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.
In this revised edition of Letters from Whitechapel, many components have been improved from the previous edition based on the comments and reviews of players from all over the world.
Jack the Ripper screen: Its usability is improved. The map is bigger, and the chart of the Special Movement tokens is now shown on it, so players don't have to look at the rulebook during the game. The new physical design allows the screen to stand up by itself and better protect the secret information of Jack form the other players.
Wooden tokens: Through repeated use of the Women, Patrol and Time of the Crime tokens, these components can become marked. Now they are made of wood to make it harder for them to become damaged and marked.
Markers: Some of the plastic discs now are different colors to help them stand out more on the game board. The Clue markers are now yellow and the False Clue markers are blue.
Letters: The Letter's effects are now described in detail on the Letters, so players don't have to refer to the rulebook during the game to use them.
Rulebook: The rules of the game are unchanged, but the official errata have been integrated into the rulebook.
