If you can tag the monster with two barrels when he has only devoured four or five Amity citizens, for instance, you get to hold a few more weapons. Your performance in act one dictates the amount of gear the crew receives and the amount of special attack cards the shark holds. AdvertisementĮnlarge / Ah, the old "cardboard fin hoax" card. Crew members may have a rifle, pistol, a bucket of chum, or the explosive canister featured in the final moments of the movie. The upside is that the crew now wields weapons. Now characters can be attacked directly if they end up in the water, each chunk of flesh torn from their body resulting in a loss of health and possible death.
The shark objective is now to destroy the vessel or kill the three crew members, while Brody and company want to fell the beast and get home by supper. These areas of the Orca are dictated by a row of cards. Here the shark must choose one of three locations to attack. That sense of climbing into your opponent’s skull and deciphering their tactical approach still exists, albeit in altered form. This portion of the game switches from a large-scale hunt to a more focused battle. It suddenly feels as if you’re playing an entirely different game. The board is flipped over, revealing the iconic vessel, and violent conflict ensues. Once a side has accomplished its goal, we move to the climactic showdown at the Orca. The most novel aspect of this release is its two-act structure. This is an evocative experience that captures the suspense of the film while punctuating events with clever nods toward individual scenes and characters.
“Is that $3,000 bounty on the shark in cash or check?”Īt a bare minimum, this kind of licensed game must provide context for you to shout out your favorite movie quotes at opportune times. Either way, the surf will shine crimson and screams will pierce the clear Amity Island air. By the end, you could be ripped in half like Quint-or you could haul the carcass of the Great White up the beach in triumph. Published by Ravensburger, Jaws is a game of cat and mouse (or “shark and swimmer”) where one person plays the film’s antagonist and the rest work together as Hooper, Brody, and Quint. They design mass-market titles that bridge the gap between gaming hobbyist and random Target shopper.īut Jaws may be Prospero Hall’s best. This group of designers has been responsible for recent hits such as Horrified, Jurassic Park: Danger!, and even the Funkoverse Strategy Game. Leave it to the design studio Prospero Hall to resurrect this 44-year-old film in a new cardboard format.