Family Fun at Amity Island

This weekend we had a treat my brother Rich and his wife Amanda stopped in from Minnesota. The main reason was to visit their new niece, but we usually find time for a game or two. They were only here for about 24 hours so every minute was precious to us. There was a lot of time for hugs and cuddles with our daughter. We actually had a very big game night (3 games). Jaws from Ravensburger was one of the games we played that night.

I really enjoyed the movie Jaws growing up. I even have one of the McFarlane 3D posters of it in our basement. I received this as a gift for my 40th birthday from our friends Adam and Mona. They know I love a good themed board game. Jaws is 2-4 players and I think this one works very well with 4 players. You get to take on the roles of Brody, Hooper, Quint, and of course JAWS! The game unfolds in two acts, the first is on Amity Island and the second on the Orca.

Act 1: Brody(Mary), Hooper(Amanda) and Quint(me) are trying to track down Jaws(my Brother Rich) as he gobbles up swimmers along the 4 beaches. Brody is in charge of closing beaches and moving barrels to the piers. Hooper can pick up barrels and track Jaws with his fish finder and Quint is launching barrels to track Jaws. When 2 barrels are attached to Jaws Act 1 is over. Jaws moves in secret gobbling up swimmers and using his special abilities to evade Quint and company. When we played we were able to track down Rich quite quickly. This is not good news for him moving into Act 2.

Act 2: In Act 2 we find our human shark hunters aboard the Orca and jaws is lurking around the boat. Jaws attacks and destroys parts of the boat during Act 2 while the crew of the Orca try to avoid him and attack Jaws. In Act 1 the more swimmers Jaws is able to gobble up before being tagged with the barrels the more special ability cards he has in Act 2. The crew get more gear to attack Jaws in Act 2 if in Act 1 they were able to keep the body count to a minimum.

End Game: The poor performance of Jaws in Act 1 led to a very bad showing in Act 2 for Jaws. The crew eventual was able to defeat Jaws and return the Island of Amity back to the summer vacationers. This game is really great I feel the theme was very well done and it really felt like you were playing in the movie. If you haven't tried this one yet find three of your friend and take a vacation to Amity Island.