Mr. Jack

Customer Reviews

Great game for 2! involves a lot of thinking Review by Sweetspot

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although the game only involves 8 turns, each one of them is crucial and require lots of thinking and decision making.

whether you are playing as Mr. Jack (trying to run away), or the detective (trying to catch Jack), the game is fair and give you a chance to win with the right moves.
it is fun to utilize the different abilities of the characters to gain an edge over your opponent or slow them down.

if you usually just play 2 players games, this is a must have. if you have more than that, it's really hard to ask the extra people to sit and watch, because as indecisive as my fiancée, the game can get long and might consider adding a timer. :) (Posted on 3/17/12)

Great for couples, fast, fun and think. Review by MrQwerty

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This is a 2 player game where one player tries to out-think the other player. If you like games like Clue, where you have to find the murderer, this theme is similar but gameplay is a lot better.
One person plays the role of Jack the Ripper which took an identify of one of the characters on the board, and the other plays the inspector. It is kind of strange as there are 8 characters on the board, and both players can control any one of them. The point of the game is for the inspector to narrow down the selection of characters to find out which character is JACK and then capture him before the end of 8 turns or before jack runs off the board.
To narrow down the characters that are not jack, after moving the chracters around, you ask, "Is Jack seen?", and Jack will answer if he is seen or not seen. A character in the light(next to the lamp or character) otherwise unseen. If Jack "is seen", then all the other characters on the board that are "not seen" are not Jack and is innocent.
As the turns go by, the street lamps burn out and Jack will be harder to see, when Jack is not seen, he can escape the map on a turn.
And that is the jist of it.

This is a great game for couples, because it is pretty simple and it is 2 players. It doesn't require very abstract thinking like chess and one game lasts less than 20 mins.
Highly recommended for couples that don't have much time for gaming.
(Posted on 2/12/10)

Fun and Thought Provoking Review by David

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Mr. Jack is a two player game that directly pits you against your competitor. One player is Jack the Ripper and the other is a detective attempting to apprehend him. Jack is impersonating one of eight characters on the board and it is the job of the detective to use their powers of reasoning to figure out who it is. This involves moving characters in and out of the light and trying to keep your opponent on their heels.

The mechanics of this game are pretty simple to figure out, it only took about ten minutes before we were ready to role. The strategy, on the other hand, will take quite a bit longer. Trying to think two, three, or four steps ahead can result in some slow turns, but it's extremely satisfying when you've made exactly the right move. As the turns go by, the night gets darker and Jack gets closer and closer to escape. There is a fair amount of tension involved, and the interaction with your opponent is highly satisfying.

This is a great two player game that doesn't take very long to learn or to play. It's not too heavily themed and is a good introductory game that won't frighten off newer gamers. Definitely worth picking up. (Posted on 11/24/09)

I absolutely love this game, which is probably why no one wants to play with me Review by Murray

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The makers of this game also run a free online version of the game. And why not? They are confident that people will love the game and buy a physical version. I have been playing this game online for a while now and would definitely get myself this game and the expansion, if only I could find someone who would play it with me.

The game is for two players only. One plays Mr. Jack (as in Jack the Ripper) and the other plays the "Inspector". Jack draws one of the 8 character alibi cards at the beginning of the game and plays through the game impersonating that character on the board. His goal is to escape or to avoid accusation for 8 rounds. The inspector's goal is to narrow down the suspects and correctly accuse one of the 8 characters on the board as Jack. However, the inspector only gets one chance, if he's wrong, then he loses.

The way the inspector narrows down suspects makes the core of the gameplay. At the end of each turn, each of the 8 characters on the board are either "in the light" or "in the shadows." Being in the light includes standing next to another character, standing next to a lit lamppost, or standing in the view of Watson's lantern. Being in the dark is simply all other cases. At the end of each turn, Jack announces if he is in the light or in the dark and, thus the characters that are in the opposite state are eliminated from suspicion. Each of the 8 characters have special abilities that can help the players. For example, after using Sherlock Holmes, the player can draw one of the remaining alibi cards and eliminate another suspect (or, if it is Jack, withhold a card from the inspector).

The components of the game are absolutely wonderful. The board is well designed and keeps track of everything perfectly. Personally, I feel the light/dark card is unnecessary, but the character tokens are brilliant. Each have a coloured side and a black and white side. When a character is eliminated from suspicion, the Inspector can turn the token over to visually let himself know that the character has been cleared. Do note that the alibi cards have been misprinted somewhat. Each character has a specific colour assigned to them and that colour can be seen when viewing the stack of remaining alibi cards from the side. Thus, when playing, be sure to place the cards somewhere where the Inspector player cannot see the edge of the cards.

The game definitely takes a few playthroughs to learn, as there are many aspects to the rules and gameplay that needs to be figured out. Overall, the game is an excellent two-player game. Part of the reason that is the case, is the fact that it is fairly heavy in strategy. This, however, makes it so that it is very difficult for new players to play against experienced players and is the reason why no one will play this game with me. However, the game is beautiful, almost like a chess ballet and, for players of equal strength, the game has unlimited replayability, especially with the expansion.

I would definitely recommend this game for gaming couples who love board games. If there is a well-designed travel version of this game, I definitely pick it up. (Posted on 12/9/08)

Great, but mindbending. Review by Darren

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This game is a head-to-head contest that had us engrossed for three rounds the first night we opened it up. My wife and I play most often alone, so great 2 player games - or even decent ones - get a lot of play.

Basic gist: one player is the Inspector, one is Jack (or knows who he is, at least). There are 8 characters on the board to begin, one of which is Jack. Both players get the chance to move all 8 characters over the course of a few rounds. The Jack player is trying to make it difficult to narrow down the question, while trying to have the real Jack escape from the board (or just last to the final round, uncaptured), while the Inspector player is trying to eliminate suspects and capture Jack.

This description really does the game no justice. Each of the 8 characters has a special "power", and they interact with each other and the city (specifically the lights) in ways that make it easier or harder to determine if they are Jack. After 3 plays, we still have no idea of what the best strategy is - which bodes well for the game in our collection. The 4 star verdict is based on the fact that we will need a few more plays before making a final judgement. Right now, what Mr. Jack is, is a tense, mindbending contest between the two of us. It is wonderfully strategic to the point of "analysis paralysis".

My recommendation for the first few games is to play "open handed" so that you both discuss the options and best moves until you get a hand of the mechanics and strategies. Even as novices, we had a great - and notably tense - time.

A few more plays, and I think it may edge into "5 star" range.

Good Luck.




I have played only 3 games of this one so far, but it looks to be a keeper. (Posted on 12/4/08)