Mr Jack game

Mr. Jack Rules

In 1888, Jack the Ripper was a cause of terror in the dark streets of Whitechapel. The best detectives had to work together to give themselves a chance of capturing him before he escapes for good. The only problem is that Jack started imporsenting one of the detectives.

Contents of the Game

  • 1 game board representing the district of Whitechapel.
  • 8 character tokens of different colors with “Innocent” on one side and “Suspect” on the other.
  • 6 lit gaslight tiles, 4 of which are numbered from 1 to 4, and 2 that aren’t numbered.
  • 1 double-sided witness card.
  • 2 police cordon tokens.
  • 8 character cards with a green back. On each card there is a picture of a character and symbols showing their movement and special ability.
  • 1 turn-counter token.
  • 2 covered manhole tiles.
  • 8 alibi cards with a red back and a picture of a character.
  • 1 rule book.

Setup

  • Put the character stickers on each side of the tokens according to the colors. (For example, the red background sticker should be placed on the red character token.)
  • Put the turn-counter sticker on the turn-counter token.
  • Determine who will be Jack and who will be the Detective.
  • The Detective is positioned in front of the board so that the yellow side is in front of them.
  • Jack is positioned on the opposite side of the board causing him to see it upside down. This means that the gray side will be in front of him.
  • The character tokens, the covered manhole tiles, and the lit gaslight tiles are set on the board in accordance with the following picture.
MR JACK board game.PNG
  • All character tokens are placed “Suspect” side up on the board.
  • The character and alibi cards are shuffled and placed face down next to the board.
  • For the first round, the witness card will be placed “witness” side up next to the board.
  • The turn-counter token will be placed on the “Turn 1” space.
  • Jack draws an alibi card which he will look at discreetly before placing it face down in front of himself.
    • The alibi card Jack saw will be the character that he impersonates during the course of the game. This character will be the only one without an alibi.

How to Play

The game is played over a minimum of 8 rounds.

The game takes place in 4 stages.

  1. Using the characters:
  • During turns 1-3-5-7, draw the first 4 character cards and place them face up on the table.
  • To use a character, a player can either move the corresponding character token or use the character’s special ability. The character card is then placed face down on the table.
  • The Detective chooses a character from the 4 cards shown and uses it (moves the corresponding character token or uses its special ability.) The used character card is then turned face down.
  • Jack then chooses two characters from the three remaining cards. He too uses them and then places the cards face down.
  • The Detective then uses the final card to finish the turn.
  • During rounds 2-4-6-8, draw the 4 unused character cards and place them face up on the table.
  • Jack chooses one and uses it then turns it face down, followed by the Detective who uses 2 cards then turns them face down, after that, Jack closes the turn by using the final card and turning it face down afterward.
  • The symbols on the turn-counter indicate the order in which the players will take turns.
  1.  Call for witnesses:

During this stage, Jack announces whether he can be seen or not.

  • Jack can be seen if he’s on a lit space or next to another character. If this is the case, the following takes place:
    • Jack places the Witness card next to the board with its “Seen” side up.
    • This means that the characters that cannot be seen are innocent.
    • The Detective flips them over so that their “Innocent” sides are up. It’s important that their locations remain unchanged.
    • The Witness card remains as it is until the next call for witnesses.
  • Jack cannot be seen if the character he is impersonating is not on a lit space nor is it next to another character. If this is the case, the following takes place
    • Jack places the Witness card next to the board with its “Not Seen” side up.
    • This means that the characters that can be seen are innocent.
    • The Detective flips them over so that their “Innocent” sides are up. Again, it’s important that their locations remain unchanged.
    • The Witness card remains as it is until the next call for witnesses.

If Jack cannot be seen after a turn ends, he can try to escape during the next turn. If he manages to do so, he immediately wins the game.

  1. Extinguishing a gaslight:
  • A lit gaslight is extinguished during the turn corresponding to its number.
  • Refer to the turn-counter to find out which gaslight to remove from the game board.
  1. End of turn:
  • The turn-counter token moves up one space.
  • The character cards are reshuffled at the end of turns 2-4-6-8.

End of the Game

The game ends in one of three ways:

  • Jack leaves the district.
  • The Detective arrests Jack:
  • The Detective moves a character token to the same space as Jack and accuses him.
  • If the Detective’s accusation is correct, they win the game.
  • If the Detective’s accusation is incorrect, Jack escapes causing him to be the winner.
  • If Jack isn’t caught by the end of the 8th round, then he is the winner of the game.

The Use of Tokens and Special Spaces

  • The silver circle indicates the possible movement.
  • The golden circle indicates when to use the special ability of a character depending on the shape of the circle:
  • The ability MUST be used at the end of a movement. .
  • The ability MUST be used at the start or end of a movement.
  • The ability CAN be used during a movement.
  • The ability MAY be used instead of a movement.

Special Spaces

  • The gray spaces and the covered manhole tiles are street spaces that allow for movements.
  • The rest of the spaces are building squares that cannot be crossed.
  • The police checkpoints prevent Jack from escaping.

Passing over an open manhole cover allows, for 1 movement point, to move towards any other open manhole cover.

Official rules in PDF

Explore the official Mr.Jack rule in PDF.