play the same color as someone else has each trick except for black. Certain cards have certain abilities to add to the mayhem. Like 3's cancel 10's for example. All in all our group liked this quaint card game very much.

Thread: Session Report

PBrennan — 2002-02-24T03:55:30+00:00

In the last round, Rick and Rob had all the SWAP cards and it provided a significant enough advantage (knowing what each other had in the final plays) to prevent Kevin and I clawing our way back and taking the final Food we needed.

Scores: Rick and Rob 4, Kevin and Pat 3

A rating of 6 after 2 plays; ok game for the occasional play. There seems to be depth for only 32 cards, but the same ‘what the hell do I play here’ feeling that Sticheln provides slows the game way down as every card played is important. With only 8 tricks, it’s difficult to determine what your partner has and to construct good ‘partner’ plays in time - without the SWAP cards, more so. Planning for and winning score cards absolutely depends on what your partner can play however. This ‘partner luck’ is perhaps the reason it doesn’t come out more. Learning if you can overcome this somewhat via set plays is what could make it a good game of the month candidate - playing it with newbies each time is not the way to discover possible depth here.

Thread: General Comment

BoardGameGeek — 2002-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

On the good side, I'm very much looking forward to my next play. On the other hand, I haven't seen yet how good play is rewarded by the game. At this point my least favorite of Frank's games that I've played, but still a 6 rating and worthy of additional exploration.

Thread: General Comment

BoardGameGeek — 2002-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

I had to ask Mr. Branham if play was clockwise or counter-clockwise since the rules don't actually say. His reply:
Clockwise. (In actuality it doesn't matter. But I suspect German players will end up going counter clockwise. )
Oops. It does matter, because the player who gets to "raid" your hand on the gift exchange is the one who plays right before you. In the best position to block you. I did update the PDF rules on www.scaredchao.cc to
cover this. (All of my playtesters and rules editors missed the play direction issue.)

Thread: Preview

BoardGameGeek — 2001-03-29T21:41:58+00:00

Muertos is a fairly streamlined game but it seems to suffer from having just a few too many rules. Other first time players have complained about forgetting to exchange gifts, or swap, or "choose" a color that is NOT the current Muertos suit. Arranging already played cards for display is a little time consuming but preferable to memorizing all the tricks played. The cards have their value listed on one end only which means cards must always be held right side up; another minor annoyance.
These few complications might scare away first timers but those who persevere should find an enjoyable exercise in logic when playing. The two charts included which outline the card powers and distribution are invaluable.