Games like jackal. Jackal
Many people probably know the game Jackal, according to legend, once invented by students of Moscow State University and recently actively promoted by MosIgra in the form of two (its own) publications - Jackal and VIP Jackal. But even if you haven’t heard anything about this game, today we will break this game down to its bones.
Why “to the bones”? Because with this post I decided to start a review section, frankly, without pretentiousness, talking about board games. And the Jackal, in my opinion, is quite suitable for this category.
So let's get started...
In the review, I will use the description of the game from the official website of the publisher-seller - the MosIgra company.
What is this game?
In the game "Jackal" you have to lead a pirate gang and search for treasure on the island. Of the four competing factions, only one will win - the one that finds or loots the most gold.
Purpose of the game
You sail to the “treasure island” on different ships. The task is to remove as much gold as possible by any means (and at any cost) and load it into the holds of your ship. The winner is the one who remains the richest after the “looting” of the island.
Game process
The playing field (island) consists of small plates, each of which is “responsible” for its own type of terrain and objects. A wide variety of adventures await you on the island: while exploring new lands, you can stumble upon an abandoned fort or meet a native doctor, find treasures or fall into a trap.
Let's pay attention to the playing field. It consists of square (rounded) tiles laid out on the table in the shape of an island:
And it is in the playing field that the first flaw of the game lies. The gameplay at the beginning of the game consists of exploring the island, which actually means gradually turning over the tiles lying face down. During a turn, sometimes you have to turn over up to several pieces, since there are tiles with arrows that redirect the explorer chip further to the next tile.
The problem is awkward tile flipping. Everywhere (in the rules and on the official website) the field is depicted in the form of tightly lying tiles and subconsciously, when first laying out, players do just that. Moreover, with a dense arrangement, the field looks better, since the tiles lie evenly. But when turning over, in order to pick up a tile, you have to involuntarily move neighboring ones, which one way or another leads (especially with several turns over a turn) to the spreading of the field, distortion of other tiles and the constant need to level the field from the edges.
It seems that the game was not tested, or it was tested, but the tiles were turned over by the power of thought or by some special means without direct contact with the field.
Partially the problem can be solved, laying out the tiles at a small (several mm) distance from each other at the beginning of the game. BUT a) the playing field loses its attractiveness, which immediately affects the gaming atmosphere; b) the size of the table required for layout increases noticeably, which results in unnecessary inconvenience; c) the inconvenience is not completely solved, since picking up the tiles themselves is more convenient for those with long manicures, but for others it is still uncomfortable.
Random factor
The stumbling block, the reason why a board game often gathers dust on the shelves of board gamers is the factor of chance. There are different levels in different games. For example, in the game of dice it is almost maximum.
What about randomness in Jackal? Here's what the publisher writes:
Randomness affects the game only at the very beginning, when the island map is “created”. In the future, everything depends solely on your ability to assess the situation and make the right tactical and strategic decisions. Of course, some scenarios give a slight advantage to the enemy (for example, it is not very fun to jump from a ship directly into the lair of a cannibal), but an experienced player is able to use all the objects of the landscape to his advantage.
In general, except for very extreme cases, randomness has virtually no effect on the game: everything depends entirely on you.
The phrase is quite interesting in that it begins with a grain of truth and ends with almost hypnotic nonsense, so as not to scare off the buyer. Let's take a closer look.
Randomness does not exactly influence, but forms a considerable share of the future game situation at the very beginning of the game, when tiles are laid out on the table. A similar mechanism is present in Colonizers during the starting layout of hexes, but only if in Colonizers all (except one) hexes bring resources and the layout affects relative arrangement of resources and all players will eventually get the edges of resource hexes, then in the Jackal the layout can lead to a strong imbalance due to hits the only one resource (chests with gold) in the form of gold-intensive tiles to the side of one of the players.
What happens next? With a huge probability, the player whose side “accidentally” turned out to have more gold will find it faster than others and, almost certainly, will quickly drag the one found “nearby” onto his ship (of course, do not forget about avoiding traps and lengthening the path). At the same time, there are situations when one of the players, on the contrary, got a shore, most of the exits to which are dotted with traps.
So the phrase “but an experienced player is able to use all the objects of the landscape for his own benefit” is already half wrong. Yes, experience matters - in most games it does. But in Jackal there is simple arithmetic in the form of traps that require you to stay on a field cell for up to 5 moves. So experience fades into the background when the field layout is not in your favor.
The imbalance is aggravated by one of the game rules - the player can move the ship only along its shore. Sometimes this becomes a real problem (as in the case of a player who has bad luck with the shore).
Again, the problem can be partially solved, if you enter one house rule. Over the course of several games played in a row, our company encountered more than “more or less” unsuccessful layouts. Therefore, it was proposed to allow ships (with a pirate on board, of course) to go around the island. And it must be said that during the next single-bank gold-bearing layout, this rule made it possible to reduce the imbalance by moving opponents closer to the chests on the bank of the lucky player. And at the same time it intensified the struggle for the found treasures. True, we had to agree on one more rule, when ships can meet each other, here it’s more convenient for you: we agreed that they fight with their sides and the one who received a blow to the side moves one cell along the shore and that they can swim around (in one movement) the enemy ship. BUT there was still a need to spend moves moving to a foreign shore (and this is not close) and the problem did not end there.
Based on everything described above, the phrase “In general, except for very extreme cases, randomness has practically no effect on the game: everything completely depends on you.” I personally regard it as, excuse me, but pure nonsense, an advertising phrase that makes sense only in convincing buyers about the interestingness of the gameplay after purchasing this game. But in this review I will be blunt.
What else does the publisher tell us:
Why is this game so interesting?
— Because it does not require a long study of the rules. You can start playing within a couple of minutes after opening the box. Of course, you will need some guidance at first to identify the types of terrain, but the basic idea is grasped on the fly.
— Because the game has very great depth: you can play it endlessly - like chess.
— Unlike chess and other “static” games, the pirate island is new every time. This guarantees interest and variety throughout many games.
Again they will express my personal opinion, but:
— Learning the rules (if you really study them) is far from fast, since they explain not only the gameplay, but also the meanings of all the special tiles. Of course, detail is a plus, but quick mastery of the rules is not at all.
— I don’t think that the “depth” of the game guarantees endless interest, and I certainly wouldn’t risk comparing Jackal with Chess. The jackal (according to legend) has been around for about 30-40 years. Remember, before, in fact, in Russia, board games with a high randomness factor or simple, unpretentious adventures were mainly popular. Jackal reminded me of the gameplay of games that I played as a child. And I believe that the Jackal does not pretend to be deep and, in principle, should not. Rather, it's a light adventure game with a lot of luck and a small amount of choosing the best path to explore the island. This may even be the positive side of this game. But the publisher believes that it needs to be presented differently. Well, that's their right.
— Here I will move a little away from the topic and say that there is so-called Battle Chess (or Battle Chess), the idea of which, by the way, was born here in Russia many years ago. Before the start of the game, players divide the field in the middle with a fence and arrange their pieces as they wish, according to their “battle formation.” After this, the fence is removed and the game begins. The number of field options is huge, you understand. And there is more interest in the game, because... The player already at the beginning of the game greatly influences the gameplay.
Or let’s remember Catan again - there the arrangement determines the relative location of the hexes and players, even before the start of the game, can arrange their initial structures taking it into account in order to decide their interests regarding certain resources and, perhaps, decide on a strategy for the game.
In Jackal, unfortunately, the layout of the field is akin to throwing dice in “dice”. And it can affect the entire game, giving one player a huge and, at times, undeniable advantage. Of course, this directly affects interest in the game and you no longer want to “play endlessly” after a couple of games.
I’ll say right away that before the first game we expected something really special from Jackal, interesting gameplay, romance and a “pirate” atmosphere during the game. But after several games, unfortunately, we were disappointed.
Game components
There are two editions - Jackal and VIP Jackal.
The VIP version was published first. The art design is excellent - this is truly a definite plus of this game. The quality of the plastic tiles is good, especially if you look at other Russian board games and feel what they are made of. Pirate figures are great. Minted coins are also great. And recently the publisher pleased game fans with a re-release of the VIP Jackal in a wooden box. I haven’t had a chance to hold it in my hands yet, but I’m sure it’s made just as well as the other components. And I repeat again: for Russia, the VIP Jackal project is especially noteworthy as an example of high quality, which everyone wishes for our other publishers.
Recently a budget version of the game without a VIP console appeared. What changed? The box has become simpler, the tiles are made of thick cardboard, the pirate figures, unfortunately, have been replaced with plastic (hard plastic) chips, and the coins... But the authors made a mistake with the coins. They are made of steel, which oxidizes over time, and, according to reviews from many who have played, it is sometimes unpleasant to play with such coins—I have to agree with them.
The rules in both editions are executed with a solid five.
And how much does it cost?
Price is a separate topic for discussion. VIP Jackal from its very publication costs 7,700 rubles, regular Jackal - 990 rubles. on the publisher's store website.
Well what can I say? I wrote above about the quality of publications. But I think many would disagree with the prices. The price of the VIP edition makes the game something of an exclusive. By the way, this is exactly how it is usually presented by consultants in the MosGames store. What is the reason for this? Probably, first of all, the high cost of producing high-quality components for Russia, and, apparently, the “party politics” of MosIgra.
For a budget edition with a flaw in the sale of coins, I personally think the price is also too high. But, as they say, “the master is the master.” The publisher thinks differently.
Who is this game for?
Taking into account everything that was discussed in the previous paragraphs, this game is designed rather for children who will not expect intellectual gameplay from the game, a strong influence of the player on the outcome of the game, but will, as they are accustomed to say, play “for fun,” i.e. e. for fun and amusement. After playing, they throw down the chips and run to play the next game.
Well, speaking about VIP Jackal, I think that it is more suitable as an expensive gift and souvenir than as a game that justifies the cost of exclusive components by being interesting.
Summary
The game is made of high-quality components, which sets a high bar for all Russian board game publishers. The problem with coins in the budget edition can, in principle, be solved by replacing them with real coins of 5 or 10 kopecks.
Despite the quality of execution, Jackal’s gameplay does not justify the cost and does not captivate players enough to, as the seller assures, “play it again and again.” The imbalance can be mitigated by house rules and the habit of laying out tiles not close to each other.
It is quite suitable as a gift for a child of preschool and school age or as an expensive souvenir for the “boss” or a person who was familiar with the mechanics of this game from his student days.
The whole pretentious aura inspired by the publisher around the Jackal is, in my opinion, nothing more than advertising. And advertising, as we know, almost always exaggerates and even often creates out of thin air the advantages of a product that, in reality, is of little interest to many buyers.
Board game "Jackal"– an original strategy with unique mechanics and simple rules. Participants will have to go in search of gold! Steal more gold from the island than everyone else to become a merciless pirate! The game will always be varied, because the cells of the field are placed in a free order, and there is no cube at all, which reduces the random factor throughout the game. The recommended age of players is 6+, and the game lasts from an hour or more, depending on the strategy.
Difficulty level: average
Number of players: 2-5
Develops skills: intelligence, strategy, combinativeness
What adventures are in this box?
"Jackal. Treasure Island" includes the following components:
- tiles that make up an island – 117 pcs.;
- ships carrying pirates - 4 pcs.;
- wooden chips for four teams - 12 pieces, 3 pirates for each participant;
- coins for marking treasure – 37 pcs.;
- a brochure with the rules of the game with answers to frequently asked questions.
Captain Jackal has buried several treasure chests!
Yo-ho-ho, left hand drive! Participants in the Jackal game will need to go to an uncharted island full of gold, explore the jungle, meet bloodthirsty cannibals, shoot from a cannon and overcome many other adventures. In the set, players will find square tiles that make up a small but dangerous island.
What should you do, captain?
The island meets ships (2-4, depending on the number of participants) on opposite sides of each other, which are filled with pirates of the player himself and his rivals. There are three sea robbers in them. The Jackal member drops them off on land. Of course, at the beginning of the game the island is not explored, which is what the players need to do. Moving to the cells, the player turns them over and examines the contents. This way you can meet an exciting adventure and an equally long-awaited treasure. The task in the card game “Jackal” is to find the treasures that Captain Jackal hid and take the gold back to his ship.
What does the island look like?
It consists of laid out square plates, turned face down and framed with water. Each of the plates is “responsible” for the type of terrain and objects. Gradually, players will turn over the cage, completing the tasks prescribed in them. So they explore new lands, find treasures and face dangers.
The meaning of the field cells
The board tiles in Jackal are full of adventure. The following squares exist: 
- empty cells;
- arrows with one or more directions – in case of an ambiguous choice, the player chooses the direction of the pirate’s further movement;
- with the image of horses - move your hero with the letter “G”, like chess. When the move is made, open the unexplored part of the island only where the pirate stopped after the move.
- with barrels is a lucky field for the robber, he does not move the next turn, but the player is allowed to control the rest of his pirates from his ship at this time.
The legendary pirate game, one of the most famous strategies in our country. Created at Moscow State University in the 70s, it is filled with the spirit of pirate romance, great for family games and friendly games, and perfectly develops logic and systems thinking. If you like to look for treasures, fight pirates, meet crocodiles, look into a cannon and carry gold onto a ship, then, damn it, this board game is for you.
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
At the beginning of the game, you receive a squad of gentlemen of fortune and land on a desert island. The playing field is a set of terrain squares that are laid out randomly face down. This is one of the charms of “Jackal” - each subsequent game takes place on a new playing field. During the game, you move your pirates around the playing field, open the map and perform actions depending on the properties of the area. Your goal is to find gold coins and take them to the ship and take coins from your opponents.
On the ground you will encounter:
Tiles that impede movement: swamps, deserts and mountains. It takes several moves to overcome them;
Tiles that speed up movement. These are tiles with glaciers, balloons and even an airplane, which allow you to jump over several cells at once;
Direction tiles. Once on one of these tiles, your pirate will be forced to move only in the indicated direction;
A tile with a bottle of rum will cause the pirate to miss a turn;
The pirate dies in the ogre's lair. He can be resurrected in a fortress with an aborigine.
To take gold from your opponent's pirate, simply move your pirate to the appropriate square. The robbed pirate returns to his ship.
The goal of the game is to find and drag as many gold coins onto the ship as possible. Whoever brought the most coins to his ship won.
Jackal is a board game for 2-4 players that is great for all ages. The rules of the game are quite simple and exciting, so they will be understandable and interesting for children. At the same time, the game is very fun and adults like it. All this makes the board game “Jackal” a good choice for playing with the whole family or with friends.
Equipment:
- 117 playing field chips;
- 4 ships;
- 12 wooden chips;
- 37 plastic coins;
- rules of the game.
Video for the board game Jackal
Reviews for the board game Jackal
Novel
Is everything complete and the cards are in Russian?
Answer: Yes
Catherine
Good game!!! We mostly play together with my 7-year-old son, time flies! I recommend it for a family evening or for friendly gatherings!
Answer: Be sure to check out the Carcassonne series of games. We are sure you will like it very much! It’s interesting to play it both alone and in a company.
In the game "Jackal" you have to lead a pirate gang and search for treasure on the island. Of the four competing factions, only one will win - the one that finds or loots the most gold. The game is remarkable because, firstly, unlike most board games, the influence of the random factor on the course of the game is minimal. And secondly, each game is unique - and you want to play “Jackal” again and again.
What kind of game is it?
Jackal is one of the most interesting and atmospheric board games presented in our store. This is the story of a treasure hunt on a pirate island, similar in complexity to chess, but each new game is completely different from the previous one.What is the goal of the game?
You sail to the “treasure island” on different ships. The task is to remove as much gold as possible by any means (and at any cost) and load it into the holds of your ship. The winner is the one who remains the richest after the “looting” of the island.How did this game come about?
“Jackal” was played 30-40 years ago: the game was well known among Moscow State University students who preferred serious intellectual duels to boring lectures. If in schools they played “Battleship” in the back desks, then at the university they chose much more serious and complex games, one of the most favorite of which was “Jackal”.Why “Jackal”?
There are two versions of the origin of the name: the first suggests that there was some kind of plot associated with the game - and either the pirate leader or his schooner was called “Jackal”. The second is more prosaic and realistic: one of the most effective strategies in the game is not at all the search for treasures and their safe transportation to the ship, but an attack on the opponent and “shaking” his legitimate loot.What is the island?
The playing field (island) consists of small plates, each of which is “responsible” for its own type of terrain and objects. A wide variety of adventures await you on the island: while exploring new lands, you may stumble upon an abandoned fort or meet a native healer, find treasures or fall into a trap. The gameplay at first is just reconnaissance of the area: each plate that makes up the island is initially turned with its back side up. When your pirate enters unknown lands, the record turns over - and you find out what exactly was hidden under it. Before playing, all the records are mixed very thoroughly, and therefore the island is completely new every time. You won’t be able to play two similar games in “Jackal” - each time the terrain will dictate new tactics to you and put you in new conditions.How much does the element of chance influence the course of the game?
Randomness affects the game only at the very beginning, when the island map is “created”. In the future, everything depends solely on your ability to assess the situation and make the right tactical and strategic decisions. Of course, some situations give a slight advantage to the enemy (for example, it’s not very fun to jump from a ship straight into the lair of a cannibal), but an experienced player is able to use all the objects of the landscape for his own benefit. In general, except for very extreme cases, randomness has virtually no effect on the game : everything completely depends on you.Why is this game so interesting?
What is in the box?
- 117 playing field chips. As already described, it is from them that the island is assembled, on which serious battles will soon take place.
- 4 ships on which pirates and conquistadors arrived.
- 12 miniatures: four teams who decided to land on the island in search of piastres.
- 37 coins that are used as treasure markers.
- , from which you will not only learn who a native is and why it is better to approach her than to an cannibal, but also learn a lot of words that a real sea wolf should pronounce in various life situations.
What is special about this publication?
The collector's edition of the game is made of very high quality, one might even say, with love. Beautiful copper coins, metal sculptures, pleasant-to-touch plastic chips, stylish packaging - this game will be an excellent gift for a wealthy person or a connoisseur of board games.
First published in 2009.
Awards:
2012 People's Choice - “Best Strategy of the Year”
Mechanics:
Publishers:
Psychologist's report
Extract from the results of using the board games “Broken Phone” and “Jackal” in the work on developing the communicative skills of children of middle and high school age
Interim study period: September - December 2014 ( I and II quarters of the 2014-2015 academic year).
Age group and number of students who took part in the work: 7 classes (13 years old) - 20 people; 9th grade (15 years old) - 20 people; parents of students - 21 people. Total: students in grades 7-9 (13, 15 years old) - 40 people, parents 21 people.
The work involved teenagers registered for preventive measures, students with behavioral disorders, manifested in the form of negativism and very high anxiety. The children were invited (in subgroups of 8 people) once a week for 8 weeks to play classes. Classes with ninth graders were conducted using both games “Damaged Telephone” and “Jackal”. In classes with seventh graders, only the game “Broken Phone” was used. At the beginning and end of classes with teenagers, a diagnosis was made of the development of empathy, self-motivation, interaction skills, level of self-esteem, and level of anxiety.
Based on the results of the work carried out with students, it can be stated that 90% of the class participants have increased self-esteem. The level of empathy increased in 85% of students. Self-motivation, an important component for productive work, increased in 75% of students who attended classes. The vast majority (100%) experienced decreased anxiety levels and improved interaction skills.
The game “Broken Phone” was used in classes with parents. A total of 5 sessions using the game were conducted. Parents noted that after periodic game sessions they experienced positive changes in their relationships with their children (some with their spouses or colleagues), they began to listen more to their interlocutor. There was an understanding of the need to increase free time devoted to children, including playing with them. Some of the parents noted an increase in self-esteem, self-confidence, and a desire to communicate with others in a relaxed atmosphere while playing a board game.
Many children and parents have discovered a new type of leisure time - board games.
After the New Year holidays, the children shared that they received board games as a gift (“Tick-tock - boom”, “Activity”, “Alias”, “Guess who?”, etc.)
Conclusion:By playing the board games “Jackal” and “Broken Phone”, teenagers became more sociable, more tolerant of each other, learned to negotiate and avoid acute situations, and resolve conflicts constructively. They have increased: the ability to feel the emotions of another, to put themselves in the place of another person, the ability to empathize and sympathize. Schoolchildren have learned to cope for a long time without external stimuli and control, including in difficult and responsible situations. We began to better navigate situations of time shortage. I gained self-confidence and strength. In addition to personal changes, games also stimulated changes in thought processes. The concentration of attention increased, the speed of thinking increased, and the skills of logical and strategic thinking developed.
The use of the game “Broken Phone” in classes with parents stimulated parents to improve child-parent relationships, to develop a sense of closeness between parents and children, the ability to empathize, understand the feelings of another, and trust each other.
House Rules
Sent by San:
The game takes place on a free-form field. Lay out the island in the form of real peninsulas and islands or just imagine. It turns out especially great if you divide the map into two separate islands with a gap of one cell. The transition from island to island is carried out using a ship.
Such rules work best on a “huge” field. Those. field that appears when two game boxes are combined. Also, pirates from one box can be repainted and played by more than 4 players, the rules practically do not interfere with this.
The classic layout is an 11 * 11 square, without corner cells, a total of 117 cells.
The coastline of each ship is 9 cells.
Layout Ideal for 2 and 4 players.
With this layout, it is possible to play with three people, leaving one bank free. In this case, the player opposite the free bank finds himself in the most disadvantageous position, which introduces an imbalance. When playing with the expansion (or Treasure Island), the imbalance can be partially offset by the presence of caves.
Alternate layout for 3 players
The layout is based on a 13 * 13 square, without corners, with beveled edges on the free side.
There are 118 cells in total, but if you have a Classic Jackal without an add-on or Treasure Island, you can do without one cell or use the freed ship as an empty cell.
The coastline of each ship is 11 cells.
The layout works well for 3 players.
The imbalance for the player opposite the free bank still exists, but it is less significant than in the classic version.
Alternate layout for 5 players
Playing with five players is not officially provided, but is quite possible with the addition or edition of Treasure Island.
The layout is based on an 11 * 8 rectangle with protruding sides of 5 cells.
There are 113 cells in total, 4 cells remain unused: Friday, Missionary, Ben Gunn, Lifeboat (in the original addition) or an empty cell.
The layout works well for 5 players.
The crew of the fifth ship are the inhabitants of the island (therefore, their cells can be excluded). Naturally, without their abilities, but like ordinary pirates. An additional ship cell (in the original expansion) or an unused cell can be used as a fifth ship.
There is a slight imbalance in the layout.
Alternate layout for 6 players
Damn me, it turns out you can play with six players!
The layout consists of 113 cells, 4 empty cells remain unused.
The coastline of each ship is 5 cells.
The game will have 6 teams of 2 pirates each. In order not to confuse chips of the same color that belong to different teams, you can temporarily mark them (for example, wrap them with thread). Two unused cells can be used as the 5th and 6th ships.
The importance of the island's inhabitants greatly increases, so playing with the expansion will create additional intrigue. There is an imbalance in the layout, but it is much less pronounced than if the cells are laid out in the shape of a rectangle.
