This Dirty City

The Set-Up
It’s an election year, which means the mayor has suddenly decided to care about the crime in this town. He’s made a big show of caring about it lately, pounding his fists on podiums and using the radio to shout promises and threats into people’s livingrooms. I guess he thinks the killers and crooks will get spooked, just up and call it quits, lay down their heaters, and stroll into the nearest precinct to spill about what they’ve been up to lately. I know better, so none of his racket interests me. What does interest me are the whispers.

The unofficial word is the mayor's put out a bounty on all criminals, payouts determined by the severity of the crime and delivered like scraps to a dog, under the table. The more we catch, the better he looks, so he's also promised a tasty bonus to the person who catches the most and helps him get reelected. Usually I let the jobs come to me, but the promise of finally making fair dough for the amount of trouble I throw myself into has me going out looking for it. And hey, if I make a name for myself, that won't be the worst thing for business either.

The problem is every private eye, flat foot, and vigilante for miles has gotten wise to the same deal. Heck, even some of the criminals are doing the math on whether it's the perfect time to turn stool pigeon. I never thought I’d say this, but there isn’t enough crime to go around. We're all chasing the same leads, tailing the same suspects, working the same angles, so sometimes we work together, but usually only if we don’t have a choice. There's no question that we'd rather not split the credit for the convictions--or the cash. There's no question that everyone's fighting for the mayor’s attention--and his bonus. The only question I have to ask myself is...what am I willing to do to come out on top?

GAME OVERVIEW
This Dirty City is combination trick taking/tableau building/take that game that has players constantly deciding when to work together, double cross each other, or just look out for themselves.

Following standard trick taking rules, the player who plays the highest card of the lead suit (or trump suit) wins the trick. However, all of the cards won will either be a person, a place, or a piece of evidence. Once a player has won one of each, they can make an arrest (start building a tableau) to start earning notoriety points. Word travels fast and records are public, however, so the other players will be able to play off the victor’s case, potentially exposing twists in the case that take it in a new direction and change how much notoriety it is worth. Once a case has 5 cards, (a full tableau), it will be turned in and all of the players involved in solving that case will earn points determined by how sensational the crime ends up becoming.

Should players mind their own business, building their own cases and hoping no one else butts in to steal some of the credit after they’ve done the heavy lifting? Should they take any opportunity to ride the coattails of the competition, stealing points in the process?
Keep in mind that doing things strictly by the book is not the only way to get ahead. While the winners of tricks get all the cards played, the person who plays the lowest card gets to collect a Dirty card. These cards allow players to attack each other or alter gameplay rules to their advantage.

With the decision to play high OR low cards, each providing opportunities to earn notoriety, players will constantly struggle to either be respected--by solving cases and trusting the system--or feared--by doing what they have to do to get ahead in THIS DIRTY CITY...