Is it even possible to go for a swim without at some point humming the two-note Jaws theme in your head as you approach other swimmers? The stalking/hunting mentality of our ancestors is still buried deep in our brains, which means that you and your friends are going to fight over who gets to play the shark in Ravensburger’s new officially licensed Jaws game.
Like Steven Spielberg’s classic film, Jaws the board game plays out in two major acts.
The first part has the player controlling the shark terrorising Amity Island by attacking swimmers, while up to three other opponents — playing as Quint, Brody and Hooper — try to cooperatively figure out exactly where the shark is hiding in the surrounding murky depths.
Once the shark is located, the game switches to a second act.
The board gets flipped over, which puts the three human players aboard Quint’s doomed Orca boat that is slowly sinking. These players still work cooperatively to try and stop the shark before it attacks and completely dismantles the boat, but they don’t know where the player controlling the shark is going to make their next strike.
Australian availability has not yet been announced, though Jaws will be available in the US in late June for $US30 ($42). THe game takes about an hour to play, but unlike the movie, there’s no guarantee that Quint, Brody and Hooper will actually be able to stop the shark before it makes a meal of them.