Zathura (board game)

Zathura, A Space Adventure is a magical board game with a mind of its own and also known powers. It is a clockwork driven space themed mechanical board game where two players got to race each other from Earth to the black planet Zathura. When the game is played, it came to life and took the players, which is including the player's house, into outer space on a journey to reach the planet Zathura.

Role in the Film[]

The game's origin is unknown as it was probably being either cursed or possessed by a strange force, incorporating the space dangers inside of it. Danny Budwing found the board game under the basement stairs after he was banished to the basement by his older brother Walter Budwing after he threw the baseball at his face after he turned off Danny's video game and not letting him watch SpongeBob on TV and turning on SportsCenter after he spilled his drink on their Dad's car drawing and pulling the antenna off of Walter's walkie-talkie after Walter hit him for not giving it back to him. Danny took a liking to the game and decided to play it, he took the game upstairs and brought the board game out of its box, then started laying it. As soon as Danny was Player 1, a card got drawn out of the game which read: "METEOR SHOWER Take evasive action" which suddenly affected reality and a storm of meteors and comets came crashing into the living room of the house which destroyed the table and the TV, but Danny and Walter managed to survive by taking cover in the fireplace. They soon found out that the game has sent them into outer space where the game had supplied the house with water, gas and electricity and is holding an envelope of oxygen and gravity around it.

Danny and Walter prepared to keep on playing the game in order to get back home to Earth avoiding the dangers from the cards which the game has thrown on them like a defective robot, a sun with a strong gravity field, hostile lizard like aliens called Zorgons and their ship attacking the house and the players. They received help from a stranded astronaut who helped them to keep the Zorgons away by turning off the house's lights and the heating to keep the Zorgons away from their heat signature.

When a player has won the game and has got to the planet Zathura, the planet ball spins, rises up and opens up, bringing a black hole which sucked the characters from the game and the game's pieces will reset back to the starting line, which the game takes the players and the house back to Earth. The game has fixed the house and placed the players in the same spot of where the game had begun.

Appearance[]

Board[]

The Zathura board game is in a rectangle shape with a space background that displays its artwork; featuring Earth, a space academy, robot, Zorgons, rocket ships, Tsouris-3, shooting star, meteors, astronaut, planets and the black planet, Zathura, all of them represent its dangers that it threw at the players. The game has a light-year pathway colored in yellow with circles, displayed in red, white and blue, starting from Earth to Zathura. It has a bridge that goes up over the pathway starting from the shooting star section to the ending of the pathway, where it went in a turntable pathway, colored red and black with yellow arrows pointing forward. Around the edges of the game has a "Zathura" logo displayed in a shooting star design and a red rocket ship that is on the left side of the blue console. Near the starting line, the game has a blue console that is designed in a blue control panel, displaying a red keyhole where the game's key is inserted, a red button that marked "GO" that made the dial spin, displaying in a space travel indicator, it has a narrow rectangle hole where the cards popped out and it has a "Zathura" emblem on the front of the console displayed in a comet design.

Box[]

The game's box is displayed in 1950s or 1960s pop art featuring two rocket ships and two astronauts, in red and blue color. The blue astronaut has his arm pointing up to two other rocket ships soaring through deep space, with the other astronaut having his helmet in one arm and his hand on his head in dismay. The box featured a planet with rings on the top left corner, with a small Saturn-like planet next to it with stars displayed in the background and a black and blue space color. It has two space clouds next to the astronauts and their rocket ships, with the game's title displayed in a spaceship soaring design, Zathura: A Space Adventure. The box has the same title on each side of the box, with two rocket ships blasting off, with the slogan "A Space Adventure" and "For 2 Players", and a Fairview logo on the right side. There is a yellow line displayed on the bottom with the words: "A Game for 2 Players" and a "Fairview" logo displayed on the bottom left.

In the inside of the front box lid displayed the game's instructions, informing the players to keep playing otherwise they will not be able to return home to Earth unless the players finished the game.

Rules of How to Play the Game[]

The rules of how to play the game was to turn the key on the board clockwise, which then pops the red button that marked "GO", the player then pushed the button which then spun the dial number (1-10) of how many spaces the rocket pieces need to move. As soon as the dial stops spinning, the rocket pieces will move of how many spaces the dial said and then the card pops out of the game. The player took the card out and whatever the card said, effected reality which meant the characters, ships and planets will come out of the game who attack the players.

There are other cards who allowed the player to move to go back a few spaces. There are yellow cards that when a player has broken the game, Zathura tells the player to let the Astronaut replace another player. There are other cards that will help the players to reprogram malfunctioning robots and golden cards which allowed the player to make any wish of what the player wanted via a passing shooting star.

Powers[]

The Zathura board game has many powers that can alter reality and make its characters, ships and others emerge from its world and attacking the players, prompting them to survive the game's dangers that it threw at them. Its powers included:

Auto Control[]

The Zathura board game has automatic control powers which can move its player pieces (two rocket ship pieces) move back and forth on the light year pathway when the dial number stops spinning on the number it is on after a player pushed the button, or when a player gets to go back a few spaces. The game also has the ability to transport its players and the house into outer space, providing the household with water, gas, electricity, oxygen and gravity around it. If a second player tried to have another go, the game will refuse to let them push the button as the two players had to take turns. After a player wins the game, the pieces will reset back to the starting line, Earth, which will send the players back home.

Consequences[]

Zathura card — One of the game's consequences it unleashed on its players

When a card popped out of the game's console after a player's piece landed on a space, a description will be displayed on the card, either a move or back spaces card that will allow the player to move ahead or go back a few spaces. When the card says anything about the game's characters, planets and ships, it altered reality which will bring a meteor shower, a malfunctioning robot, a planet with a strong gravity field, heat attracting aliens called Zorgons, cryonic sleep chamber, stranded astronauts and shooting star manifesting into reality, seemingly out of nowhere, which will attack the players. The players will need to survive the game's consequences that threw on them and will need to use their intelligence to figure out what the clues the game's cards give to them.

The one thing that Zathura hated is cheaters [like Walter] because whenever a player breaks the rules of Zathura, the game will tell the player to be flown away by automatic ejection for whoever breaks the game's rules.

Time Control[]

The game also has the ability to alter time and creating other timelines at will, and when a player started playing the game and when the game finished, the players and house will be sent back to where the game started before anything happened, including where the household was once cleaned before it got damaged by the game's consequences. It also has the ability to create other timelines at will, to which is when the Astronaut/Adult Walter Budwing made his brother go away via a shooting star, it caused him to trap him in the game's world as a character due to not having another player and creating a new timeline. When Walter attempted to make Danny go away, the Astronaut prevented him from doing so, saving Walter from being trapped in the game's world and Danny from being erased from existence. When Walter wished the Astronaut's brother back, the alternative versions of Danny and Walter disappeared inside of them, erasing the old timeline and allowing the new timeline to continue.

Invincibility[]

It is implied that the game has some degree of invincibility or invulnerability. It was able to survive from being hit by meteor showers, sucked into space when the Zorgons brought it aboard their ship, Danny throwing it at Walter and it was able to stick itself to the floor when the black hole appeared, preventing itself from being sucked into the black hole.

Cards[]

These are the cards that have been seen in the film thus far.

METEOR SHOWER Take evasive action – Meteors and comets started coming down into a room where the players have to avoid getting hit by the meteors.
YOU ARE PROMOTED TO STARSHIP CAPTAIN Move ahead 2 spaces – a normal card which allowed the player to move two spaces forward.
SHIPMATE ENTERS CRYONIC SLEEP CHAMBER for 5 turns – a non-player will get frozen in an icy cryonic sleep and will remain in that state for the next 5 turns.
YOUR ROBOT IS DEFECTIVE – A malfunctioning robot will attack the player as it will think that the player is an alien life form.
YOU PASS TOO CLOSE TO TSOURIS-3 Enter gravity field – The house will get too close to Tsouris-3, which is also known as the sun, and its strong gravity field will pull house furniture and the players straight to the wall or the door. Some of the house's tiles were sucked into the giant star.
YOU ARE PROMOTED TO FLEET ADMIRAL Move ahead 4 spaces – A normal card where the player is allowed to move four spaces further.
YOU ARE VISITED BY ZORGONS – The players and the house will get attacked by heatseeking lizard-like aliens called Zorgons who attack the house with their firing power.
REPROGRAM – A card that will allow the player to reprogram a malfunctioning robot. Causing the robot to shut down and turn back on and be on your side and attack the Zorgons.
RESCUE STRANDED ASTRONAUT – An astronaut named Walter that has been stranded in space for 15 years after wishing that his younger brother, Danny, was never born will help the players to get rid of the Zorgons and give them advice about the dangers of the game's world.
CAUGHT CHEATING AUTOMATIC EJECTION Because [player's name, Walter] breaks the rules – A yellow card that will tell the player to replace another player who breaks the game with the Astronaut. Either the player rescues the astronaut, or he comes, he'll take another player's place.
LOSE MAP OF GALAXY Go back 2 spaces – A card which made the player's House go back two spaces due to losing the galaxy's map.
SHOOTING STAR Make a wish as it passes – A bonus gold card which allowed the player to make a wish of whatever he really wanted.
FLUNK SPACE ACADEMY Go back 1 space – A card which made the player's piece go back only one space.
HIT TIME WARP Go back 3 spaces Repeat last turn – A card which made the player's piece go back three spaces to repeat the last turn effect, to which it allowed Walter to gain the Shooting Star card again.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SWING ON A STAR? Move ahead 9 spaces – A card which allowed the player to move extra nine spaces to reach the ending: Zathura.
GAME OVER Thank you for playing – The last card of which the game thanked the players for playing and the black hole appeared, and the game sent the players back home to Earth.

Trivia[]

In the book, the game has a normal-looking board game design with dice and tokens Instead of cards.
The game's origin and how it was created and got into Danny‘s dad’s house are unknown.
On the front of the box are two astronauts, one wears red, while the other wears blue. Danny and Walter wear the same colors, implying that they are the astronauts.

External Links[]

Zathura (Board Game) at Jumanji Wikia