Cavalock and The Friday Flashback

Last Friday was a good day to eat well and play good games. Been too long since I had a hearty lunch at Aoki and I'm glad to say that their popular bara chirashi don is still worth every dollar. An enjoyable meal accompanied by equally delightful conversations with friends who have recently returned from Tokyo. Unfortunately I had to leave the restaurant to host a boardgaming session at my friend's office, well, maybe 'unfortunately' isn't the right word. I could never say 'no' to boardgames and this is something I do once a month for his office staff, like a casual games day thingy.

We cracked opened and played the highly-rated hidden movement game Letters from Whitechapel for the first time. It's not a new game but I have heard so many good things about it that I had to try it plus I don't have a hidden movement game in my collection so why not? In this game, one player is the infamous Jack the Ripper and the rest (up to 5 players) are the police officers trying to apprehend him in this rather historically accurate game. Except for Jack, every other character in the game is based on an actual victim or police officer. The map is an actual grid of Whitechapel and the tension! Geez, I can't begin to describe the stress or mounting tension when you are playing Jack. The other players are searching for you and only you know where you are, so you see them walking just past you on the map and you grit your teeth hoping that they don't "search" that particular spot that you are at. IMHO, this is also a terrific two-player game as you just need one other player to take control of all five police officer then it becomes a really crazy fun cat-and-mouse game.

Great, exciting game and I can see why it was nominated for a couple of awards. If anyone wants to play a session or two, just let me know!

"Get ready to enter the poor and dreary Whitechapel district in London 1888 – the scene of the mysterious Jack the Ripper murders – with its crowded and smelly alleys, hawkers, shouting merchants, dirty children covered in rags who run through the crowd and beg for money, and prostitutes – called "the wretched" – on every street corner.

The board game Letters from Whitechapel, which plays in 90-150 minutes, takes the players right there. One player plays Jack the Ripper, and his goal is to take five victims before being caught. The other players are police detectives who must cooperate to catch Jack the Ripper before the end of the game. The game board represents the Whitechapel area at the time of Jack the Ripper and is marked with 199 numbered circles linked together by dotted lines. During play, Jack the Ripper, the Policemen, and the Wretched are moved along the dotted lines that represent Whitechapel's streets. Jack the Ripper moves stealthily between numbered circles, while policemen move on their patrols between crossings, and the Wretched wander alone between the numbered circles."