Bunker Project Log

03 Mar

Mr. Jack!

Mr. Jack

I’ve been on the lookout for 2-player games to play with Mrs. G. The problem is, I’ve been really obsessed with theme lately, and she just wants simple rules. Luckily, Mr. Jack has both, with lots of decisions to boot.

In a nutshell, Mr. Jack is played by two players, one trying to catch Mr. Jack, the other trying to get Mr. Jack out of the city.

There are eight characters on the board, one of whom is Mr. Jack in disguise.

Character Cards

Only the player helping Mr. Jack knows who Mr. Jack really is. In this game, Mr. Jack is Dr. Watson.

Mr. Jack!

Mr. Jack, hidden!

Mr. Jack Hidden

The game is played over the course of eight turns, denoted by the turn counter on the right side of the board.

The Turn Counter

On each odd-numbered turn, the eight character cards are shuffled.

The Player Cards

Then the first four character cards are revealed

The First Four

The inspector chooses one character to move first. Then Mr. Jack plays the next two. Finally, the Inspector moves the fourth and final character.

On the even numbered turns, the remaining four cards are revealed. In this turn, Mr. Jack chooses first, followed by two for the Inspector, and the final for Mr. Jack.

The Second Set

At the end of each turn, the player helping Mr. Jack must reveal whether Mr. Jack is seen or unseen. By flipping the Mr. Jack card to the appropriate side.

Seen

Mr. Jack has been witnessed!

Unseen

Mr. Jack is Hidden!

Characters that are within one hex of a light, or any other character are seen, everyone else is unseen.

In this turn, Mr. Jack was unseen, which means that any character in the light is exonerated, and are flipped over to their white side.

Exonerated

Each character has special abilities, each one powerful enough to foil virtually any plan you can think up.?

John Smith can turn swap a single lamp at the beginning or end of his movement. This could make a whole slew of characters seen or unseen in a single stroke.

John Smith

Jeremy Bert, the reporter, can move the manhole covers, opening or blocking a quick exit.

The Reporter

The manhole cover, not actually covering a manhole.

Manhole

The detective moves the police blockades. There are four exits on the map, and two blockades.

Barrier

From my limited plays, the broad strategy is for the inspector to keep everyone in the center of the board, away from the exits, but split between seen and unseen. Mr. Jack wants to spread everyone out to the periphery (and thus, the exits) whilst keeping everyone in the same state of seen or unseen.

I have only played four times, and botched the rules the middle two. The fourth I played after explaining the rules very well, and it was tough. (This might have something to do with the kibitzing amongst the three people I was actually playing against.) I won the game, but only when the kibitzers walked away. 🙂

Mrs. G creamed me though. (Even after her brilliant opening move of placing everyone in the light, hee hee.)

4 Responses to “Mr. Jack!”

  1. 1
    DrFaulken Says:

    Sounds fun! I might check it out. How much was it?

  2. 2
    Gangrene Says:

    About $25, and worth every penny! Here’s a link to get you on your way:

    http://www.boardgameprices.com/game.aspx?id=104573

  3. 3
    Markus O'Reallyus Says:

    Assuming both players are focused, how long should a game last? Seems like seasoned vets could finish a game in 10 minutes or so.

  4. 4
    Gangrene Says:

    I wish. Someone who actually knows what they are doing will bring this game to a crawl. There are many possibilities with each character, and virtually every strategy can be countered.

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