Fortress Ameritrash has a review of the new Blackbeard boardgame -- this is actually a remake of a 1992 game (which I own). My copy of the updated version should arrive soon. I'm excited. I love Piratey stuff. You can also play solo, which I always appreciate in a bg design.
I played a couple of games of Mr. Jack the other day with Mary and Ashley. I enjoyed it. While I really dislike it when games water down a notoriously nasty villain like Jack the Friggin Ripper, Ashley enjoyed the deduction aspect of figuring out which character was Jack. Basically, there are eight investigators from a street cop and a gas lamp lighter to Sherlock Holmes and even Dr. Watson (why Sherlock Holmes is in a game about the Ripper...let's just move on..) One of these eight characters actually IS Jack and only the player playing Jack knows who it is and he's trying to get that character to escape off the board before the other player catches him. Each character has special movement rules, and the investigator has ways of guessing who Jack really is.
Like I said, it's fun in a light-hearted sort of way. Not the kind of game I'd play without Ashley around, but she wants to play again tonight, so I'm glad I own it. Any game that I can get her to use her noggin and not just reflexes and rapid eye movement ---I'm game.
