Description

From the designer Frank Branham: A 4 player partnership trick taking game themed around the Mexican Day of the Dead. (A particular favorite holiday of ours, as Sandi and I were married on that day in Marietta Confederate Cemetery.) It is short (about 30 minutes), and rather brain bending.

The first time you play, there's a lot of checking the rules, checking the crib sheet, remembering if you exchange cards. You spend more time figuring the game than playing the tricks. But after a couple of hands, it makes sense and you switch to game-playing mode. And here's where it pays. If you enjoy Bridge, you can figure out what your partner signals when they swap a card, or you can read the deck based on what's been played, you will really enjoy Dia De Los Muertos. If you don't like Bridge, or can't figure trick-taking games anyway, steer well clear. It is rather brain-bending.

The original game has nice native graphics of the dead abroad and has a variant for 3 players. The re-issue as Four Dragons has an oriental theme.

• Dia de los Muertos (2007)