Customer Reviews

Mr Jack

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this on a whim, and I am SO glad I did. My boyfriend plays a lot of tabletop strategy games, and I can't really keep up with him, so I wanted something a little less miniature based. This game is full of strategy, but also simple and FUN!

In a nutshell, Mr. Jack is a two-player game wherein one player is Jack the Ripper, trying to escape White Chapel (ie, the board) and the other player is the investigator chasing him. There are 8 pieces on the board, and the player who is Jack knows that one of those pieces is actually Jack the Ripper in disguise. However, both players get to play all of the pieces, so there are times that the investigator may unknowingly move the Jack the Ripper piece, perhaps to Jack's benefit, perhaps not! What seems like such a simple concept at first becomes many layers of stealth, strategy, and bluffing very quickly!

This game is tons of fun! My boyfriend and I switch off who is Jack and who is the inspector. Although gameplay is incredibly balanced, it's actually quite hard for Jack to get away, so the inspector has so far won most of the games. I was worried, bcs I get competitive and can be a sore loser sometimes, but we're both tied for wins and losses so far. And we have so much fun playing, that I never feel bad when I lose.

Mr. Jack, in addition to being well-designed gamewise, is also well-designed constructionwise. The pieces are of high quality, and the cards are thick cardboard, so the chances of accidental rips, etc, are slim. The artwork/characters are fun and cartoony; even though this is about a... well... serial killer, it's totally a good game for older kids, especially if you're trying to teach strategy or thinking ahead. It's kind of like a goofy, simple chess in that sense. :P

The only criticisms I would give this game would have to do with replayability concerns. So far, every game has been fun, but I wonder how many times I'll play before certain elements start becoming predictable. I could be totally wrong though; certainly the games I've played so far have been exciting and fun, usually lasting about an hour on average. Also, be aware that it is very easy to get lost in a cyclical, strategical inner dialogue with this game, where you'll start obsessing over, "if I do this, he can do this, but then i can do this, but what if he does this?" kind of thing, and that can make the turns last way longer than expected!

Overall though, this is a great game for an indoor couple's date, a one-on-one game night with a friend, or an afternoon with your (older) child. Easy to teach, easy to play, and a lot more fun than you'll expect. You'll be hooked after round 2!

Mr. Jack is actually more fun than you would think. This is a game which only allows for two players at a time so don't invite 10 people over to play or most of them will spend their time standing around watching. One of the players is Jack the Ripper and he controls all of the secretive movements that Jack makes. The other player assumes the role of the detective who attempts to catch Jack before daylight. The game can be confusing at first but once you play a game you will start to get the feel for how each turn should be played out. Basically the detective trys to capture Jack, and Jack attempts to elude the detective and evade capture. The game comes with quality pieces that have nice artwork. Great game for kids or adults.

I play a lot of board games (strategy, Euro, rail, and other), and hadn't heard any buzz on this when I purchased it for my wife as a holiday present. Of course, Amazon recommended it for me based on my own preferences, so it was a pretty convenient to give us both a gift.

I am stunned (in a good way) by the layered complexity of this well-designed game. As described in more detail in other reviews, a number of binary options combine each turn to either reveal or conceal crucial information. Each of the eight characters in the game has unique abilities, many of which HAVE to be used when that character takes a turn. While there is an element of luck, it's the kind of luck that clever players can leverage to their advantage--there should almost always be a way for you to play the options available to you on a turn. The game appears to be pretty well-balanced, although it may appear to beginners that the detective player has an advantage. That should even out with more play.

The game is good for developing and applying deductive reasoning skills at several levels. There's no lurid content (the box cover is about the raciest thing about the game), so it's appropriate for any child who's developed the patience to work through deductive reasoning--and while we haven't tested this theory on our 11-year-old yet, I strongly suspect it will help him develop that patience. It's also a fun and fast-moving game for any two people who like playing board games; we're getting through games in 30-45 minutes. The components are solid and durable, the artwork is fun, and the overall value is excellent. I plan to buy the expansion set and the New York version after I've paid some holiday bills.

Mr. Jack is a 2-player game built around the theme of discovering the identity of Jack-the-Ripper. The artwork is cartoony and friendly, so don't let the theme put you off. I've played this several times now with my 16 year old son, and he has declared it his "new favorite game". Underneath the skin, this game is a deduction game for the Investigator (cleverly arranged so that no paper or pencil is needed), and a cat-and-mouse game for Mr. Jack. I suspect that initially, both players will find the Mr. Jack side easier to play, so switching roles is recommended. Since the game plays pretty quickly, maybe 30 minutes, getting a chance to play both sides of the hunt is quite feasible. I highly recommend Mr. Jack for anyone looking for a short 2-player game involving a pleasant amount of thought.

Bought this to have a game to play with my wife. Easy to pick up and offers a lot of fun and challenge. Great game for anyone.

In each game of Mr.Jack, one person is Jack (the Ripper) who is trying to escape off the board; while the other person is the Inspector who is trying to figure out which on-the-board character is Mr.Jack before Jack escapes.

Each game consists of approx 8-10 rounds, where a round is a reshuffle of the character cards. At the end of each round, the board publicly shows which characters are in the "light" versus in the "dark"; and the person playing Mr.Jack must honestly tell the Inspector whether Mr.Jack is presently in the light or dark: this slowly or quickly narrows which character must be Mr.Jack.

The two persons take turns moving characters to where the char is in the light or dark, plus whether the char is doing or nearing another special power (like being able to traverse the sewers for fast-far movement). Mr.Jack can only escape the board by being near an open edge when Mr.Jack is in the dark. Thus strategy....

....To prevent Jack from escaping, the Inspector might move a suspicious character into the light even when more light/dark helpful elimination information might be obtained by leaving the char in the dark.

PROBLEMS:
The are two major problems with this game Mr.Jack:

[1] The strategies are tedious, probably because they achieve only small nudges of mere probabilities. Do you want to do math or play a game? Does you wife as playing partner want to do math? (Carcassonne has this same math problem.) This is not a game where you can think back to the choices you made and discuss them.
[1b] One area of strategy involves remembering which character cards have been played so that you can better play the odds about which character card you or your opponent might turn over next and exercise.

[2] To be a competitive game with a winner, you MUST play twice in a row; so that each person plays one game as Mr.Jack. Then the winner is determined by who was able to escape with Jack the quickest. This reminds me of the game Mastermind, except here neither person is passive during either of the two Mr.Jack games. This is simply less satisfying than a traditional winner/loser game like chess, Khet, or Twixt.

Ultimately I want to enjoy this game, but I just cannot. After my first game of Mr.Jack I had a higher opinion of it, which eventually slid downhill with further playings.

There are many positives to this game. Its basic concept is a clever implementation of the reasoning-by-elimination principle that kids learn from the game Clue. The physical board and pieces are sturdy and pleasant.

You'll have to play this game several times to get the hang of it but it's totally worth it. This game works on so many levels and really keeps your mind working! Because Mr. Jack's identity is hidden, this game is sort of like Clue. You have to find out WHO is the killer. On the other hand....HOW you find that information out is quite ingenious. Because each player moves several characters on the board in each turn...and each character can move in its own unique pattern of spaces and directions...the characters move almost like chess pieces. So, you have to keep remembering how each character moves and IF moving that character will benefit you on this turn. It's a fantastic combination that works really well...and will keep you building new brain cells! I love this game because I really love secret identity games and this is one of the best.

I like that this is a game for 2 players, because that is more rare among games adults can enjoy. I got it to play with my husband. The only problem is that it seems like it's much easier to win as the inspector than it is as Jack, so one player is always at a disadvantage and you really need to play at least twice then so you both get a fair shot. It's not impossible to win as Jack, just harder I think because if you are a good strategist it's not that hard to narrow the suspects down and catch Jack. The repetitive nature of the game gets a bit boring after multiple plays, so honestly we haven't played it in quite a while now. But I think it still has good long-term replay value.

I've always liked Clue, but Clue has a big problem: You need at least three players. And that's the rule with ANY deduction game, you really need three players for the game to work.
Until Mr. Jack came along.

In Mr. Jack one player is Jack the Ripper and has disguised himself as one of the 8 Detectives on the board. The other player is the Inspector and is trying to deduce which of the 8 Detectives is actually Mr. Jack in disguise.
Every Detective has a Special Ability that is used when you choose them on your turn, and at the end of the turn Jack has to reveal if he is in Light or Shadow. Every Detective that is in the opposite element is found Innocent and is flipped to the grey "Innocent" side of their piece. This means that every turn both players are trying very hard to control the Face Up characters to allow for the best possible arrangement of Light and Shadow.

It's a game that has a lot of tension and excitement in it and it's fairly easy to teach, even with all the Character Powers to learn.

I think this is one of the best deduction games because it's fast, just a little bit random(cards decide which Characters are Active each turn) and very, very tense. It's a great game that I will gladly play any time.

This is a great 2 player game if you want to do a bit of strategical thinking. This is not the kind of game you can easily play while watching TV or without much strategy. My wife and I love it and there is enough difference and strategy in it to make us continue playing it on a regular basis.