First previewed earlier this year at the New York Toy Fair, Ravensburger has finally launched its new official strategy/suspense game called Jaws, evidently based on Jaws, the classic film directed by Steven Spielberg in 1975.
The game – designed for 2-4 players and with an expected duration of 30-60 minutes – adopts a unique two-act approach to recreate the film, with one player controlling the shark and the other(s) controlling the characters of Brody, Hooper, and Quint.
Here are the rules:
In Phase 1: Amity Island, the shark secretly roams the waters around the island, attacking bathers and avoiding capture. Meanwhile, the other players try to locate the shark's position while simultaneously saving the tourists.
In Phase 2: The Orca, experience the final showdown aboard the Orca, which is slowly sinking. Brody, Hooper, and Quint are well armed… but they don’t know where the ‘great white’ will strike!
While many movie-themed board games are simple rehashes of existing games, Ravensburger seems to have committed to creating something completely new, tailored for the most dedicated fans of Jaws, meticulously recreating the entire film. For example, Quint can shoot at barrels in the water, while Brody is primarily tasked with using his binoculars to keep an eye on the shark from the shore. Meanwhile, Hooper uses his tracking device to locate the hungry fish and manage to save the people who are swimming.
Whoever controls the shark will, of course, swim quietly around the coast trying to avoid being spotted while attempting to devour as many humans as possible. His primary objective in the first phase is to do just that: eat a certain number of bathers and win.