Letters from Whitechapel

Last week I sauntered over to my local board game shop and purchased their last copy of Letters from Whitechapel.

LfW is a hidden movement game a la Scotland Yard and Fury of Dracula. The idea here is that Jack the Ripper moves in secret through the streets of Whitechapel, murdering his victims, and the other players as the police do their best to figure out where he is and arrest him. There's more to it than this, but that's the gist of it.

I've played it twice now, both times as Jack, and boy oh boy is it ever good. First game out, I was arrested on the third night (out of four), and in the second game, I barely scraped through and won.

This game is a complete nail-biter as you watch the police (i.e. the other players) walk around right next to you, and they don't even know it!

It's a roller coaster of emotion ranging from smug glee to spine-chilling terror and finally elation as you watch the police hunt you down.

The mechanics are super simple, with minimal set up time, but the game can run pretty long.

The board is an accurate map of Whitechapel in 1888, which is in itself a treasure if you're as crazy about the Victorian era as I am. The pieces are wood instead of plastic, which is nice, and the rule book is really simple to understand.

My copy is the English 2^nd edition, which is printed by Fantasy Flight Games. If you're familiar with their products, you know how fine the quality is.

I'm looking immensely forward to playing as one of the Inspectors, as well as taking Jack out for a spin with a full set up of cops. It's worth pointing out that whether you play against one opponent or five, all police are deployed. But the though process is very different from one person to five. I can't wait!

If you're curious to see more, I'm linking a video I found on Youtube below.

Until next time, have an exciting week!