Jaws is a game of hunted vs. hunters. One player takes on the role of the shark, while the remaining players control Quint, Hooper, and Brody. Through a combination of deduction and a little bit of luck, each side tries to outwit the other.
If you have never seen the movie and might wonder what the heck is this board game about? Jaws is the story of a great white shark that terrorizes the beach destination of Amity Island during the peak summer season. Three men work together to eliminate the shark: police chief Brody (Roy Schneider), marine biologist Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss), and “sharker” Quint. The first half of the film takes place mostly on land as the three forms a plan, while the second half has the trio boarding the Orca to battle the beast at sea. Jaws the board game replicates this structure with game play occurring over two acts.
In Act 1: The game is based on land the quint Amity Island, the shark circles the land through 12 marked water spaces, attempting to eat unsuspecting swimmers. The player controlling the shark moves in secret, only announcing when they’ve eaten a swimmer (and where). At the same time, the human players attempt to deduce where the shark is by collecting and dropping barrels—when two barrels are dropped on the shark (the human launches a barrel while in the same space as the shark), Jaws moves onto the next phase of the game. The number of swimmers eaten or protected gives each team benefits in the subsequent act.
In Act 2: The Orca, the board is flipped to the reverse side, with eight reversible tiles representing the boat the human characters are defending. In each round, three options (in the form of randomly drawn cards) show where the shark can pop out of the water and attack the boat. The shark player strategically chooses in secret which space of the three options they want to emerge. Meanwhile, the humans can move around the boat and decide which space they want to target, using a variety of ranged and melee weapons at their disposal. If the shark player destroys the boat or eats the people, they win. If Brody, Quint, and Hooper can kill the shark, they win.
I’m normally not a big fan of Hidden movement games, Fury Of Dracula notwithstanding, but the mechanics work perfectly in Jaws as each side tries to outsmart the other. The game play offers a thrilling tension that mimics the film incredibly well. We found our selves quoting lines from the movie as we were trying to find the shark. It was great fun.
I loved the different acts of the Game, Act 1 had a lot of strategies, and my 2 friends and I were talking a lot about the best way to figure out where the shark was, and what we thought he was doing. Act 2 brings a lot of action and excitement, as you find the boat breaking apart, and you might be shark food if you’re in the water!
I have a few small nitpicks about the game, overall I think it’s well-designed and plays great, it does suffer from the same fate as Horrified, I wish the cards were printed on a bit better stock, I’m not a fan of sleeving my cards, I know the horror! But I feel that this is a must for this game, as the cards a tad bit on the flimsy side, so I’m not sure how well they will hold up over time and repeated plays.
Also, if you are not a fan of or unfamiliar with the movie not get as much fun from the game, I think fans of the movie will find this more fun, a small nitpick I know, but something to keep in mind when you’re deciding to bring the is off the shelf.
Jaws can be purchased at Target. And Amazon.
A big thank you to Ravensburger for sending over the review copy of Jaws, this is no way had any outcome on the review of the game.
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