Game: JtR125

November 2013 marked the 125th anniversary of the last known murder by notorious and still-strangely-fascinating serial killer, Jack the Ripper.  Despite being linked to five—and possibly more—grisly homicides in London in the late 19th century, the Ripper was never caught and his crimes never solved.  This has led to innumerable and varied depictions of the Whitechapel events in popular media, from films to video games.  The latest exploration of the Ripper mystery combines these two forms and comes to us from Auroch Digital, the creators of many current events-inspired games, such as Endgame: Syria and NarcoGuerra. The game, JtR125, is in development as part of the REACT Future Documentary Sandbox, a project intended to explore the theme of the "future documentary" through collaborative works that break the current mold of documentary storytelling.  Thus, JtR125 will be both a video game and a documentary, blurring the lines between media forms, examining the Jack the Ripper legend from a new angle, and hopefully—like many of Auroch's "GameTheNews" projects—presenting gaming in a more earnest light.  "If we can achieve even some of what we're trying to do, then I hope this game will be another title that forces critics to take gaming seriously," Tomas Rawlings, of Auroch Digital and lead developer on JtR125, told Gamezebo.  "There is no reason why gaming can't talk about serious issues, communicate important political points or anything for that matter. Gaming has always been a fun format; we're showing how it can do much more than just that." "As part of their inclusion in the REACT Sandbox, Auroch Digital and Rawlings have been paired up with games and digital media expert Patrick Crogan of the University of the West of England, and Professor of Media and Journalism at Middlesex, Janet Jones.  This collaboration between experts in multiple media focuses will allow JtR125 to extend its reach across disciplines and players.  "The best documentaries and journalism of the future will not be simply read or watched, but played," Professor Jones told us.  "Games are superior in their ability to handle data effectively and deal with the systemic issues behind a story, and we want to show how powerful this hybrid form can be. There are many important social themes that come from the exploration of Victorian culture and certain parallels with today, and what better way to draw attention to these than by gaming the documentary."