Grab your best buds for a trip back in time to the summer of 1975. Preparations for a blowout Independence Day celebration are at hand at Amity Island, and the new board game by Ravenburger, JAWS, welcomes you! This nostalgic board game is a superb twist on a classic horror movie that gives players the chance to change the fate of Amity Island and The Orca. Played in two Acts with 2-4 players, this strategic game is an opposition of one player against all others in which one person is the Shark and 1-3 players are characters Quint, Brody, and Hooper.
In Act 1 (25-40 min approx.), players playing the characters Quint, Brody, and Hooper (otherwise known as “The Crew”), strategize and work together to keep Amity Island safe from a man-eating shark from terrorizing swimmers in the ocean. During Act 1, there are 3 Phases known as the Event Phase, Shark Phase, and Crew Phase. In the Event Phase, an Amity Event card is flipped over to reveal the local swimmers in the ocean and the events taking place on Amity Island. Phase 2, the Shark Phase, is where the player who is the Shark plans their strategic attack on swimmers; gobbling up as many as they can while avoiding detection from The Crew. Lastly, the Crew Phase gives our Crew players the opportunity to counter the Shark attacks by rescuing swimmers from the water, track the Sharks movement by either launching barrels or strategically placing barrels in the water, or using each of the character’s special abilities such as closing a beach or using a fish finder. Act 1 is complete when either the Shark eats 9 swimmers or the Crew successfully attaches two barrels to the Shark.
Following Act 1, Act 2 (30-45 min approx.) begins with a flip of the board where we find Quint, Brody, and Hooper aboard The Orca. The setup of this Act depends entirely on the success of The Crew or Shark from Act 1 as it will either aid or hinder either’s special abilities/weapons in this Round. Each Round of this Act is played in 6 Phases. The goals of Act 2 are simple: protect the boat and your characters from being destroyed/eaten by the Shark and kill the Shark or, if you are the Shark, either kill all the characters or demolish the boat. If the Shark is successfully killed, The Crew wins the game! If the Shark kills all members of The Crew and/or demolishes The Orca, The Shark wins!
Overall, this suspenseful and exciting game would make a wonderful addition to any game collection. However, a word of caution: allow adequate time to read all of the directions thoroughly. To that point, there are a mass amount of instructions and game pieces; making this game not suitable for those looking for a quick, easy to understand, directional format. For optimal enjoyment, this game is best played with 4 players, but 2 or 3 will suffice. If a shorter game of JAWS is preferred, either Act may be played independently of the other.
So, pack up your beach gear and join your friends at Amity Island and The Orca…JAWS will be waiting!
