“Don’t get gulped!”
Published by Milton Bradley in 1988, Shark Attack! was a swim-for-your-life game. Players raced fish around a track in hopes of outswimming a menacing mechanical shark.
GAMEPLAY
Some assembly was required when the game was first opened. The plow and wheel components needed to be attached to the shark and a C-cell battery inserted. The shark then need to be fastened to the board. This was accomplished by attaching the shark to an arm and affixing the arm to the centre of the gameboard.
The board was illustrated to represent a marine environment, complete with water, fish, and a tropical island. Players lined up their fish pawns at the starting line with the shark positioned behind them.
The oldest player served as the dice roller and colour caller for the duration of the game. In place of pips on the dice were dots that corresponded to the colours of the fish.
With the fish at their starting positions, the shark was turned on and began to chomp its way along the board, towards the fish. The oldest player rolled the dice and called out the colours, prompting players with corresponding coloured fish to advance one space. The game continued in that roll-and-move pattern as the shark narrowed the distance to the lagging fish, ultimately devouring it. The tiny fish remained inside the shark for the remainder of the game.
The object of the game was to be the last fish on the board.
IN THE BOX
A complete game included a motorized shark, gameboard, four fish pawns (red, yellow, green, white), and two dice. Instructions were printed on an insert inside the box. The C-cell battery was not included.
COLLECTOR CONSIDERATIONS
Shark Attack! is an example of a game that used mechanical elements to add novel flair to gameplay. Predecessors such as Voice of the Mummy from Milton Bradley (1971) and Séance from Milton Bradley (1972) used similar gimmicks. Mechanical components were exciting additions to games until they failed, sometimes due to wear and tear and other times from abuse by curious young players. For this reason, mint-condition copies of Shark Attack! and similar games can be hard to find, which significantly increases their value among collectors.
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