Marmalade Game Studio has added a major new gameplay mechanic to its mobile board game Jumanji: The Curse Returns. With the addition of a card mechanic to the dice rolling, Marmalade will bring players closer to the spirit of urgency and chaos everyone wants a Jumanji to have.
For those who have managed to never hear of the franchise, the first Jumanji film was released in 1995 and was loosely based on a book from a decade earlier. The story revolved around a supernatural board game named, fittingly, Jumanji where every dice roll released jungle mayhem into the real world, like carnivorous plants and lions. So obviously, everyone and their dog looked for a version to play, enter The Curse Returns.
The gameplay has players rolling the dice and guiding their piece around the board trying to reach the centre, whilst solving riddles and battling animals such as Crocodiles and giant Mosquitos, which thankfully don’t jump out of the phone, although in AR would be a neat mechanic. The new update however adds a new card based system to encounters.
During the confrontations with the wild animals players will have to battle through, there will be a deck of ever-changing Attack and Assists cards to draw from. The attack cards will generally deal damage to threats and can be used to rescue teammates from jungle vines. Whereas the assist cards can be used to add time to encounters, identify a danger's weakness, or shield and delay their attacks. After every encounter in-game coins will be rewarded that can be used to buy and add new cards to the deck for the next round.
When discussing the update, Marmalade Game Studios’ joint CEO, Michael Willis, said “Bringing the Jumanji board game to life, based on the classic 1995 film, has been hugely fun and challenging. The new update adds another level to the experience providing even more multiplayer fun for every type of player.”
Jumanji: The Curse Returns is available to purchase on Google Play and the App Store, and is currently 75% off until 3rd April, bringing it down to $0.99 to celebrate the update.
