Continuing our countdown to Christmas, this month we’re looking at range of Disney gaming goodies (well, one is Disney-adjacent, but close enough), with a cracking Giveaway thanks to our chums at Asmodee UK AND the winner of last month’s GeekEtched Giveaway!

Our fare is very family-friendly this month, all being recommended for 8+, so even if you and yours are not too geeky, there’s an awful lot to pick and choose from. And don’t fret, later this month, I’ll be sure to do that more nerdcore mid-month update (shame on me), with Klingons, X-Men and more besides. Busy busy, eh?

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DISNEY DIXIT

(RRP: £32.99)

We’ve previously reviewed the charming Dixit HERE, a card-driven storytelling game where players of all ages try to guess the image that inspires a word or phrase. We are of course huge fans of games that are accessible to all ages, and Dixit is a regular with Little Miss (aged 7), the teenagers and myself, as well as having the approval of the Great Old Ones (in their 70s).

First of all, the art in this new Disney version is staggering. It is not only incredibly pretty, and as well as the firm favourites it references some fairly obscure movies from the back catalogue (Rescuer’s Down Under, anyone?) and marvellous mash-ups (Scrooge McDuck as Indiana Jones!) It’s also fully compatible with all other versions and expansions, so if (like us) you have other iterations, you can mix and match to your (kingdom) heart’s content.

It’s not just the cards that are glorious – the board is beautiful, with the score track illustrations climbing higher in the sky as you progress – but the meeples are exceptional, evocative and elegant.

If there is a negative, it is that sometimes you can feel almost too bound to the film depicted: the most successful turns, particularly for younger players, are when they DON’T immediately know the Disney illustrated, and so have to dig a little deeper into their imagination. It’s a pretty minor niggle, though, and we certainly recommend this one to all-comers – and would you like to win a copy of your own? Of course you would! Read on to the end to find out how!

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DISNEY LORCANA TCG: THE FIRST CHAPTER

(RRP: £17.99 – starters, £4.99  – 12 card booster)

Yes, all aboard the hype train! A little late to the Lorcana party, perhaps – but given the rabid frenzy around the booster packs, that’s not all that surprising. The Starter decks, each of the 3 of which contains a playable 60-card deck plus a booster for customisation, are great value. Also, there are 2 copies of each core card per starter, so given that the maximum number of copies of a card in a deck is 4, it’s perfectly reasonable to double-up on starters.

Lorcana, for the uninitiated, is a Trading Card game set in the Disney multiverse, where you use Ink to play characters from your deck, questing for Lore. If a character quests, or otherwise exerts (indicated by a 90 degree rotation), they can be challenged by an opposing character and potentially discarded from play. Whilst certainly highly interactive it’s not as confrontational or oppositional as the other dominant games of type – Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon and Yu-gi-oh! – and this definitely adds to its appeal, on top of the rich theme.

A lot of common mechanics are cleverly interpreted – for example, characters cannot quest on the turn they are played as the Ink is still wet (ha). Ink, as mentioned, is your payment resource, but is generated from playing a card from your hand face down (into your “Inkwell”) which feels both thematic and tactical, as you try to balance cards for play strength vs ink generation.

The 3 starters match pairs of the 6 colours in game: Red/Emerald (fast, aggressive); Amber/Amethyst (card draw, counters); and Steel/Sapphire (slow, tough). Each feels balanced against one another, and in addition to the excellent (and brief) rules sheet, playmat and tokens that you get in every pack, there is a decent summary of how to play the individual deck in your hands. It’s a really enjoyable, quick, tactical game with good depth, though not overwhelming. I would say that it is perhaps more 10+, and I would lean towards recommending it as a casual, rather than competitive, experience – but maybe, as I get older, I’m more interested in the LCG (Living Card Game) model.

It’s actually rather pleasant to see a new TCG emerge onto the market and carve out a USP – something that the late, lamented Transformers TCG failed to do, for instance – just as we see a lot of retro games enjoying a bit of a resurgence (the 90s James Bond CCG is huge in Italy right now, for some reason). The publisher, Ravensburger, very wisely sent out product to bricks and mortar stores first, enabling communities to start to grow, rather than the short-term gain of flooding the online markets.

That’s not to say that the online dealers of this world are not flourishing – foil chase cards are already fetching HUNDREDS of pounds on t’internet – and that does speak to the main issue with the game, which is the rabid fandom. It’s great that it has wider appeal, but be aware that if you really want to dive in, you will need pockets as miraculously expansive as Genie’s lamp. It’ll be interesting both to see how it fair with the 2nd chapter, later this year, and whether the new Star Wars TCG impacts its market.

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ALICE’S GARDEN

(RRP: £19.99)

I actually have a few issues with describing Alice in Wonderland as Disney, but I’ll let it slide just this once in the name of bringing you content.

In this delightful, Wonderland themed game, you must plant the best garden for the Queen of Hearts, drawing Tetris style tiles (4 adjoining squares) and taking turns to place, with different pieces scoring according to their final positions: Chessmen on the tiled path, pairs of mushrooms 🍄🍄, rows of trees 🌲 and groups of roses 🌹.

Any gaps in the final garden will lose your points but luckily Gardeners 🃏 give you extra single square tiles in the endgame if placed adjacent to one another – just make sure you don’t have any left over or… off with your head!

It’s a really lovely game, lots of fun and we were all certainly taken with it. It’s not dissimilar to other such polyomino games – we were immediately reminded of Patchwork Doodle – but is a bit more intuitive, particularly when it comes to scoring.

Negatives? Well, it’s very compact – so, portable, but quite tricky for older adults and the visually impaired: the grandparents were keen to try it but found it problematic in that regard.

Still, a hit, and a definite recommendation!

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GIVEWAY TIME!

It’s always the freebies, isn’t it, that get your attention? Right, fine, I suppose. This month, as mentioned, you can win a copy of DISNEY DIXIT, and all you need to do is tell us your favourite Disney (or Pixar) character in the comments section below. I’m not saying that if you pick Hades you’ll win, but you’re right.

And remember to Like, Comment and Share across your socials (FB, Insta, Twitter and/or Mastodon) tagging us @bigcomicpage & @games_with_graven to bag yourself a bonus entry! UK only unless you’re willing to fork out the postage, alas.

AND the winner of last month’s GeekEtched Giveaway is… theamazingmrg!

Congratulations!

Remember to get in touch with admin@bigcomicpage.com within 30 days to claim your prize!

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The Writer of this piece was: Sam Graven
Article Archive: Geeking Out
You can follow Sam on Twitter and Instagram

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