
- BGG rank
- BGG #12,793
- BGG rating
- 8.2
Cocktail
- 2–9 players
- 15–45 min
- Complexity 1.3/5
- 2021

2016
Rules assistance for Jack the Ripper
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
For 3 players

What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Jack the Ripper is a board game released in 2016 for 3–5 players, 2–15 minutes per game, and ages 13 and up. It was designed by Ty Rucker and its main mechanics are Take That, Player Elimination, and Deduction.
What Is It? This is a card game of deception, confusion, and chaos. Jack the Ripper mixes the interplay of party games like Werewolf and Mafia, the psychology of games like poker, and the action of games like your favorite collectible card game. On top of that, we fit all of this into a primer game that takes fifteen minutes or less to play! The Characters In Jack the Ripper, you play a character that has been attending an aristocrat's party in the year 1888. The main event of the party is a scavenger hunt and you and your group of fellow scavenger hunters are one item away from completing the hunt. The only problem is, you've been locked in a dark warehouse and one of your team mates is a celebrity known as The Whitechapel Murderer, Jack the Ripper. Strategies Players have used many strategies to get ahead in Jack the Ripper. Some have found ingenious card combinations that help them race to victory. Many have sat back quietly and watched while others are picked off one by one. A few have gotten deeply involved in questioning the other players, trying to sleuth out which one is Jack. Some industrious players have learned all of the character names and are quick to claim to be one of the other scavenger hunters, hiding the fact that they are really the Ripper himself. Jack the Ripper is mechanically easy to play and it doesn't take long to get through a game but it is dynamic enough to allow for many potential strategies in both the cards you play and the style in which you play them. So you choose, take a pot shot at one of your opponents or talk it out and then decide who to attack! The World of Jack So you are trapped in a dark warehouse and you know that one of your group members is the notorious Jack the Ripper, you just don't know which one. The closest thing you can grab to protect yourself is from the bag of scavenger hunt items that your group has collected. Using these items, the partygoers try to find out who is Jack and destroy him before he destroys all of them. If Jack can murder all of the partygoers before they murder him, Jack the Ripper wins the hunt and prowls on in infamy. If Jack falls first, then the remaining partygoers share in the victory and become the heroes of Whitechapel. But would be heroes beware, Jack has some tricks up his sleeve to help take you out.
Jack the Ripper supports 3–5 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Jack the Ripper is 2–15 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Jack the Ripper for ages 13 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Jack the Ripper belongs to these categories: Card Game, Deduction, and Murder / Mystery. Its main mechanics are Take That, Player Elimination, and Deduction. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Jack the Ripper are: Ty Rucker. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Jack the Ripper as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.