Jumanji Board Game Rules Explained With Pictures

Objective for Jumanji

The objective of the game is to be the first player to reach the center of the gameboard and yell “Jumanji”.

Setup

Place the center piece onto the gameboard. Set the gameboard in the center of the table.
Shuffle the Danger cards and place them facedown on the draw space of the gameboard.
Each player chooses a pawn and places it on the corresponding colored start space.
Place the rhino figure on the corresponding spot on the gameboard.
Each player takes one of the rescue dice.
The player who suggested playing the game goes first. This player will take the number die and the timer.

Playing the Game

You will begin your turn by rolling the number die. You will then move your pawn towards the center of the gameboard the number of spaces that you rolled. When moving your pawn you must move the full number of spaces you rolled unless the rhino blocks your path or you would move past the center space.

After you move your pawn, you will look at the space you landed on. You will take an action based on the space that your pawn landed on. You will only take the action from a space if you moved to the space on your own turn.

Moving your playing piece — The green player has rolled a six. They move their playing piece forward six spaces on the gameboard.

Should you be unable to move due to the rhino or rolling a number that would put you past the finish space, you will remain on your current space and take the corresponding action.

If you ever land on a space that is already occupied by another player, you will move your pawn to the next unoccupied space.

Landing on a space that is already occupied — The red player landed on a space that was already occupied by the blue player. The red player moves their piece to the next space along the track.

After you take the action from the space you landed on, play will pass to the next player clockwise (left). Pass the next player the number die and the timer.

Spaces of Jumanji

Blank Spaces

When you land on a blank space, draw the top card from the Danger Pile. Slide the card underneath the decoder. Each card will have two important pieces of information on it. The symbol in the top left corner is the secret symbol that the players will have to roll. The number in the top right corner determines how many spaces that the players may potentially move.

Reading a Danger card — The current Danger card shows the axe symbol and the number one. All of the player except for the player that landed on the blank space have to roll an axe or a hourglass symbol. If they do, all of the other players move forward one space.

The player who landed on the space turns over the timer. The rest of the players (not including the player who landed on the space) start rolling their rescue die. Each player is trying to roll either the secret symbol from the card or the sand timer symbol. The sand timer symbol is wild. If you roll one of the symbols, you can stop rolling your die. If you roll one of the other symbols, you will roll the die again. The players keep rolling their die until the timer runs out. When the timer runs out you will check to see if all of the players rolled the secret symbol or a sand timer.

Results of the Danger Card

If all of the players rolled one of the correct symbols, the player who landed on the space is safe. All of the other players will move their pawns forward a number of spaces equal to the number from the Danger card. They will ignore the effect of the space that they landed on. Then discard the Danger card.

Rolling the correct symbols for a Danger card in Jumanji — The Danger card required the other players to roll axes or hourglasses. Since all of the players rolled the required symbols, they completed the challenge in time. Each of the players (except for the player that landed on the blank space) get to move their playing piece forward one space.

If one or more of the players fail to roll an appropriate symbol, the player who landed on the space moves their pawn back spaces equal to the number on the danger card. All of the other players stay on their current space.

One of the players failed to roll the correct symbol — One of the players failed to roll an axe or a hourglass. Therefore the players failed to complete the challenge in time. The player who landed on the blank space has to move back one space.

Place the danger card face up on one of the spaces on the Doomsday Grid.

Placing a Danger card in the Doomsday Grid — Since one of the players failed to roll the right symbol on their die, the players have to move the Danger card to the Doomsday Grid.

Wait For 5 or 8 Spaces

When you land on this space, pass the number die to the player on your left. They will roll the die. If they roll a five or eight, you stay on your current space. If they roll any other number they will pass the die to the player on their left. You will move your pawn back one space.

Failing to roll a 5 or 8 after landing on a Wait for 5 or 8 space — The red player landed on a Wait For 5 or 8 space. The next player rolled a six, so the red player has to move back one space. The next player then has to roll the die. If they also roll something other than a 5 or 8, the red player has to move back another space. This continues until someone rolls a 5 or 8.

The next player then rolls the die. If they also fail to roll a five or eight, you move back another space. This continues until a player rolls a five or eight. Should you move back to your start space, the players will stop rolling the die.

The official Jumanji rules for newer versions of the game say “When moving your pawn backward follow the directions for any space you move onto.” I believe this is a typo and should have said to not follow the directions for any space you move onto. This matches the rules for older versions of the game, and it would be a mess having to deal with every single space if it took several rolls for a player to roll a five or eight.

After one of the players roll a five or eight, play continues with the player to the left of the player who landed on the Wait for 5 or 8 space.

Jungle Spaces

Should you land on a jungle space, all of the players are trapped in the jungle. The players will draw a Danger card and place it in the decoder. The process to avoid the danger is the same as a blank space. There is a symbol and a number on the card. All of the players, including the player that landed on the space, must roll the symbol or an hourglass on their die. They must roll one of the symbols before the timer runs out. Once you roll one of the symbols, you will stop rolling your die.

Danger card for a Jungle Space — For this Danger card all of the players have to roll a rope or an hourglass. If they all succeed, all of the players move forward one space.

If all of the players successfully roll one of the symbols, everyone moves their pawns forward the number of spaces shown on the card. None of the players take the action of the space they move onto. Then discard the Danger card.

Jungle Space successful dice roll — All of the players rolled a rope or an hourglass symbol. The players succeeded so they will all move their piece forward one space.

If one or more of the players fail to roll the right symbol, the Danger card is placed on an empty Doomsday Grid space. Another Danger card is drawn and players try to complete that card in time. Players will keep drawing cards until they successfully complete one of them. Multiple cards can be added to the Doomsday Grid due to a jungle space.

Failing to complete a Jungle Space challenge — One of the players failed to roll a rope or an hourglass. The players failed the Danger card, so it is placed in the Doomsday Grid. They will draw a new Danger card and will try to complete it.

Rhino Spaces

When a player lands on the rhino space they have the option to move the rhino pawn. The player can move the rhino pawn one space in front of any of the player pawns. You may not place it on the center space. The rhino blocks the movement of the player(s) stuck behind it.

Blocked by rhino in Jumanji — The green player is currently being blocked by the rhino.

There are only two ways you can move past the rhino. First another player can land on a rhino space and move it to a different space. Otherwise you will have to roll an even number to move past the rhino. When a player rolls an even number they will move past the rhino the corresponding number of spaces and take the action of the space they landed on. The rhino is returned to its start space.

Rolling an even number when blocked by the rhino — The green player rolled an even number on the die. They will move through the rhino. The rhino is returned to its space on the board.

If you roll an odd number you won’t move your pawn. You will have to take the action of your current space.

If a rhino is blocking you and you ever have to move back spaces, the rhino will follow you so it remains one space in front of you.

Rhino following player after they moved backwards — The green player was forced to move back two spaces. The rhino will follow them, and will be placed on the rhino space in front of the green player.

Winning the Game

In order to win the game, you have to reach the final space by exact count. You can reach the final space by either rolling the correct number on the die or by moving after helping out on a Danger card. When you land on the final space, you will yell out “Jumanji” as quickly as you can. You will then win the game. If multiple people land on the finish space at the same time, the first player to yell out Jumanji wins the game.

Winning Jumanji — The blue player has landed on the center space by exact count. They have won the game.

If you ever have to move more spaces than the number of spaces remaining, you won’t move your pawn any spaces. You will take the action of your current space.

Rolling too high of a number to reach the finish space — The blue player rolled a five, but is only three spaces away from the center space. Since they rolled too high of a number, they will stay on their current space. They will take the action corresponding to the blank space that they are currently on.

Losing the Game

Throughout the game you will be adding Danger cards to the Doomsday Grid. If all of the spaces on the grid are filled with cards, all of the players lose the game. You will then have to play another game until someone wins.

Filling up the Doomsday Grid and losing Jumanji — All of the spaces on the Doomsday Grid have been covered with a card. All of the players have lost the game. The players will have to play another game to determine the winner.

Variant Rules

If you want to add some additional challenge to the game you can begin the game with 1-6 Danger cards already on the Doomsday Grid.

When you are playing with only two players you can choose to not let the hourglass count as a wild when rolling for Danger cards.

If you would like to see our thoughts on the game, check out our Jumanji Review.

Jumanji FAQ

If you have any questions about how to play the game, leave a comment below on this post. I will try to answer any questions asked as best and as quickly as possible.

Components

Gameboard
4 Pawns
Rhino Figure
Sand Timer (approximately 10 seconds)
Die (die sides are 1-8)
4 Rescue Dice
30 Danger Cards
1 Card Decoder
Instructions

Year: 1995 | Publisher: Cardinal, Milton Bradley

Genres: Family, Roll and Move

Ages: 5+ | Number of Players: 2-4 | Length of Game: 45 minutes

Difficulty: Light | Strategy: Light | Luck: High

For more board and card game rules/how to plays, check out our complete alphabetical list of card and board game rules posts.

Written By:

Eric Mortensen

Eric Mortensen is an owner and head writer on Geeky Hobbies since 2014. He is an avid board game player and collector with over 3,000 board and card games in his collection. Since 2014 he has written more than 1,100 board game how to play guides.