Sarah Leven
United States
New York
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My boyfriend and I are young urbanites living in apartments... apartments that don't include utilities... or laundry facilities. While we are at the local laundromat we enjoy playing games best suited for two players. The original Mr. Jack was among one of our very favorites, perfect for us as he takes a while to think out his moves and I always need extra time to fold. We found the original game so wonderful that we went ahead and bought this extension.
For those who have never played the game at all, this is a 2-player game of deduction. One player plays as Jack the Ripper and is trying to escape capture. Jack wins the game if he either escapes the map without being caught or if he survives all 8 turns without being found out. The other player is the Detective and his job is to figure out which character is Jack. He does this by trying to isolate characters. At the end of each turn, each player on the board is either in the light or in the dark. During each turn both players move two charcters to a location of their choosing and based on their locations they are either in the light or the dark. Jack has to declare if he is in the light or dark. The detective should be trying to aim for a relatively even split (especially in the first few turns) of characters in the light and dark while Jack wants to keep as many characters as possible in one or the other. If Jack says he is in the dark, the Detective then flips over all characters in the light or vice versa. The game mechanics are relatively simple but there is a great deal of strategy and planning required to play either side. There are a lot of variables in the original game which keep it interesting. In my opinion the original game is perfectly balanced.
Mr. Jack, the original, has exactly 8 characters. You play with all 8 of those characters. The extension adds 5 more characters into the mix but you still only play with 8 at a time. This does add a bit of variety. However, four of the original characters (Sherlock Holmes, Inspector Lestrade, John Smith, and Burt) are always included. This leaves 9 characters for four spots. The person playing Jack gets five characters and is to pick 2 and the person playing the inspector gets four characters and picks 2. It's a reasonable balance except that the characters handed out are at random and may create a bit of unbalance, especially given that neither player knows who the other is choosing. Sometimes it can be interesting but more often than not, it is more boring or frustrating if a bad mix gets choosen. To elaborate more on the point, I will run through each character and what they do. I will not run through the original characters as I am sure there are a ton of posts for the original game regarding the original characters.
*Madame- A super-Miss Stealthy. She can move up to 6 spaces (while a normal character can only move 3, Miss Stealthy moves 4) but not through objects (as Miss Stealthy can) nor through the Sewers. Semi-interesting though, but not earth shattering.
*Spring-Heeled Man- Based on an old urban legend, this character can move great distances in a single bound... quite literally. There are a lot of rules for this super movement, which is a good thing as otherwise he's be way to powerful, but in the end winds up just being another super mover.
*John Pizer- A butcher who apparently spells so badly that once he's done moving, any character on a hex next to him moves three away from him. He's an anti-Goodley and an interesting idea. He can be tricky to plan out though at times and it's much more difficult to keep him in the light than your average character.
*Joseph Lane- A revolutionary who moves three spaces and then must move his barrier somewhere on the board. This barrier is not only a roadblock but also a wall between characters. It stops Watson's light and even characters right next to each other now do not keep each other in the light.
*Inspector Aberline- A detective who moves three spaces and keeps people next to him. Not much else to say about him.
With these new abilities come new conflicts. If a character is next to Aberline and Pizer waltzes up, does he move three or one? There are other little things that are less intuitive than the original. This can be both good and bad, depending on what you're looking for. Also, with three big movers in the game now and two characters that can move other people, things can get a lot more difficult to plan out. In a game of deduction, this can be frustrating but if the players are ready for it, a welcome change as well.
Our intention when we bought the game was to add a little spice and variety. It's done a great job for us. However, I would caution anyone who is not very familiar with the base game from purchasing this. I won't even teach the extension to a new player because it does add so much more complexity. At the heart of the base game is a great deal of deduction and the extension adds a great deal more unpredicability. As a way to spice up the familiar, I'd say it's great. Also, if you really love the original, perhaps giving this a whirl is a good idea as well. The downfall is that it disrupts the balance a bit. As a way to add to the base game if you find it too cerebral, I'd stay away from it. This extension will make your head hurt even more. So at the end of the day, I'd say this isn't as good as the original but does add the variety a lot of gamers are looking for.
My ratings:
8.2- overall gameplay
8.8- For what it is meant to be
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Was George Orwell an Optimist?
United States
Corvallis
Oregon
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nervousbutterfly wrote: If a character is next to Aberline and Pizer waltzes up, does he move three or one?
One.
Good review. 
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Nick Fisk
United Kingdom
Stoke on Trent
Staffordshire
Come on the mighty Seagulls! Puching for the play-offs ... but not sure we want to win them!
That's weird. This bit used to mention Shire Games, and tell you all how wonderful we are. But it seems to have got deleted. Let's see what happens this time ....
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nervousbutterfly wrote: *John Pizer- A butcher who apparently spells so badly that once he's done moving, any character on a hex next to him moves three away from him.
Good to know there were "Grammar Nazis" even before the internet
N.
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