Disney Villainous Review
Stats at a glance
When I was young, my grandmother once told me, “Be good, but not too good, or you won’t have any fun.” This is your chance to be bad, devious, and villainous.
You’ve played as Mickey, heroes, and heroines, and it’s about time to switch up the roles and wreak some havoc for a while, what do you say? May the most sinister win!
Grab up to 6 players, and practice your evil laugh. You’re going to be playing as one of six Disney villains trying to conquer the realm for the next hour.
Muahahahahaha!
Brief Overview of Disney Villainous
Which Disney villain was your favorite growing up? Personally, I liked Hades for his comedic relief and hot-headed temper tantrums. Sadly though, he sits this one out.
Take your pick of Ursula; a mermaid’s worse nightmare, Capitan Hook; Peter Pan’s pirate nemesis, Jafar; a princess-stealing genie-enslaver, Prince John; who steals from the poor to feed the rich, the Queen of Hearts; Wonderland’s meanest woman voted unanimously since the early 90s, and Maleficent; the part dragon/part needle-lover.
Each villain has their original motives in mind. For example, greedy Prince John needs to accumulate 20 power tokens to win. However, every villain needs an annoying goody-two-shoes righting their wrongs. Robin Hood won’t be far behind to counteract Prince John’s token collection by stealing them away.
Unboxing Disney Villainous
The game includes the following components:
- 6 Boards
- 6 Villain Movers
- 180 Villain Cards
- 90 Fate Cards
- 84 Tokens
- 6 Reference Cards
- 6 Villain Guides
- 1 Instruction Booklet
- 1 Cauldron-like Object
Each villain has its own fate and villain deck. The number of cards in each is not the same for all players. Here is what’s included in the fate decks for Maleficient:
- 2 Effect Cards (Once Upon A Dream)
- 3 Item cards (Swords of Truth)
- 10 Hero Cards (3 Guards, 1 Aurora, 1 Prince Phillip, 1 Flora, 1 Fauna, 1 Merryweather, 1 King Stefan, 1 King Hubert)
And here’s what’s included in her villain deck:
- 6 Effect cards (3 Dragon Form, 3 Vanish)
- 2 Item Cards (1 Staff, 1 Spinning Wheel)
- 10 Ally Cards (1 Raven, 3 Cackling Goon, 3 Savage Goon, 3 Sinister Goon)
- 4 Condition Cards (2 Malice, 2 Tyranny)
- 8 Curse Cards (2 Dreamless Sleep, 3 Green Fire, 3 Forest of Thorns)
The card decks are designed aesthetically to fit the character’s role, so you’ll know which cards belong to who.
The miniatures are colorful, plastic pieces that are abstractly created to represent your villainous character. The color of your villain mover will match your villain card deck and your player board. It will not match your fate deck, which is a beige color and labeled with the villain’s personal details.
The cards themselves are ornately designed with a custom print on the backing. In relation to the thin cardboard player boards, the card decks hold up well. The boards are sturdy, but start to warp over time.
The power chips are also made from cardboard and held in the cauldron that comes with the game. No villain is truly complete without a cauldron, so I thought that was a nice (or evil) touch.
How to Play Disney Villainous
Every character is set up a tad differently, so it’s best to double-check so you don’t mess anything up later in the game.
Game Setup
To begin, take your villain board, villain deck, fate deck, and villain mover token and have them in front of you. All the villain boards have a total of four locations and you’ll be starting in the far left destination. Place your villain token there.
You’ll want your villain deck to the left of your player board, and the beige fate deck to the right. In some instances, a player board will have a lock logo in the fourth location, where you’ll place a lock token in that space.
Collect your villain guide and reference card, put the cauldron and power tokens in the middle of the table, and decide who goes first.
Now, you’ll dish out power tokens. The first player does not receive any power tokens this turn. The second player will take one power token, players 3-4 take two, and players 5-6 take three power tokens.
Draw up to four cards in your hand, and get ready to get evil.
Playing The Game
All player boards have the villain’s objective clearly stated, but that’s not all you must do to win. Your personal villain guidebook will tell you all the steps you need to take to complete your objective entirely.
Ask yourself what should you do on your turns. Do you want to get some money? Should you employ allies or heroes? Should you replace your deck?
In a single turn, you will complete the following actions in this order:
- Move your villain.
You cannot stay in the same location and you can move to anywhere on your player board that is not locked.
- Perform actions.
When you move to a new location, you need to proceed with the actions in any order you choose. You can choose to perform all the actions on the location, or just one. If a card is blocking some of the actions, you can only choose from the visible actions.
- Draw cards.
Draw back up to four cards and then it’s the next player’s turn.
Types of Actions
It’s best to consult your reference card on what actions do what for a more in-depth explanation.
Here are the multiple possibilities of actions you can see on your player board:
- Gain Power
- Play a Card
- Activate
- Fate
- Move an Item/Ally
- Move a Hero
- Vanquish
- Discard Cards
Some of these actions may not appear on your board, which makes replaying Villainous more fun.
Types of Cards
There are five types of cards you’ll play in this game:
- Ally Cards
These are your henchmen that you can set on other players or hold for their abilities. To employ an ally card, you’ll need to pay their price in power tokens. They are only in the villain deck.
- Hero Cards
These are annoying, good-hearted fellows that come to ruin your plans. You will play these cards on your opponent’s boards to block them from certain actions and make it harder for them to win. You’ll find the heroes in your fate deck only.
- Items
Found both in the fate and villain decks, these cards let you play an ability that tramples other cards and actions. Item cards from the fate deck must be attached to a hero; from the villain deck, you must attach to an ally. You will pay for any items you play.
- Effects
These one-time effects come with a cost and then are immediately discarded. They’ll pop up in both decks.
- Conditions
Condition cards are unusual since you’ll be playing these cards on your opponents’ turns.
Game End
Enough is enough. Once one of the players completes their villain’s objective, they are deemed the most wicked of all.
Disney Villainous Expansions
Disney Villainous: Evil Comes Prepared
Disney Villainous: Perfectly Wretched
Disney Villainous: Wicked to The Core
Disney Villainous: Despicable Plots
Other Versions of Villainous
Marvel Villainous: Infinite Power
Check out our full Marvel Villainous: Infinite Power review here!
Marvel Villainous: Mischief & Madness
Star Wars Villainous: Power of the Dark Side
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Expansions galore.
- You need to make some strategic decisions.
- The artwork is exemplary.
I know I included an even number of pros and cons, but the game is a toss-up for me still.
One main reason I like it is the value you get for the price. It’s affordable, engaging, and plays like a different game every time you choose a new villain. There are multiple expansions such as “Wicked to the Core,” that include more villains and basically give you a whole new game.
While I enjoyed the decision-making and strategy, it did take me a few table rounds to feel comfortable making choices. I didn’t really know how much if at all, the actions I made in the previous round would affect the future. As you can see in the game components, actions, and card types, there are many moving parts that you need to keep an eye on to stay on track.
As an artwork and Disney nerd, this game made me burst at the seams with happiness. I really appreciated how the artwork between the player decks held a similar color scheme and the little details really stood out to me.
Cons:
- Long waiting times on opponent’s turns.
- Possible power imbalance.
- A bit too deep with rules.
Maybe I’m just an impatient person, but I couldn’t play this game with six people. Some turns take minutes, and I found myself losing interest or hopping on my phone to fill time. For two to three players, it was workable.
Like I previously commented, the villain decks are imbalanced with their cards. Some villains have to do much more to secure a win. Take Prince John, he only needs to amass 20 power tokens. Meanwhile, Jafar has to travel to Agrabah and back, hypnotize the genie, and return to the palace.
The rules took upwards of 20 minutes to learn for the first time, so this game is best for tweens and up as far as understanding and attention spans go.
Disney Villainous Review (TL;DR)
Disney’s Villainous brought a lot of elements to the table that I didn’t expect. It reminded me of Root or Unmatched.
After playing the first run-through, I found the second game way more exciting and less stressful. This isn’t a cooldown game though. Villainous requires high levels of decision making, critical thinking, strategy, and organization of moving parts. If you’re looking for a fun, light-hearted challenge, it’s worth a try.
Conclusion: Verdict?
Although I included three cons for Villainous, I could never truly dislike anything Disney. I do wish it was a bit easier for first-time playing and explaining, that way player turns aren’t like Jeopardy-timed rounds.
It’s a deep game, with engaging scenarios. Sabotaging your opponents with do-gooders was a comical and fresh reversal to the norm. It is hard to be mad when you see Flounder’s face blocking one of your actions.
For Disney fans with an interest in deeper gaming mechanics, this game hits every mark. For those thinking you’re sitting down to play a simple and fun Disney version of Monopoly, you’ll be disappointed.
Play this game with 3 to 4 players for a smooth experience, less waiting times, and loads of Disney nostalgia.
We hope you enjoyed our Disney Villainous review! Have you tried this wicked Disney game or any of its expansions? Drop a comment below and let us know what you think! We’d love to hear from you.
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