Villainous is a board game all about the villains of Disney. You get to play one of these villains and are competing to finish your objective before the other villains, but heroes can block your way. I have had this game for a long time and finally played it so here is my review.
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Every player chooses a villain to play and takes their associated cards and pieces. Every villains objective is unique to them. During a turn, you have a choice of actions you can take depending on what location you move to in your realm. Actions including gaining power, playing a card, moving allies or heroes, and discarding cards. You can also effect your opponents by utilizing their fate deck, which is filled with heroes and items that will slow their progress down.
The game looks more complicated than it actually is at first, so don’t let all the pieces and card types deter you. Most often it just came down to read what the card does and do that. Each villain also has a guide you can reference whenever.
The art and detail throughout all the components is very nice. All of the art is great and original to the films these villains are from. I like how every villain has a distinct mover piece. And small details like the back of the card design are that nice Disney magic touch I enjoy.
I do think this game is better for larger groups, like 4 players and up. It is not optimum for two-players in my opinion, because some villains are definitely easier to play then others and if you are a harder villain, it is very difficult to slow down your opponent enough to give you a chance. In one game, where I was playing Prince John and my friend was playing Maleficent, I really did not stand a chance. Luck is a factor with the cards you pull in both of your decks, but even when I could strategize I really had no hope of beating him. So that is a bummer that there is balancing issues at smaller player size.
Overall, I liked playing Villainous but I wouldn’t say I loved it. I’m not really itching to play it again. Since I primarily play two-player, that is a big factor for me. There are a bunch expansions with more villains, so those might get my attention to hopefully get some more balanced options in the game. I do think that Disney fans will really enjoy the game. And if you have more than two players regularly, it can be a fun addition to game nights.
What Disney villain would you want to play? Let me know with a comment below.
I’ve been eyeing this game since the first time I saw it at Indigo. I love the way the little pieces look too. I just might pick it up since it seems like it would be fun with more people!