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First off I want to thank Bruno and Ludovic for creating a horribly addicting, but very satisfing, game.
Now some of this will be rehashed but for the benifit of everyone I will include it all here.
Mr. Jack in NY is a new game in the Mr. Jack series but unlike Mr. Jack Extension this is a complete stand-alone game. You do not need to own or have played the original but because of the added stategy and increased tactical options it would be advisable for new players to try the basic Mr. Jack first.
The History
London - November 1888
As part of the investigation into the “Jack the Ripper” affair, Francis J. Tumblety, a quack doctor, is arrested and freed on bail. He immediately flees to the United States.
New York – Manhattan Island – January 1889
Alerted by London, the New York police are on the lookout for Tumblety. Certain witnesses confirm his presence in Manhattan and crimes are committed with a modus operandi similar to those in London.
The police call upon some of the city’s most eminent citizens to help them with their investigation.
Is Tumblety really Jack? If not, who is he pretending to be?
These are the stakes in Mr. Jack in New York.
What do you get
• 1 game board representing Manhattan island. There is a game summary and turn track on the right of the board.
This is how is comes straight out of the box.
• 8 double-sided Character tokens, in 8 different colours, with Suspect on one side and Innocent on the other.
• 8 light-blue-backed Character cards representing the characters in the game, with pictograms symbolising movement and special powers.
• 8 dark-blue-backed Alibi cards, one for each Character.
• 4 double-sided tiles with a Building site on one side and a Park on the other.
Rider's Building Sites on one side Grant's Park on the other.
• 7 double-sided tiles with a Metro entrance on one side and a Park on the other.
Beach's Metro Entrance tiles on one side Grant's Park on the other.
• 6 double-sided tiles with a Gaslamp on one side and a Park on the other.
Latimer's Gaslamps on one side and Grant's Park on the other.
• 2 Investigation tiles or Police Cordons
Callahan can be very powerful to stop movement.
• 2 Transatlantic Steamer tiles or ships
Edward Smith has 5 harbors in which to port these two Steamers.
• 1 double-sided Informant/Snitch token with a Talkative side and a Mute side.
The Snitch can provide you with a alibi card but when he is mute he is an obstacle until the next round.
• 1 turn marker, this time an hourglass.
• 1 Witness card with a Visible side and an Invisible side.
Jack is Visible and cannot escape!
• 200+ hours of fun, I can guarantee at least that much from my experience.
The New Characters
Cloud Rider.
In 1886, a dozen Mohawks Indians began to build bridges and buildings in NYC. Cloud Rider is one of them.
Moves 1 to 3 spaces.
Before or after her move, MUST create a new building site.
When moving, all building spaces are consider as free moves for her.(other characters can’t cross building spaces).
She is similar to Stealthy but when Stealty is crossing houses or other obsticles all of those moves are still counted. For Cloud Rider if she jumps onto a building space it does not count against her 1-3 move spaces.
If the board is set up just right at times she can cross the board from one side to the other very quickly.
Like Stealthy she can be very dangerous and is always an escape threat. But she also has the ability to alter the board as every turn she creates another building that is just an obstacle for everyone else. She can be both helpful and dangerous for both the Inspector and Jack. As Jack she can be very dangerous.
Here is an example of some possible movements for Rider.
Here is a situation where the inspector wants to accuse Grant, can they do it?
First start off by placing a building site in the space above Grant.
And then the Inspector using the movement points can accuse, notice the movement points on the building and building sites do not count against Rider's 3 movement points.
Rider in this instance actually could have accused using one of two routes. The one previously shown or by moving to K8, K7, K6, L6, M6 and finally M5 for a total of only 3 moves to accuse Grant. K8 K7 an M6 are all free moves for Rider.
Next is Edward Smith
Born in 1850 in England, becomes a Captain in 1887. As he rose in seniority, Smith gained a reputation amongst passengers and crew for quiet flamboyance. Eventually Smith became the commodore of White Star Line, or one to whom all other captains reported. Some passengers would only sail the Atlantic in a ship commanded by him. He became known as the "Millionaires' Captain" due to the fact that England's upper class were usually the ones who requested he be in command of the ships they sailed on.
But unfortunatly he is more known for his last command the RMS Titanic, which met a tragic end in 1912.
Moves 1 to 3 spaces. Before or after his move, MUST move one steamer (Transatlantic Steamers are exits for jack !!!!)
There are two Transatlantic Steamers and five different harbors or ports around the board. Smith must move one steamer per turn to another harbor/port.
How steamers work for Jack is that they are just like a land exit, Jack only needs to reach the boat to escape. So at any given point in the game there are two steamers and one land exit for Jack to escape from. There are ways of blocking access to the steamers and the land exit, using Callahan's Police Cordon for example.
Next is Alfred Ely Beach
In 1860, like many New Yorkers, he observes that driving in the city is completely crazy (Yes I am told that the horsedrawn traffic was murder even then). His vision propsal was to build an underground railway. In 1889, he begins building tunnels and digging test sites but the real subway was not built until 1904.
Moves 1 to 3 spaces. Before or after his move, MUST build a subway station or Metro Entrance (same function as sewers in std game). Two metro entrances cannot be adjacent.
Here is where Beach is different than Bert. Bert only moved the manhole covers around and the sewers were all in set locations. But in NYC there are 3 established Metro Entrances at the start of the game but each turn the player gets to chose a new location anywhere on the board to build a new Metro Entrance.
There are a few stipulations; a Metro cannot be built next to another Metro (there must be at least one hex inbetween Metro Entrances), metros CANNOT be built underneath another character, metro/subways must be built on a blank street hex, and cannot be built on Liberty Island.
Next is Mrs. Emma Grant
She is the mayor’s wife (Mayor Hugh L. Grant - yes seriously at least thats what they have said. Who said Bruno and Ludovic didn't have a sense of humor!), and one of the first ecologists (quite possibly the original founder of the concervation movement). She decides where to build parks instead of buildings. Her goal is to bring nature back to the city. It was her idea to create Central Park, and stressed that it was just as important to retain as much nature as possible than it was to build new factories and buildings.
Moves 1 to 3 spaces. Before or after her move, MUST decide which building, subway station or gaslamp to destroy, installing a park at the same place. Characters can cross and stay in parks. A character in a park is invisible, even if they are adjacent to another character or a gaslamp.
Grant has the ability to change the landscape of the board on every turn. As she builds a park she MUST do so over one of Cloud Rider's Buildings
(she cannot bring down one of the existing buildings only one of Cloud Rider's, as there are other permanent buildings that are present at the begining of the game and printed directly onto the board), any of the metro entrances
Notice that Grand Central Station is much bigger than a regular Metro/Subway Entrance and it is also printed directly onto the board.
(with the exception of Grand Central Station which can never be changed) or any of the gaslamps.
She cannot choose to build a park anywhere on the board she must destroy one of those three spaces. She CAN however build a park underneath another character. For example if Cloud Rider is standing on a Metro Entrance surounded by several other characters Grant can build a park under Cloud Rider and she is now invisible to all of the other characters. This can be a very powerful tool to both Jack and the inspector.
By creating parks she can make parts of the board very hard to access, which can be good for the inspector to seperate characters but can also cut off characters which can allow Jack to run and hide. But have no fear there are other characters that can help with this problem as well.
Next is Lewis Howard Latimer
An engineer with the Edison Company and the only black person on their research team, he is responsible for installing the city’s lighting system. Moves 1-3 spaces.
Before or after his movement, Lewis Howard Latimer MUST install a Gaslight on an empty street hex that is not adjacent to another Gaslight.
Next is Capt. James H. Callahan
After spending a long time with the famous Texas Rangers right up until 1885, he has recently been transferred to NY. His ability to
resolve unsavoury “business” earned him the nickname “Dirty Harry”. Again it appears Bruno and Ludovic have been fans of Clint Eastwood for a long time, those silly Frenchmen! Moves 1-3 spaces.
Before or after his movement, James H. Callahan MUST move an Investigations tile/Police Cordon depending on what makes sense in your language.
Each Investigation tile covers two spaces on the board and prevents access to them. No character can enter or cross an Investigation tile
space. Investigation tiles can cover street spaces, metro entrances and parks as long as there are no characters on them. As soon as the
Investigation tile is moved to another part of the board, these spaces regain their initial functions.
Next is Monk Eastman
Beneath his nondescript appearance (he runs an animal house/pet store and is always accompanied by a small monkey on his shoulder) hides a
local mafia godfather. He has the means to cause others to act as he wishes. (Again Clint would be proud!) Moves 1-3 spaces OR
Instead of his normal movement, Monk Eastman MAY choose to move another character 1 to 3 spaces.
This character must have the same status (visible or invisible) as Monk Eastman AT THE MOMENT OF HIS ACTIVATION.
If Eastman is visible when he is activated by a player, he can move any other visible character 1 to 3 spaces instead of taking his own
movement.
If Eastman is invisible when he is activated by a player, he can move any other invisible character 1 to 3 spaces instead of taking his own
movement.
Any character moved by Eastman cannot use the metro nor can they accuse another character, Cloud Rider cannot cross building sites when under the influence of Monk Eastman.
On the other hand, the moved character can leave Manhattan by Transatlantic Steamer or land and may also contact the Informant/Snitch and thus gain a new Alibi card.
All in all like Goodley from before Monk is a very powerful character, always be wary and bet on black. Based on the art I am not sure if Pierô
has advanced Bruno's Gull into the future or not...it may just be Bruno at an advanced age.
And Lastly Francis J. Tumblety
A suspect in London, on the run in NY, he claims to be a doctor but is, in fact, a charlatan who uses hypnosis to force those he meets to
act in his own interests. Moves 1-3 spaces and MAY use power.
Before or after his movement and if he wants to, Francis J. Tumblety MAY swap the positions of a character to whom he is adjacent with any other character on the board regardless of the space
which the character currently occupies.
For example, Francis J. Tumblety could move next to a character in a park and then swap that character with another character of his
choice, even one on Liberty Island. Swapping the positions of two characters has no direct effect on the Informant.
Tumblety's power can also be very powerful as the inspector towards the end of the game as if he is next to any character he can swap places with them and whoever he wants to accuse and then move to accuse them all in one turn. Very powerful stuff.
New Board Mechanics
First of all the new static setup.
To start off with there are 6 visible characters and 2 invisible characters. So to better explain Monk Eastman's power if he is available in the first round the inspector would only be able to move Tumblety or himself as they are the only invisible characters.
But like the original game Jack CANNOT escape in the first round as the game starts with the witness card starts in the visible side.
Jack is visible. After each round Jack must declare whether or not he is visible by placing this card. Then the inspector can deduct whether or not he can eliminate any further suspects.
The other major addition to this board is Liberty Island and the Jetty System.
Liberty Island is also the original starting spot for the snitch.
Notice the arrows and there are only two jetties that allow characters to be ferried to Liberty Island. Following the arrows there are also only two jetties where the ferries can return the characters back to Manhattan.
Only one character can occupy Liberty Island and nothing can be built there (with the exception that later in the game the snitch may again be placed back on the island).
While on the island the character is invisible.
Next is the Snitch or Informant
The snitch starting point is Liberty Island and can be used once per round. Yes you read that right it is possible to gain an alibi card in each round up until the 7th as then all of the cards will be out. The snitch can be very powerful for both the inspecor and Jack.
To talk to the snitch a character must land on him and then that player can place the muted snitch token on any street hex, metro entrance, park, or jetty space on the board. After the move is complete and the character has made any additional special move as required that player then draws an alibi card.
The snitch is then turned to the mute side for the rest of the round. While on the muted side no character can end their move on that space though characters can move through the space.
ESCAPE!
There are three possible exits for Jack. (As long as he ended the previous round in the shadows)
One of the two ports which harbor a transatlantic steamer OR
the Land Exit only two street spaces provide access to the only land exit on the board. Only Jack can use the land exit and thus leave
Manhattan in order to escape and win the game!
Game Basics
Shadow and Light / Visible and Invisible.
The board represents the lower end of Manhattan island during its urbanisation.
One player takes the role of Jack the Ripper.
He will be referred to as “Jack”.
This player is the only one who knows Jack’s real identity. His objectifve is either to escape the Detective’s clutches by preventing him from discovering his true identity, or to leave Manhattan under cover of obscurity.
The other player takes the role of the police Inspector.
He will be referred to as the “Inspector”.
His objective is to discover Jack’s real identity, and to arrest him before the end of the 8th and final round.
Each round, four characters will be activated (two by the Inspector and two by Jack).
Then there is an appeal for witnesses and Jack reveals if he is visible or invisible.
Visible characters: Any Character on a lighted space (one next to a Gaslamp) is visible, because they can be seen by anybody in Manhattan, by any passer-by. This is also the case if two characters are on adjacent street spaces, even if they are unlit.
Both characters are considered to be visible since their closeness enables one to see the other despite the darkness.
Invisible characters: Any Character who is neither on a lighted street space nor on a street space adjacent to another Character (who is also on a street space) is considered to be invisible. Characters on a Park tile are always invisible, even if there are characters on the adjacent spaces or if the Park is next to a lighted space.
Therefore, at the end of each round, the Inspector will be able to definitively eliminate certain characters from the investigation and tighten the noose around the others according to the whether Jack says he is visible or not.
The game becomes a fierce struggle between Jack and the Inspector as they try to place the various characters in order to make them visible or invisible.
The Detective will try to reduce, little by little, the number of suspects whilst limiting the opportunities for Jack to escape, whereas the latter will do everything possible to impede the Inspector’s deductions and take advantage of the slightest mistake to escape for ever!
Four characters will be played each round, each player taking two of them.
On odd-numbered rounds (1-3-5-7)
Take the first four character cards from the pile and place them face up on the table.
The Detective selects one of the four character cards and plays it (he moves the character token and/or uses the special power). The character card is then returned face down to the table.
Then Jack selects two characters out of the remaining three. He plays them in the same way and returns them face down to the table.
Finally, the Detective plays the remaining character.
On even-numbered rounds (2-4-6-8)
Take the four remaining character cards from the pile and place them face up on the table.
This time, Jack plays a chracter first, then the Detective plays two characters, and finally Jack plays the last one.
At the end of the even-numbered rounds, shuffle all eight character cards once again.
There are THREE possible ways to end the game.
1. Jack leaves Manhattan
Jack moves his token out of Manhattan via an exit or a port space, that are not blocked by an Investigations tile. Jack wins the game.
Reminder: this is only possible during a round in which the Witness card is invisible side up.
2. The Detective arrests Jack
The Detective moves a chracter onto the same space as Jack and accuses him:
- if the accusation is correct: the Detective wins the game.
- if the accusation is incorrect: Jack wins the game by taking advantage of all the judicial confusion to escape!
3. Jack has not been arrested
If Jack has not been arrested by the end of the eighth round, he wins the game!
Conclusions
Overall it a very different game than the original Mr. Jack even when you add the Mr. Jack Extension, this version is still much more stategic and tactical because of the dynamic board.
The snitch also adds a huge asset to this game and unlike the original where at most 4 cards can be gained, in theory all 7 alibi cards can be picked. (Though it is very difficult and in more than 100 games the most I have seen is 5 or maybe 6 but that is very rare as it is possible but very difficult to reach the snitch on the first round).
Rider's ability to move is unpresidented as the free movement pieces can allow Rider to move across the board.
Grant's ability can really be frustrating for Jack. Jack must be very carful adding a gaslamp, metro entrance or building site to the middle of the board as Grant can turn it into a park and then move a character into it to seperate them very easily.
Monk and Tumblety's abilities are the most significant and should always be looked at as the first to move in any round. As the inspector it will usually end badly to not use Monk in odd numbered rounds as it will allow Jack a big advantage going into the next even numbered round.
I was, and still am, a huge fan of the original but after playing this version and being part of fine tuning the rules, abilities and board mechanics this dynamic setup is by far my favorite.
The Kicker
In the end some of the issues that the Inspector always has the advantage is a thing of the past. After almost 700 games Jack is actually winning 54% of the time. Escape is also a much bigger aspect of the game. Of Jacks wins almost 70% of them are by Escape!
Inspectors BEWARE!
The game also is over a little quicker than before. In Mr. Jack almost 72% of the games end in round 7.1 but in Mr. Jack in New York less than 38% of the games even get to the 7th round.
Now this does not mean that the game moves faster because I think it takes longer to access the board and make the correct strategy...which it will take a long time, if ever, to master.
Honestly even after 100 games I see different moves and strategies even now...no game will ever play out the same way which makes the replayability go way up.
Bruno and Ludovic have come a long way since this board was first discovered.
As you can see the final board has nothing in common for the most part.
Post Script
I appologize for those of you who have actually read to the end of this review which as it turns out to be slightly (understatment) longer than I intended. Hopefully I have given you some good information and I would encourage everyone to pick up a copy as soon as possible.
My overall rating is 9.9 (only because I do not have a copy in hand yet)
And easily this is a  game.
Thanks again and let me know if anything is unclear.
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**PUNKLE JOSH** [Here to have fun!]
Canada
Cambridge
Ontario
"The next best thing to playing and winning is playing and losing." --A. Alvarez
“My opinion is that a game has its own life when published, and is really alive when players want to add their own house rules!” --Bruno Cathala
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THANK YOU for this tantalizing preview!! Next to War of the Ring, Mr. Jack is my favourite board game of all time, and I've been absolutely obsessed with it since the first time I played it. I think it's a truly brilliant game design, and I cannot wait to get my hands on this version of it!!
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Anthony DuLac
United States
Minnesota
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Thank you! Mr. Jack is a great game so I'm excited about this one - any word on when it will be released??
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it will be offically on sale at Essen this week. Also if you look at the link from Bruno`s video they were offering copies that could be shipped as early as the 19th. That being said it will probably be a month or so before it is for sale here in the states. Not sure how much extra shipping would be from Europe but that might be the quickest option.
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is the pictrues in this review is the online version interface?
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Stefan Esch
Germany
Bielefeld
Germany
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boringlamb wrote: is the pictrues in this review is the online version interface?
Yes - the printed pictures are nicer, of course!
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Paul Paterson
Canada
Mississauga
Ontario
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We expect to have this in stock Oct 23 or 26th depending on how fast the shipping is.
Cheers,
--Paul
www.FunGamesCafe.com
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Bob
United States
Nebraska
In a man-to-man fight, the winner is he who has one more round in his magazine.
Experience teaches us that it is much easier to prevent an enemy from posting themselves than it is to dislodge them after they have got possession.
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Thanks for the awesome review Dean!
Just added to my Secret Santa Wishlist. 
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Железный комиссар
United States
Madison
Wisconsin
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Wow, great advance review of the game - I had no idea this was in the works!
Mr. Jack is a game I've always admired but never been much good at, though I've played quite a bit. It doesn't really match the playstyle of many of my opponents, so it doesn't hit the table much, but that probably won't stop me from picking this up immediately!
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**PUNKLE JOSH** [Here to have fun!]
Canada
Cambridge
Ontario
"The next best thing to playing and winning is playing and losing." --A. Alvarez
“My opinion is that a game has its own life when published, and is really alive when players want to add their own house rules!” --Bruno Cathala
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kaylex wrote: We expect to have this in stock Oct 23 or 26th depending on how fast the shipping is. Cheers, --Paul www.FunGamesCafe.com
Wow, that's very soon!! Fantastic!!!
I assume you're already set one aside for me... 
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Here is the link I was referring to
http://www.ludocortex.fr/boutique_us/fiche_produit.cfm?ref=M...
If you order from them they have an option at the bottom if you would like a dedication by Bruno or not. Might be an interesting option.
The site is in english and does advertise worldwide shipping.
Quote: We expect to have this in stock Oct 23 or 26th depending on how fast the shipping is. Cheers, --Paul www.FunGamesCafe.com
Thanks for the info Paul, so I can only think that if Canada is going to be getting the game by the end of the month there should be some US sellers that will be as well.
Now how can I talk my boss into flying me to Europe to attend Essen as a work function somehow? Yeah still working on that one!
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bruno cathala
France
st pierre en faucigny
Unspecified
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Essen is now coming very soon and i'm excited to present this new version to visitors
I would like first to thanks stefan, dean and all other testors for all the time they spent online to help us to fine tune the game.
This game would never have been this one without their help.
It has been a really interesting way of work to have the possibility to include worldwide high level players as beta testors !
Concerning the game..
I think it will be available in US quite at the same time than in Europe (conteiner has been sent 2 weeks weeks ago.. so depending on customs it should be in shops end of october)
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Jonan Jello
United States
the enclave known as Newark
California
Cedar Waxwing & Western Scrub Jay
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Yes, incredibly insightful review. I'll definitely grab this when I can!
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Paul Paterson
Canada
Mississauga
Ontario
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This is expected to be in stock tomorrow at our shop www.FunGamesCafe.com, for anyone who is interested.
Thanks!
--Paul
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Houserule Jay
Canada
Mississauga
Ontario
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Great review!
Since I have the original as many people do, maybe you can summarize and describe where you think this has more strategy?
I seen you mention this a few times but never quite got it out of the review exactly where the extra planning and gaminess comes in.
TIA
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The strategy comes in that the board is wide open and constantly changing. In the original board it is always the same with the exception of a sewer closed here and there but in this version the board is a blank canvas and changes with each character moved.
With more subway stations built and buildings going up it is more difficult to make sure you can get to different areas of the board. Or if you build a gaslamp to illuminate a character only to have your opponent place a park over it in the next turn.
It is reasons like this that make this version much more stategic. I will post a session report soon hopefully this has kind of answered your question.
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Hunter Shelburne
United States
San Marcos/Hempstead
Texas
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I actually didn't know Mr. Jack NY was out already and grabbed this at the game store thinking it was the original. A happy mistake, after reading all the reviews and comments, I'm glad I got this version instead!
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Don't underestimate the original it is a very good game as well. But yes I do enjoy NY a lot more right now.
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