A discussion with Grant Rodiek today led quickly to traditional style card games, which pretty quickly led to me geeking out about the Mystery Rummy series by Mike Fitzgerald. As I wait for the Kickstarter for Escape from Alcatraz to ship, I thought I'd share where my brain went on the previous games. Specifically, to music. I'm almost as big of a music nerd as I am a games nerd, so this sort of thing was probably inevitable on this blog. So, prompted by Grant, here's what soundtracks you could use for the first four Mystery Rummies:

Mystery Rummy #1: Jack the Ripper. Still probably the best of the series, this is a tense, tight game with a dark, dark theme. I initially thought death metal, but after thinking about it while making dinner, decided that's not quite right. You want more menace, more atmosphere. The streets of London, choked with despair, poverty, terror. You want black metal. Yes. That's the stuff. How about Altar of Plagues's brilliant swan song, Teethed Glory and Injury? Perhaps the frigid, distant, howling peril of Emperor's In The Nightside Eclipse?

Mystery Rummy #2: Murders in the Rue Morgue. This is a much more mannered theme, of deduction, not of terror and blood. Sure, it's still a murder mystery, but it's not the same kind of visceral thing that #1 is. Something sinuous, twisting, even puzzling might work here. Part of me thinks something mathy, like Don Caballero (For Respect, maybe), Burning Airlines (Mission: Control!), or Polvo (Exploded Drawing) is the thing here. But you could also go with a really literate rap album here, something with a winding lyrical approach. Say, Blackalicious - probably Blazing Arrow. That's a reach, but it might work.

Mystery Rummy #3: Jekyll & Hyde. A two-faced game like this requires a two-faced sort of music. A kind of schizophrenia is really what we're looking for, the sort of thing that leaves you starting at its starts and turns. I sort of want to say Naked City (Torture Garden), but that's kind of cruel. Also, really, that's only Mr. Hyde, not Dr. Jekyll. Plus, it would be kinda hard to play a game to that racket. Perhaps Boris, with their doom laden drone and garage rock collisions, perhaps Akuma No Uta. Finally, you could spin some drum and bass or something similarly glitchy. Say some classic Squarepusher (Music is Rotted One Note) or Prefuse 73 (Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives).

Mystery Rummy #4: Al Capone. I feel like we need some sophistication here. We've had blistering blast beats and screeching, twisty guitar lines, and glitchy, twitchy stuff. A more straightforward approach is called for here, something smoother. Jazz, obviously, is the ticket. That game's era isn't my wheelhouse for music, but hey, whatever, I'll just ignore that I'm picking stuff from totally the wrong decade. You can never go wrong with Coltrane (Blue Train). Perhaps even some really jazzy ska, maybe The Skatalites (Foundation Ska is the best collection around) or something from the third wave, like The Articles (Flip F'Real - $.15!).