Letters From Whitechapel - The Search For Jack The Ripper

Fantasy Flight Games recently released a newly revised edition of the board game Letters from Whitechapel - a game based on the gruesome murders committed in Victorian London by Jack the Ripper. In Letters from Whitechapel, one player takes on the role of Jack the Ripper while up to five other players work together as detectives trying to pursue and stop this notorious serial killer.

Letters from Whitechapel lasts a total of four rounds and has been described as "an engrossing game of cat-and-mouse".  In each turn, the player acting as Jack selects a victim, murders her, and then attempts to flee to his secret hideout before any of the detectives can apprehend him - pretty much like it happened in real life.

Originally released by Nexus Games in 2011, the 2013 Fantasy Flight Games edition of Letters from Whitechapel, has been revised after listening to player feedback about the original version. Among the revisions, the "Jack the Ripper" screen that allows the player controlling Jack to hide his movements has been improved - it also features the chart of Special Movement tokens so as to make consultation with the Rulebook less frequent; the women/victims, patrol, and time of crime tokens are now made of durable wood, color coated plastic markers to make them stand out better; and the Letters' effects are now describe in detail on the components themselves, hopefully eliminating more consultation with the Rulebook.

The deluxe version of Letters from Whitechapel includes a deluxe game board, improved Jack the Ripper screen, a Rulebook, 6 reference sheets, 4 Jack's letters sheets, 5 investigator tokens, 5 special movement tokens, 16 wooden tokens, 12 wooden pawns, and 27 plastic markers.

I haven not found a video review of the revised version, but the reviews of the original are very good. I understand that The Gaming Pit, in Guaynabo, P.R. will sponsor a demo of Letters from Whitechapel sometime during the week of August 5, 2013. While I don't think they will be making a video review, I will update this blog with my comments on the game after attending the demo.