Smash Up: Disney Edition Review: A Big Fan-Fiction Brawl

Our full Smash Up: Disney Edition overview explores whether or not Disney fanatics and players alike will get pleasure from this new Disney card sport.

It’s exhilarating to see your favorite superheroes or online game characters collect collectively—particularly in the event that they partake in an epic brawl. How are you able to not geek out at these moments? Everyone loves crossover!

Disney followers particularly get pleasure from these magical conferences. Many individuals love the Oh My Disney scenes in Ralph Breaks the Internet, and you’ll’t overlook concerning the Disney Mirrorverse mobile game—however there are way more situations than that. Believe me, I used to avidly watch House of Mouse!

Want to stage your personal epic Disney team-up? Here’s a simple method: Buy a copy of Smash Up: Disney Edition.

Board sport publishers AEG and The Op have teamed as much as create a brand new licensed launch of Smash Up that options eight beloved animated Disney motion pictures: Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Big Hero 6, Frozen, The Lion King, Mulan, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Wreck-It Ralph.

I acquired a duplicate of Smash Up: Disney Edition and couldn’t wait to stage a really large tabletop tussle with my favourite childhood characters. Before I share my ideas on this new Disney-themed model of Paul Peterson’s Smash Up, let me summarize the way it performs in case you’re not conversant in this geek-tastic card sport.

How to Play Smash Up: Disney Edition

The hardest determination it’s essential make in Smash Up: Disney Edition happens earlier than you even start enjoying: Which two factions are you going to decide on on your team-up? 

You can choose two of those eight Disney squads to type your group—or mix one Disney faction with some other Smash Up faction. Considering there are almost 100 factions within the Smash Up universe, you received’t run out of potential combos!

Whichever duo you select as your pairing, you’ll take each corresponding card decks and shuffle them collectively to create your personal devoted pile. 

Once each participant has mashed their factions collectively and shaped their decks, it’s time to see which terrific team-up can be triumphant.

This pattern faction consists of characters from Aladdin and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Photo by Aaron Widmar

On your flip, play two playing cards out of your hand: an motion card and a personality card (or two of the identical kind). Action playing cards present a robust single-use or ongoing profit, whereas character playing cards deploy to bases like the Enchanted Castle.

Your objective is to be the primary participant to earn 15 victory factors. How do you achieve VPs? By controlling bases at essential instances. 

The extra characters you’ve gotten on a location—and the extra highly effective they’re—the extra factors you may earn. Once sufficient characters collect at a location, it can cross a threshold. Count up every group’s power and award factors to the highest gamers.

Thus, each spherical includes deploying your characters to those battlegrounds, using their talents and particular actions to maximise your presence whereas diminishing your opponents’. 

Pride Rock serves as a battleground. Disney followers will discover a number of different acquainted locations embedded inside this card sport. Photo by Aaron Widmar

Smash Up: Disney Edition Review: Will Disney Fans Enjoy This Card Game?

If you’ve already been intrigued by the mere idea of Smash Up: Disney Edition, I received’t have to clarify this card sport’s enchantment. It’s mainly an enormous fan-fiction brawl.  

Each faction has a distinct specialty that makes their method to successful a bit completely different—and these have intelligent thematic roots. For instance, The Lion King characters turn into stronger when different characters (like Mufasa) get discarded. Aladdin’s Magic Carpet strikes characters to completely different areas. It’s a blast to maximise the interaction between faction kinds to realize a large accomplishment and a windfall of factors. 

And, the narrative context that these characters carry ends in some very memorable occasions. In one playthrough, I had Jack Skellington put on Yokai’s masks to manage a swarm of microbots and take management of the Sultan’s Palace. Just image how superior that state of affairs would look! 

Smash Up: Disney Edition is an enormous fan-fiction brawl. Photo by Aaron Widmar

Here’s a heads-up for folks who’re contemplating shopping for Smash Up: Disney Edition for his or her kids: This card sport is simply too difficult for younger minds. I wouldn’t counsel Smash Up: Disney Edition for anybody below 13 years outdated. There are loads of different great Disney-themed board games available on the market for that demographic. 

The predominance of factions from Nineties Disney motion pictures reveals that this was made for adults like me who grew up throughout that interval. It would have been good to have a movie from the Golden Age included, although, akin to Fantasia or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Maybe these will are available in a future enlargement? 

I additionally would have favored to see unique paintings on the playing cards as an alternative of nonetheless frames from the movies, however I perceive how a lot work that takes. Nevertheless, seeing characters like Olaf and Cogsworth depicted in battle stances (as they’re on the field cowl) would’ve enhanced the immersion.

Is this a successful hand? Photo by Aaron Widmar

For You Smash Up Familiars Out There …

What for those who’re already an enormous fan of Smash Up? Then shopping for this new Disney-themed set needs to be a no brainer! 

The enjoyable of being a Smash Up devotee is filling your Big Geeky Box with all the latest factions—and these eight Disney additions shouldn’t be handed up. 

The ongoing replayability comes from integrating factions from completely different units, and these Disney groups present much more pairing potentialities. You could make analogous combos like Frozen and legendary horses; or, go nuts with a wacky pairing like Mulan and zombies. And don’t overlook to make different Disney crossovers with factions from Smash Up: Marvel. 

This launch provides one thing new to the sport: location mats to maintain ongoing depend of every base’s present energy whole and breakpoint. It’s a helpful addition for Smash Up regulars. But, strong cubes and thicker mats product of heavier cardboard would’ve been worthwhile since these parts are simple to bump misplaced. 

Location mats are a pleasant addition. Photo by Aaron Widmar

Smash Up: Disney Edition Review: Let’s Get Ready to Rumble!

The Op takes acquainted video games that folks love—like Monopoly and Clue—and provides them a Disney-themed therapy. So, it’s thrilling that this writer has produced a Disney launch made for adults—particularly ones within the gaming neighborhood.

If you’ve been interested by Smash-Up, this can be a good entry level into the collection. Smash Up: Disney Edition shares all the identical guidelines and key phrases as the opposite releases, so it will possibly educate you the ideas and really feel to see if it’s your type of sport. 

Smash Up: Disney Edition is a good selection for Disney followers and players alike. Photo by Aaron Widmar

As an enthusiastic board gamer and Disney devotee, I used to be total happy with Smash Up: Disney Edition. It utilized every of the included motion pictures effectively and easily integrates with the distinctive Smash Up play model. While I’d have favored to have greater high quality within the paintings and part manufacturing, I’m blissful so as to add these eight new factions to my roster and create extra zany team-ups sooner or later.

Our author acquired a complimentary product from the writer for overview. All opinions are trustworthy and recommendation has been given with the curiosity of the reader in thoughts. Thanks for tuning in to our unbiased critiques!

Aaron Widmar is a lifelong fan of the creative and emotional energy of animation to inform tales. He was raised on Disney VHS tapes as a baby and at the same time as an grownup nonetheless loves re-watching his favorites. Aaron is knowledgeable author in a wide range of fields, together with the automotive business. Although he and his spouse Vicki don’t journey to Walt Disney World as usually as they’d like, he can escape to the Disney-themed room of their home each time he wants inventive inspiration.