Game: Mystery Rummy: Jack the Ripper

Thread: Re: New edition coming from Pegasus

Franknfurter — 2008-11-12T21:32:53+00:00

Saw this as Essen and packaging is identical to the 'hard box' versions of Mystery Rummy, it also uses the same 'stiff' card stock.
Shame about the card stock, but I'm looking forward to picking up 'No. 2' next year.

Thread: Re: New edition coming from Pegasus

kneumann — 2008-11-12T12:51:18+00:00

This German version looks to be in stock here:

http://www.funagain.com/control/product/~product_id=019855

Thread: Re: Eddy/Gull Alibi

Untgimp — 2008-10-03T12:35:37+00:00

Thanks guys. I understood the rules but the text on the card seemed vague about it. Thanks again for the help guys!

Thread: Re: Eddy/Gull Alibi

paulmond — 2008-10-03T12:28:26+00:00

Page 4 of the rulebook says about Alibi cards: "...can only be played when there is a meld of Evidence cards of the same color already in play."

If there is no yellow meld on the table, the yellow part of the dual-colored card cannot be "played".

Your friend is correct.

edit
*John beat me to it.

Thread: Re: Eddy/Gull Alibi

jearles — 2008-10-03T12:25:31+00:00

Alibi cards can only be played if there is meld of Evidence cards of the same color already in play.

The Eddy/Gull Alibi card has TWO colors allowing you to use it as an alibi for either suspect, but evidence against that suspect must still be in play.

Thread: Eddy/Gull Alibi

Untgimp — 2008-10-03T12:02:03+00:00

A question came up about the Eddy/Gull alibi card and I was hoping someone could help me with the answer or say how they play the situation.

The card says to play only when there is an evidence meld for Eddy or Gull in play. Choose Eddy or Gull and annouce it.

I am under the impression that as long as ONE of the character's evidence melds is in play, I may play the card and name the character I wish, even if that suspect does not have an evidence meld in play.
Example: Gull has an evidence meld in play, I play Gull/Eddy alibi and choose Eddy even though he does not have an evidence meld in play.

My friend argued that I can only choose which one if BOTH have an evidence meld in play. If only one character has an evidence meld in play, then I must choose that character for the alibi.

Who is correct?

Thread: Re: Ripper escapes

macls29 — 2008-09-09T23:59:39+00:00

Mike Mayer wrote:
Agreed. If five victims are out, the Ripper immediately escapes from your hand.

Just a bit nit-picky here, but...

You have to remember to play Ripper Escapes. You can do it at any time, but YOU have to do it. In otherwords, it is not a passive event. Otherwise, I agree, the only pre-requisite is that all five Vics need to be down.

Thread: Re: Ripper escapes

Mike Mayer — 2008-09-09T21:21:05+00:00

Agreed. If five victims are out, the Ripper immediately escapes from your hand.

Thread: Re: Ripper escapes

leungd — 2008-09-09T18:25:54+00:00

If you have the Ripper Escapes card, as soon as all five of the victims have been played in front of any player, you immediately lay it down and the hand ends. This makes the game pretty tense towards the end of the deck, when it's likely that you or your opponent has the Ripper Escapes card, but you need to get rid of some victim cards.

I just checked the scanned rules, and it looks like the only requirement is having all five victim cards in play:

Ripper Escapes. This card is worth 35 points. It's not a Gavel card or an Evidence card. You may play this card at any time as long as all five Victim cards are in play. This means you could even play it during someone else's turn. You may play it in your play area as soon as the fifth Victim card comes into play, no matter what else you've done on that turn. As soon as the Ripper Escapes card is played, the hand ends.

Thread: Ripper escapes

bd171 — 2008-09-09T17:56:25+00:00

There was some confusion last time we played about the Ripper Escapes card. The rules list 3 scenarios where Ripper Escapes scoring is used. I assumed that when all 5 victums were in play you simply played the Ripper Escapes card and that was it, but my partner thought that all 3 scenarios had to occur before Ripper Escapes scoring could be used, ie you had to play Ripper Escapes, you had to have gone through the case file twice etc. Admittedly the rules don't seem to explicitly state that simply playing the Ripper Escapes card means you use Ripper Escapes scoring, but that's how I interpret it.If anyone can clarify thanks.

Thread: Re: Does Jack ever escape?

MrHyde — 2008-09-08T08:53:44+00:00

Ralph

Ripper is my favourite 2 player card game.

Over the years of playing, we've slowly learnt it's subtle secrets,
and yes Jack probably gets away 1 in 4 or 5 with us as well.

timothy

Thread: Re: 2 mistakes + solid play + desparation = blowout

Stoffel — 2008-09-08T05:37:46+00:00

I am ashamed to say this is a game I own and have played only once. Great session report.

Thread: Re: Do you use voting?

MrHyde — 2008-09-08T04:51:06+00:00

As above ... voting is a whole extra level in the game that makes it so much better.

Why else are the alibi cards there?
Why are some melds better to collect than others?

Double guessing, voting early, voting late with the big play up your sleeve, etc etc.

Do try it, but remember you must have your OWN meld in play before calling the vote.

Timothy

ps.. with my surname you'd think I'd like Jeckle & Hyde best, but Ripper is my favourite of the Mystery Rummy series.

Thread: 2 mistakes + solid play + desparation = blowout

macls29 — 2008-09-08T00:49:25+00:00

MR: JTR is the card game my wife and I play together most often. This was our 55th game.

Turn 1
I had a weak hand - no gavels except 2 Commish Resigns and an Alibi. Further, I had only one evidence pair - Letters. I was able to get the Letters melded, but little else. Rachel had three melds, 2 Vics, 3 Scenes, and 2 Suspect cards. She got 12 points from the Ripper doubler effect.

Ripper: Jill (oddly, our most common Ripper!)
Vote: None
Score: Rob 17 (17) Rachel 41 (41)

Turn 2
I was dealt a more balanced hand, including Ripper Escapes, a Vic and an evidence meld. However, I made two blunders this turn:

#1 - When holding a Wild and three evidence pairs, I didn't think though the play outcomes clearly enough. I decided to meld with Prince Eddy, who had two evidence and his Suspect in the discard. I discarded a Druitt, which Rachel picked up and played in a meld. This, eventually, made Druitt the Ripper rather than Jill (who's 12 points in cards I had entirely in front of me).
#2 - When we both had one card left, I drew the Neuva Ring (the Jill Alibi card). decided to hold it, in the hopes that Rachel would pick and play Jill's last evidence card and force Jill as the Ripper. Little did I realize the odds were stacked against her drawing this single card. Instead, she drew another suspect card with her next play and went out.

#1 was a 20 point-swing error. #2 was a 9 point-swing error. Significant? Uh, yeah.

Ripper: Druitt
Vote: None
Score: Rob 29 (46) Rachel 32 (73)

Turn 3
So, my back was against the wall. I got two Vics down early, and acquired Ripper Escapes and Commish Resigns. Rachel twice used her turn to: pick the evidence card I discarded, play a Scene, then select a matching evidence card in Scotland Yard. I knew she was filling up with melds fast. At about 3/4's through the Case File, I made my play. I played the Commish, and was 'forced' to place the 4th Vic from my hand. I waited patiently. Rachel looked up, and slowly shook her head "no". Ugh.

Two plays later she is out.

Ripper: Halibinka (Pedachenko)
Vote: None
Score: Rob -17 (29) Rachel 37 (110)

Game notes: Yes, we refer to the Jill Alibi as the Neuva Ring because of the picture (credit to Rachel)... Pedachenko is Halibinka, which my dad says is one of the three types of mushrooms he would pick as a youth (credit to me and my paternal grandmother).... this is one of our largest score discrepancies in a while, mostly caused by my desparation Ripper Escapes play in the last round... interestingly, had Ripper Escape worked in Turn 3, the score would have be just about knotted at 80 going to the next turn.

Thread: Re: More Rules Confusion: What cards score negatively??

msherwoo — 2008-09-03T07:04:02+00:00

Excellent! Thanks!

Thread: Re: More Rules Confusion: What cards score negatively??

DragonCat — 2008-09-03T00:45:39+00:00

P1's score is zero. At the time the game ends, there is an orange meld in play, so any cards playable on the orange meld held in hand do not count against the player.

The check is made after play has ended. Any cards that are playable at that time do not count. So although they were not playable on his turn, after P2 goes out they are "playable".

Many times the only negative points are for scenes, victims and the Ripper in hand.

Hope this helps!

Thread: Re: More Rules Confusion: What cards score negatively??

msherwoo — 2008-09-02T22:27:56+00:00

3. If you are not the one who went out and have cards remaining in your hand, you must look at your hand and subtract from your point total any card that could not be played on an existing meld. Any cards that could have been played are set aside and do not figure in scoring.

My real question is focused on the last sentence:
Any cards that could have been played are set aside and do not figure in scoring.

Here's the questionable scenario:

P1's turn: Holding 2 orange cards. No orange meld exists. P1's turn ends.
P2's turn: Plays an orange meld, and in the process goes out.

It seems that in this case, the P1's orange cards count as zero (because of the first sentence regarding 'existing meld'), but the intention of the rules seem to me that they should be negative -- P1 was holding cards he could not play.

Especially with the caveat from the rules:
This rule allows you to strategically hold cards that could be played to help the suspect you want to be the Ripper.

Thoughts?

Thread: Re: New edition coming from Pegasus

Franknfurter — 2008-08-25T18:35:09+00:00

I'm hoping the card stock is not as 'stiff' as the original, over the years many of my cards have become creased. (they're also a nightmare to deal/shuffle)

Thread: Re: New edition coming from Pegasus

gugi — 2008-08-11T10:37:56+00:00

I asked Pegasus about the new edition and this is what they told me:

- it will be in german only and no english version is planned so far neither by them nor by any other publisher (as far as they can tell)

- the game will have complete new artwork

- Pegasus is going to republish more mystery rumy-games in 2009.

Thread: A quickie, a killer, and a comeback

macls29 — 2008-08-10T20:55:06+00:00

As a reward for driving back to WBC to pick up "Mr. G" (a giraffe doll), my wife rewarded me with a meal and a quickie!

(get your head out of the gutter!)

A quick two-player game. Our current game of choice is Mystery Rummy: Jack the Ripper.

Round one-

It may have been one of my worst opening hands ever. To add injury to insult, my wife went out quickly. At least there wasn't a vote.

Ripper: Eddy
No Vote
Score: Rob -20 (-20) Rachel 36 (36)

Round two-

This round went through most of the deck. Tension was building, as four victims were down and not many cards were left. I'd called an early vote, then added a suspect and two more evidence cards to seal Druitt as the Ripper when I went out.

Ripper: Druitt
Vote: Rob-Druitt Rachel-Gull
Score: Rob 55 (35) Rachel 28 (64)

Round three-

I got a great starting hand, and used two Scenes to cherry pick cards I needed after a couple Ripper Strikes. Rachel was left without a meld.

Ripper: Gull
No Vote
Score: Rob 31 (66) Rachel -14 (50)

Round four-

Another tense round. I was counting my points the entire way. (If you've followed our games before, you know that Rachel has a way of coming from behind to win. She owns a solid winning percentage) I had a Jill evidence card that got doubled, giving me just enough to go out.

Ripper: Jill
No Vote
Score: Rob 34 (100) Rachel 38 (88)

Game notes: it was the biggest come-from-behind win we've had... we had our biggest single round score differential (56 points in Rachel's favor)... we also had our largest single round, single player score (55 for me) ... usual, Jill was the Ripper at least once in our game... Scenes are starting to serve as discards early in the game (this is new in our last couple of plays)

Image

kuhflecken — 2008-08-10T17:39:40+00:00

Box cover from Pegasus Spiele

Thread: Re: New edition coming from Pegasus

kuhrusty — 2008-08-10T05:41:02+00:00

Any idea whether they'll be printing an English version too? I get the impression that a lot of what they do is German-language versions of games, with the English-language versions being done by another publisher.

Thread: New edition coming from Pegasus

gugi — 2008-08-10T00:30:28+00:00

According to their website the game will be available by October (=Essen).
There is a picture of the new box design, but no info if the cards will have complete new artwork.
MSRP will be 10€.

Thread: Re: Which edition is preferred?

wmshub — 2008-04-20T21:40:17+00:00

I've never seen the 1st edition, but the 2nd edition of the cards are thick. Too thick, they are hard to shuffle because when you bend them for a riffle they snap back too quickly. Also, the thicker edges get frayed more easily than good quality cards.

Funny, just a moment ago I made a post about how I wish every game with cards would use good quality cards that riffle shuffle well, and now another post on the same topic.

Edit: PS - Do you have a source for 1st edition cards? My wife and I have almost worn out our deck, and I thought it was out of print. If I could get a new deck at a reasonable price I'd be tempted!

Thread: Which edition is preferred?

Driver 8 — 2008-04-20T19:49:29+00:00

As far as rules go, you can always download them here.

But what about components? Which would you rather play, the 1st or 2nd edition? I know the 2nd edition cards are thick, and the 1st edition are standard playing card variety.

Thread: Mystery Rummy Microbadge now available

DKahnt — 2008-04-17T03:11:01+00:00

Hey all.

There is now a Mystery Rummy Microbadge available: [inlineimg]http://files.boardgamegeek.com/images/microbadges/mysteryrum...[/inlineimg]

-DK

Image

Shaun L — 2008-04-15T01:27:31+00:00

Box front

Thread: Re: Do you use voting?

Vaughn — 2008-03-05T17:55:21+00:00

Gotta vote. It's in the rules.

Thread: Re: Do you use voting?

Karlsen — 2008-03-02T12:18:54+00:00

We haven't as yet. Maybe one day.

Thread: Before I celebrate, I should remember I am terrible

macls29 — 2008-03-02T04:25:40+00:00

We had a great game of MR:JTR this past week. I wanted to memorialize it with a session report as a reminder about the problems with getting overconfidant.

For some backstory, we have been playing this game for about 2 months. My wife and I have played it over 40 times, and I am about 8 games under .500. For a history of these contests, you can check my "Comment" for this game.

After the first deal, I picked up my hand and was feeling good. I had 3 Letters evidence, 2 victims, and a pair of Sir Gull evidence cards. Notably, during the hand, Rachel melded no vics or scenes. I was able to go out first, with a nice score

Turn 1
No Vote
Ripper: Sir Gull
Score: Rob 44 (44) Rachel 25 (25)

I continued to feel good when I saw my second hand. I had a pair of Letters evidence, and both Wild evidence cards. Rachel managed her hand well, and kept me from getting a big Druitt Ripper bonus by picking multiple Chapman evidence cards from Scotland Yard. Again, I went out.

Turn 2
No Vote
Ripper: George Chatman
Score: Rob 33 (77) Rachel 27 (52)

So, time for an admission. It is usually harder to get Rachel to play a second game after she loses. (Notably, I'm the exact opposite - I don't like to stop until I've won a game) So, I was mentally preparing for how I would propose a second game to her as the cards were being dealt. I felt even better as the first two cards I picked up were again Letters evidence... surely a good sign. However, I hadn't even arranged my cards when Rachel said, "I'd like to call a vote."

This did NOT sound like music to my ears. I was concerned about what this could mean. Was she just trying to block me from calling a later vote and getting an easy 10 points to put me over 100? Did she already have a monster hand? I was unnerved, paranoid, and dejected... all with good reason. I tried to speed through the turn and get out quickly, but I was seduced by the Letters evidence and the third card just wouldn't show up. Of course, when I finally decided to break up my pair of Letters, the next card I drew was a Letters evidence. As I spun my wheels, Rachel was amassing a huge score, and was able to go out.

We tallied, and I had 23 to give me exactly 100. Rachel had 39. I'd won! I started into my speech about her great play, and how I thought a rematch would really...

"Wait a second. We forgot about the vote."
"What do you mean?" I said.
"I didn't give myself credit for picking Chatman," she said, brandishing the voting slip with "George" clearly penned upon it.
I looked down at my slip, and Dr. Pedachenko's name stared back at me.

So much for celebrating before the final tally.

Turn 3
Vote +10 for Rachel
Ripper: George Chatman
Score: Rob 23 (100) Rachel 49 (101)

Thread: Re: Do you use voting?

macls29 — 2008-02-25T18:51:55+00:00

Yes! Yes!

So many reasons, some of which have been detailed above, make voting a great move.

A vote, then a monster meld that changes the Ripper and puts you out.

Or a vote followed by an Alibi.

Or getting those extra ten points to turn a 92 into a 102.

Try it, you'll find the game deepens.

Thread: Re: Do you use voting?

Jeff — 2008-02-25T17:54:01+00:00

We haven't used it just for logistical reasons. It's a pain in the ass to include extra pencils / scrap paper. I think we're just lazy.

Thread: Re: Do you use voting?

franklincobb — 2008-02-25T17:50:42+00:00

We vote, but game theory will show that you should just call the vote as early as possible based on what you have in your hand from the start. Less information for your opponent and reduces putting yourself in a situation where you have to "guess" if he's going to switch the ripper or not. Of course, you might have the situation where you want to wait, but in that case your opponent will call it earlier. So you both end up at the same spot.

It's just sort of a glorified crapshoot, really. We use it but it's the only thing that's really out of whack for the game as a whole.

Thread: Re: Do you use voting?

wmshub — 2008-02-25T17:42:20+00:00

Wow, voting is my favorite part.

Trying to lay traps to get your opponent to vote wrong is what makes this more than just rummy with weird old pictures on the cards.

Thread: Re: Do you use voting?

schlappy — 2008-02-25T04:23:15+00:00

Yep, we always use it, too -- it really adds a whole new level of bluffing & second-guessing, which can only be a good thing.

You should try it -- it only adds a few seconds to each game.

Thread: Re: Do you use voting?

Mike Mayer — 2008-02-25T03:55:14+00:00

We always play with voting. I think it adds another layer of depth to the game.

Thread: Re: Do you use voting?

Friendless — 2008-02-25T03:33:05+00:00

Yes, we always play voting. Calling for a vote usually means "I'm going to make a dramatic move which changes who the ripper is, then go out. Can you guess what I'm going to do?"

Thread: Re: Do you use voting?

Dreadnaut — 2008-02-25T02:04:15+00:00

My wife and I use the voting in the game. It doesn't really add very much time at all.

Thread: Re: Do you use voting?

matthewguidry — 2008-02-25T02:01:47+00:00

My girlfriend and I have pretty much ignored voting as well.

Thread: Do you use voting?

spamspam2 — 2008-02-25T01:50:43+00:00

Me and my girlfriend have been playing this for over 2 years, but have never had even an inkling of a desire to use the voting in the game. It just seems like a part that would slow down what is a quick fun game. So I wanted to how many people were using voting in a 2 player game.

Thread: Re: Two quick rule questions

macls29 — 2008-02-19T17:46:34+00:00

This is what I think:

1. We alternate deals in a 2 player game.
2. Only victims on the board go into calculating the negative amount of Ripper Escapes.

Hope that helps!

Thread: Two quick rule questions

bd171 — 2008-02-18T17:48:52+00:00

I've recently dug this game out and we've been playing it quite a lot in the past few days. We didn't have that much trouble with the rules, although they are admittedly a bit vauge in parts. However there are a couple of points that stopped play for a while.

1)Dealership. If in a 2 player game I start as the dealer, who is the dealer for the next hand? Does dealership alternate every hand? Does it make any difference, ie is there any advantage to playing first?

2) If a game ends with the ripper being caught and someone has the Ripper Escapes card in their hand and a victim(s) they have played, do they still get the point for the victim (s)they played, even if they then ironically have to subtract two points because of the Ripper Escapes card?

Appreciate any help!

Thread: Re: Wild cards counting towards the Ripper?

DrCoffee — 2008-02-06T20:03:54+00:00

Thanks for your quick responses!

I declare Mystery Rummy my top "play with the wife" game.

My wife loves this too. Although I think my top "play with the wife" game would be another Ripper-themed game, Mr. Jack.

Thread: Re: Wild cards counting towards the Ripper?

macls29 — 2008-02-05T01:53:22+00:00

wmshub wrote:
Yes and yes.

Wildcards *DO* count towards determining the ripper. And you can play all the wildcards you can get your hands on, all on the same suspect if you wish.

I concur. It's part of what makes the game great. Do you hold the Wilds in your hand, and wait to call a late vote, then spring them onto the board? Or do you use them to get extra melds onto the table? Or to piggyback an opponents meld that is looking like it will be the Ripper?

I declare Mystery Rummy my top "play with the wife" game.

Thread: Re: Wild cards counting towards the Ripper?

wmshub — 2008-02-04T23:50:13+00:00

Yes and yes.

Wildcards *DO* count towards determining the ripper. And you can play all the wildcards you can get your hands on, all on the same suspect if you wish.

Thread: Wild cards counting towards the Ripper?

DrCoffee — 2008-02-04T21:43:39+00:00

If there is a suspect who has wild cards in his/her meld do those count as points making him/her the Ripper?

For instance, Gull has 12 points (ex: 4 evidence and a suspect) and Jill has 14 points but two are wild cards (ex: 3 evidence, 2 wild cards and a suspect). Is Jill the Ripper?

Also, can you play more wild cards than there are evidence cards for a suspect? In the above example, could Jill even have 3 evidence and 2 wild cards considering that there are only 4 Jill evidence cards total?

Image

jsper — 2008-02-02T18:26:23+00:00

Side of the box

Thread: Re: Thick cards...the bad...the good

Wendy — 2008-01-28T20:28:52+00:00

I love the nice thick cards, but I don't like the flimsy box the first edition came it. It opens like a book with a little cardboard tab at the side and the cards are hard to retrieve from the slot. They also slip out and have ended up on the floor. Has this issue been corrected in the second edition?

Thanks.

Image

jsper — 2008-01-26T15:11:08+00:00

Cards and more cards

Thread: Maybe Jill should be the MOST likely Ripper

macls29 — 2008-01-15T04:32:35+00:00

Mystery Rummy: Jack the Ripper has become a new favorite for Rachel and I. We played after we put the baby to bed.

For some background on the game and how I taught it to Rachel, see my review at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/270536

To appreciate the session, here is some backstory.

- Rachel dislikes having the Ripper Strikes card in her hand
- I've won one game, Rachel has won six
- Rachel has only ever been wrong in "The Vote" once

In our first turn I was dealt a decent hand; mostly evidence cards. However, Rachel had a much better hand. After only 3 draws, she was able to make melds and go out. To make matters worse, my evidence cards did not match any of her melds, so I got a big negative score.

Turn 1
Ripper - Prince Eddy
No vote called
Rachel 28 Rob -16

In our second turn I was dealt a terrible hand; I had seven gavel cards. Again, Rachel had a good hand and played it well, and was out after only 4 draws. I'd gotten some of my Scenes and Victims on the board, but was again caught with cards that hurt me in the end.

Turn 2
Ripper - Sir Gull
No vote called
Rachel 25 (51 total) Rob -13 (-29 total)

In our third turn we both got melds on the table. It was a short round, but not even close to the brevity of the first two rounds. She went out, and we both had 6 points that were doubled by the Ripper Effect. I only had one card that counted against me in my hand.

Turn 3
Ripper - Prince Eddy
No vote called
Rachel 30 (81 total) Rob 27 (-2 total)

It looked grim for me!
I got a solid hand in the fourth deal. Rachel got some cards down on the table, but not enough to go out. Getting a Wild Evidence (first time tonight) enabled me to make my final play. I had 10 points doubled by the Ripper Effect, Rachel had only 2.

Turn 4
Ripper - Jill the Ripper
No vote called
Rachel 16 (97) Rob 46 (44)

Things were looking up, at least a little! I knew that if I could go out quickly, or play a Ripper Escapes strategy, I could send the game to a final round and have a chance. I put on my gameface, and picked up my cards.

Awesome deal! I had the cards I needed to go out rapidly. Rachel was playing Victim after Victim, but amassing an enormous hand. With each card she drew, she shook her head 'no' - she wasn't getting any melds! I was down to six cards - two Sir Gull Evidence, one Wild Evidence, two Prince Eddy Evidence, and one Montague Druitt Evidence. I also knew that there was a Prince Eddy Evidence in Scotland Yard. So all I needed to do was draw any Scene, the other Wild, or an Eddy or Gull Evidence (9 cards - 10 minus the one I knew was in the discard).

I drew and missed.

Rachel played Ripper Strikes, and the 4th victim was turned onto the board.

I drew and missed.

Rachel drew, hesitated, then put the drawn card in her hand. She discarded a different card.

I drew and missed.

Rachel drew, and played the last Victim, followed by Ripper Escapes.

It is especially notable that she adapted her play, and held the Ripper Escapes card instead of auto-discarding it. She recognized that there were four Victims already in play, and that she didn't have any chance to go out before I did.

As for an assessment of my play? One word.

Ouch.

Turn 5
Ripper Escapes
No vote called
Rachel 42 (139 total) Rob 0 (44 total)

Post-game notes
this was the first time Rachel played Ripper Escapes, although I had played it once in a previous game (my only victory)... no votes were called in this game, a first for us... two "records" were set - most points in a turn (46) and highest game total (137)... this was the second largest gap in scores at the end of a game (93 - she beat me by 98 in our first scored game)... Prince Eddy continues to be our most frequent Ripper... Jill has been the Ripper once in every game we've played

Thread: Re: Reviewed Herein: BGG Files, Game, First Session

jamieuk — 2008-01-11T12:45:30+00:00

I have a copy for trade and there's a currently 'mark place' one for 75 USD!

Jamie.

--

Thread: Re: Reviewed Herein: BGG Files, Game, First Session

dbarree — 2008-01-07T05:13:42+00:00

I just saw this game for the first time last weekend and have been trying to find a copy ever since. Does anyone know of any online stores that still have it in stock? It looks like only volume 3 - Jekyll and Hyde is currently available.

Thread: Reviewed Herein: BGG Files, Game, First Session

macls29 — 2008-01-07T02:48:27+00:00

Mystery Rummy: Jack the Ripper is a rummy variant that is recommended for two players. In the small (5"x6"x1") box are 62 neatly packaged cards. They are of thick card stock, similar to the BattleLine cards. This makes them difficult to shuffle, but they certainly seem durable. The art on the cards is quite nice, with bold suit colors and neat text that assists in gameplay. Also included is the rulebook.

A note about the rulebook: It is quite readable, but probably not by grognard standards. It is written almost like a story, and requires at least one re-read. The rules are all there and clear, just organized in a slightly different fashion than I am used to. My opinion? It was a nice change of pace, and with the help of EndersGame's post...

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/185729

... I was able to explain the game quickly and easily to my wife.

A note about the files on BGG for this game: There are actually many mistakes on the files that exist for assistance in "The Ripper". MonkeyMagic's Rules Rewrite was helpful...

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/file/info/19776

... but even it contained some ambiguities.

The best ideas in a file were in drmwoz's Simplified Game Overview...

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/file/info/27261

... in which he makes suggestions for rules and cards to withhold from the initial game. He also suggests an algorithm for when and how to introduce the withheld rules to players as they become more experienced.

I followed his advice, and explained the rules to my wife "sans" the Alibi cards, Ripper Escapes card, and the voting option. We were playing in less than five minutes.

The game was played three times. This is a rarity with Rachel, but wasn't the biggest surprise. She asked about the cards and rules that we excluded. She also asked for me to keep the game in my office, instead of returning it to the cellar. Translation? The games she enjoys (for example - Pirateer, Pick Picknic, Saboteur, Diamant, Roma, Aton, Blokus, Thebes, Racko) are kept in my office for easy access. After its first night, "The Ripper" joined this elite group. This is high praise, and assures it will be played often!

Thread: Re: Probably the quickest hand I will ever play

wmshub — 2008-01-06T22:05:29+00:00

I love this game with 2, but after a few hands with 4, decided to never play it with more than 2 players again.

It was just way, way, too easy to get all 5 victims out and play "Ripper Escapes". The whole game became a game of "who is lucky enough to draw the ripper escapes card".

I never had it happen quite as fast as described here, but most of our hands were just as unsatisfying.

Image

leungd — 2007-11-04T23:19:33+00:00

Comparison of the boxes for Jack the Ripper and Murders in the Rue Morgue; I much prefer JtR

Image

ZiggyZambo — 2007-03-30T19:50:34+00:00

Image

TGov — 2007-02-25T06:37:32+00:00

All cards

Image

EndersGame — 2006-12-13T19:19:02+00:00

Game plan: play the Alibi to change who the Ripper is!

Image

EndersGame — 2006-11-09T21:18:34+00:00

Portraits of all five VICTIMS in the game

Image

EndersGame — 2006-11-09T21:17:24+00:00

Portraits of all six SUSPECTS in the game