Although it’s widely known for its original movie adaptation in 1995, Jumanji was first released as a picture book written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg in 1981. The Jumanji board game was also released in 1995, providing fans a way to experience the game themselves.
Whether or not you’ve seen the movie, all players alike will still enjoy the thematic elements of the jungle coming to life through the game itself!
Will you and your fellow playmates survive long enough to escape the perils of the jungle? Find out by learning how to play Jumanji below!
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Jumanji is a “race to the finish” board game where everyone’s goal is to follow their assigned path and reach the large Jumanji Space in the center of the game board.
Since Jumanji is semi-cooperative, there can only be one true winner.
The first player to reach the Jumanji Space is the actual game-winner, but if the Doomsday Grid fills up before then, everyone will lose the game!
Number of Players: 2-4 Players
Ages: 8+
Difficulty: Easy
Length of Play: 30-45 min
Category: Family, Children, Animals, Racing, Adventure, Dice Rolling
Main Objective: Be the first to land on the Jumanji Space in the center of the game board and shout “Jumanji!” before the Doomsday Grid gets filled.
Why We Love It: Jumanji is suitable for both beginner and advanced gamers alike, making it an ideal family game. We also love the excitement of rolling the Rescue Dice before the timer runs out, which provides the game an added thrill!
Everything you will need to play Jumanji can be found in the box.
If you have just purchased the Jumanji game and are playing for the first time, you may be instructed to place stickers on the 8-sided blank dice found in the box before starting gameplay.
Otherwise, follow these brief instructions for set up:
At the start of a player’s turn, they will first roll the Number Die to determine how many spaces they will move on the game board.
Each space on the board has its own action that will activate if a player ends their turn there.
Here are the 4 different spaces you can land on and how to resolve them:
If you land here, you must draw a Danger Card. Slide the Danger Card under the Card Decoder and read it aloud to all players. The Danger Card will reveal some flavor text, along with a symbol and a number.
Your fellow playmates must now make an attempt to rescue you from this danger. Flip over the sand timer, and all players (other than yourself) roll their Rescue Die until they each reveal the symbol shown on the Danger Card or a Wild symbol (hourglass).
If the timer runs out and everyone has successfully rolled the matching symbol, those players who rolled will move forward the amount of spaces determined by the number shown on the Danger Card.
If the timer runs out and everyone does not have a matching symbol, the active player must move backwards the number of spaces labeled on the Danger Card, and all other players will remain in their current spaces.
Then, place that Danger Card on the Doomsday Grid.
This space requires your playmates to take turns rolling the Number Die one player at a time, starting with the player on your left until someone rolls either a 5 or 8.
Each time this attempt is made, you will move your pawn back one space until someone has a successful roll. If you get pushed back to your Start space, your turn is over, and your playmates will stop rolling.
When your pawn lands in a Jungle Space, you must draw a Danger Card and follow the same instructions you would for a blank space.
However, if the players do not collectively roll the matching symbol on the Danger Card, instead of moving your pawn backwards, you must discard the Danger Card to the Doomsday Grid, thendraw another Danger Card until all players get a matching symbol.
Repeat this step until all of the players roll matching symbols. Then, move your pawn however many spaces the most recently pulled Danger Card indicated. You are no longer considered stuck in the jungle!
Landing on a Rhino space allows you to block another player’s path, stopping their movement forward temporarily. Place the Rhino figurine in the space directly in front of the player of your choice.
That chosen player cannot move forward until another player lands on a Rhino space and decides to relocate the Rhino to another location OR; the blocked player must roll an even number when they roll for movement on their next turn.
If the blocked player rolls an odd number on their next movement attempt, instead of moving, they will perform the action of the space they are currently stuck on.
When a player is stuck behind a Rhino, and that player is moved backwards for any reason, the Rhino will follow, continuing to block their path in the space directly in front of them.
The Doomsday Grid is located on the left and right side panels of the game board. Once a Danger Card is discarded from a failed attempt, that card gets placed on this grid.
The first discarded Danger Card is placed on the bottommost spot on the left panel of the grid. Additional cards will be placed above this card and so on.
When the left panel is filled, the next Danger Card is placed on the topmost spot of the right panel, and any additional cards will be placed below.
Beware! If you fill-up the Doomsday Grid, all players will immediately lose the game!
To win a game of Jumanji, you must be the first player to move your pawn onto the Jumanji Space in the center of the game board and shout “Jumanji!”.
To do this, you must roll the EXACT number of spaces needed to enter the Jumanji Space. If you roll higher than the exact number, you stay put on your current space and perform its action again.
If a Danger Card would move you the exact amount of spaces needed to reach the Jumanji Space, this counts as a winning move! Don’t forget to shout “Jumanji!”.
If you would like a more challenging experience, start the game with half of the Doomsday Grid filled up. If you are playing with only 2 players and want to shake things up a bit more, ignore the Wild symbol on your Rescue Die when it’s rolled.
If you are looking for the exact game played in the movie, that does not exist! However, you can find specially made versions of Jumanji board games that look and feel exactly like the version in the movie – minus all of the special effects.
Jumanji is a very fun game to play! You will constantly perform actions, even on other player’s turns, which will prevent you from getting bored while waiting for your turn to start again.
Yes! Jumanji is meant to be played with 2-4 players. The game provides a suggestion when playing with only 2 players, which we have covered above in “Alternate Ways to Play Jumanji.”
If you enjoyed reading this Jumanji board game rules guide, you might also be interested in learning about the following games with similar gameplay:
