Jumanji (board game)/Film

Jumanji
Game Statistics
Designer(s)	Unknown
Manufacturer	Unknown
Publication Date	Unknown
Game Genre	Jungle Adventure / Survival
Number of Players	4
Game Pieces	Dice x 2 Keratin Rhinoceros Metallic Elephant Obsidian Crocodile Jade Monkey
Random chance	High
Skill(s) Required	Survival Intelligence
Behind the scenes
Appearance(s)	1995 Film Film Novel Welcome to the Jungle
Status	Transformed into a Video Game

“"Jumanji"
A GAME FOR THOSE WHO SEEK TO FIND
A WAY TO LEAVE THEIR WORLD BEHIND
YOU ROLL THE DICE TO MOVE YOUR TOKEN
DOUBLES GETS ANOTHER TURN
THE FIRST PLAYER TO REACH THE END WINS
ADVENTURERS BEWARE:
DO NOT BEGIN UNLESS YOU INTEND TO FINISH
THE EXCITING CONSEQUENCES OF
THE GAME WILL VANISH ONLY WHEN
A PLAYER HAS REACHED JUMANJI AND CALLED OUT IT'S NAME ”

— Instructions

"JUMANJI" is a board game that appears as the focal point of the 1995 film, and briefly appearing in the 2017 sequel. Despite looking like an antique board game carved out of wood, there is far more to it than meets the eye.

Appearance

The game's board.

The most widely known version of "JUMANJI" is the 1995 film's depiction. "JUMANJI" is a stylized rectangular folded box, carved out of wood. The attraction of the game is down to the elaborate painting on the front, which is reminiscent of circus posters.

Front

The game's title is held together by a long spear to coincide with portraits in each corner of Van Pelt, a Monkey, a Rhinoceros and an Elephant against a deep jungle, vast lake and volcanic activity, all symbolize the exciting consequences in store; all of which are held together by a bronze zig-zag pattern akin to the book's golden city.

The film's novelization has a different painting layout, which adds Lions and exotic birds to the menagerie as well.

Contents

Inside the folded box rests the game board. Wooden play cards on each side contain written rules for playing the game; Ignoring the rules can lead to disastrous consequences for the player. Flip-lid cupboards store the game dice and playing pieces when not in use. The game board is decorated with carved fallen leaves, in amongst the four individual trails of squared pathways for each player that all lead to the crystal ball in the center, which is also covered by a bronze zig-zag pattern also (alluding to the book's golden city).

Abilities

Drumming

"JUMANJI" dislikes being left alone and unplayed, therefore will emit an enchanting but primal and primitive war-like drumbeat to attract the attention of any nearby children and entice them into playing the game. Adults seem to be oblivious to the drumming: evidently when Alan searched for the drumbeat source in 1969 while the construction workers headed for the snack van unaware of the drums, while in 1995, Nora Shepherd tried to catch her niece and nephew's attention when they were clearly entranced by the drumming coming from the attic.

However, the brothers Caleb & Benjamin were both frightened of the drum sounds due to their previous Jumanji gaming experience, making Benjamin believe the game was actually after him when he fell into the pit with the game.

Auto control

Up to four players can participate in a round of "JUMANJI" gameplay, where turns are determined by whoever starts rolling the dice when they take out game playing pieces which are automatically telekinetically controlled to move along the paths on their own. The tokens automatically move along the pathways by themselves and cannot be removed by human hands when set on the board. Once a specific player rolls on their turn, they must continue to play or the game will come to a halt and reject rolls from anyone else. The four game tokens or pieces are idol like figurines of an Keratin Rhinoceros, Metallic Elephant, Obsidian Crocodile or Jade Monkey.

• A similar Elephant token later acts as a clue in the video game version.

The Rhinoceros token.

The Elephant token.

The Crocodile token.

The Monkey token.

Consequences

The game's riddle.

A prominent feature in all its appearances, once the player's piece lands on a square, "JUMANJI" emits a clue within the crystal ball to provide a rhyming riddle message, informing players what will begin to manifest into reality, whatever the text reads, placing randomised consequences into the real world to challenge players. The animals, humans, the danger, and other characters that live in "JUMANJI" can't normally be killed and they can only be stopped by finishing the game, hence why the instructions advise players to not being unless they intend to finish by reaching the game's crystal ball center, calling out the name: "JUMANJI" and therefore undo all the consequences and alternative timelines of the game.

Another aspect of the board game is a randomized consequence of actually transporting the player in question into the crystal ball, which is the gateway into the deepest, darkest jungle dimension of "JUMANJI" itself. They will be unable to leave until their riddle message has been resolved.

Consequence	Riddle	Image
Bat	At night they fly, you better run / These winged things are not much fun.	Sarah is attacked by swarming Bats.
Jumanji Imprisonment	In the jungle, you must wait / Until the dice read five or eight.
Mosquito	A tiny bite can make you itch / Make you sneeze, make you twitch.
Monkeys	This will not be an easy mission / Monkeys slow the expedition.
Lion	His fangs are sharp, he likes your taste / Your party better move poste haste.
Vegetation (including Purple Flowers & Pods)	They grow much faster than bamboo / Take care or they'll come after you.
Van Pelt	A hunter from the darkest wild / Makes you feel just like a child.
Stampede (Rhinos, Elephants, Zebras & Pelicans)	Don't be fooled, it isn't thunder / Staying put would be a blunder.
Transformation Penalty	A law of Jumanji having been broken / You will slip back even more than your token.
Monsoon & Crocodiles	Every month at the quarter moon / There'll be a monsoon in your lagoon.
Quicksand	Beware of the ground on which you stand / The floor is quicker than the sand.
Undo Quicksand	There is a lesson you will learn / Sometimes you must go back a turn.
Spiders	Need a hand? Why, you just wait / We'll help you out... we each have eight.
Earthquake	You're almost there with much at stake / Now the ground begins to quake.

The only thing that that "JUMANJI" hates more then being left unplayed (to the point its drum-like "heart" is heard) is cheaters, so whenever someone plays dishonestly by changing the dice, or tampering with one of its inter-reality puzzles and minigames, that very player has to face magical punishment by getting turned into an animal, namely their game piece, (Monkey, Rhinoceros, Elephant and Crocodile).

Time control

The 1969 Staircase.

The 1995 Staircase.

"JUMANJI" can create and manipulate timelines whenever a round of gameplay has begun. The effects can be devastating and can leave a lasting impact, hence why the instructions advise players to not begin unless they intend to finish.

"JUMANJI" appears to save the memories of all that happens within it, evidenced by Alex Vreeke's finding and staying in a shelter built by Alan Parrish, despite Alan reversing back to his time in 1969 by finishing his game in the alternative 1995. Alex Vreeke suggests that Alan Parrish is not the only player to have gotten stuck in "JUMANJI" over time, while the animated series further expands on this by Alan having several toys in his cave that do not belong to him but other players that did not survive at all or even left their world behind and became Manjis or Jamazons.

1995

In the original movie, all of the characters appear to believe that all of the dangers that have been released will simply be sucked back into the game when it's over and it will remain 1995. The reason time reverses to 1969 is because while the majority of the game was played in 1995, it actually began in 1969 and the consequences that had to be reversed included Alan being trapped for twenty-six years and the Bats that Sarah released.

2017

In the video game version, "JUMANJI" retained the time altering powers of the board game. However, the video game's effect was different than the board game's. While the board game reversed time for Alan Parrish and Sarah Whittle to when they started playing in 1969 and relegated everything that happened to an alternate timeline that only they could remember, this was not so for the video game. Instead, the video game restored players to their original time periods but didn't completely rewrite history or the players memories as seen with the teenagers inability to recall Alex Vreeke's house being anything but the dilapidated ruin that they knew.

Invincibility?

Many previous players tried to get rid of it, usually by burying it or floating it down a river to sink at sea, but due to its magic, there are rumors that the original version of the game still survives somewhere, waiting to be played yet again so it could use its dangerous, yet character-building power on those who need/want to "leave their world behind" the most.

History

1995 film

Alan Parrish finds Jumanji in 1969.

In 1869, two brothers, Benjamin and Caleb, had previously found "JUMANJI". The two of them managed to win and end the game, but were clearly traumatised by it and then buried the game near a road marker outside of Brantford, New Hampshire where they prayed to god to have mercy on any soul if it were discovered, hoping that no-one would ever find it.

A hundred years later in 1969, the game was then found by Alan Parrish near the same marker by his father, Sam Parrish's shoe factory. Alan then took it home. Alan and his friend Sarah Whittle then inadvertently played it until Alan was taken to the inner jungle dimension of "JUMANJI", until the dice were rolled and would land on a five or an eight. Sarah was soon attacked by the Bats that she released, presumably agitated by the kids screams, leading to her running away in fright and never going near the Parrish Mansion again because of the trauma.

In 1995, Judy and Peter Shepherd then found "JUMANJI" when it lured them upstairs with its drums. Since the game looked cool, the formerly bored kids decided to play it, unaware they were fulfilling the game's desires. After releasing a Lion, they also released Alan after 26 years of being a resident within "JUMANJI". After they witnessed Alan fending off the Lion and Mosquito attacks, the Shepherd kids wished for him to help them continue playing the game, but he was having none of it, until they realised they were still playing the same round that he started 26 years ago, therefore they needed Sarah too. At first Sarah was too haunted by the horrid memories that "JUMANJI" casted onto her life, but the trio convinced her to help them carry on and end what they started. Once Sarah rejoined the players and the game was won by Alan, the alternative timeline was undone and "JUMANJI" returned Alan and Sarah back to 1969. They proceeded to tie bricks round the game and dumped it in a river to be rid of it forever; however history only preceded to repeat itself when "JUMANJI" was washed up on a beach in France, playing it's drums to attract the attention of two passing girls; Emilie Reynaud and Isabel Villeneuve.

2017 film

The game found in 1996.

Despite being thrown into a river by Alan Parrish and Sarah Whittle in 1969 and being washed up on a beach in France and found by two girls, "JUMANJI" somehow found it's way back to Brantford; In 1996, Alex Vreeke received the board game from his father who found it on a beach. However, Alex was not interested and decided not to play it at all, then starting to play modern video games instead. "JUMANJI" noticed this and the game transformed its game board into a video game cartridge to adapt to modern times and tastes, sounding its drums to persuade Alex to put the game pack into his video game console. Alex started to play until he got sucked into the game world and changed into his avatar Seaplane McDonough. Seaplane found and stayed in a shelter built by Alan Parrish, 26 years ago and struggled to defeat the game on his own, but failed. To Alex, only a few months passed in "JUMANJI", unaware he was actually a prisoner for 20 years.

In 2017, the video game version of "JUMANJI" was discovered by Spencer Gilpin, Anthony Johnson, Bethany Walker and Martha Kaply who entered the game world. There, the teenagers encountered Alex and worked together to win the game. After the game was won, everyone was returned to their original time periods. Returned to the moment he left in 1996, Alex built a life and a family over the next twenty years, altering history somewhat.

Once the four players from 2017 returned to the real world, they destroyed the video game console with a Rhino brand bowling bowl to prevent anyone from becoming trapped within the dimension of "JUMANJI" again.

Trivia

• Conceptual art for the 1995 film’s logo reveals that a fifth token in the shape of a Lion idol was planned for the game, but ended up being unused in favour of a 1-4 player game. "JUMANJI" eventually ended up having up to five possible avatars when it transformed into a video game, albeit only four players could play.
  • More concept art has a Tiger being included in the "JUMANJI" zoology as one was part of the board game’s diorama painting design ideas, but Tigers ended up not appearing in the film yet were prominent in the animated series.

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