Smash Up: Disney Review

Smash Up: Disney is the latest version of the franchise combining characters across 8 Disney franchises including The Lion King and Aladdin (my personal favorites) and several others. The core gameplay is no different from the other games in the series. Pick 2 factions and shuffle their decks together. Put out the bases you'll be fighting for and draw 5 cards. You'll play a character or action or both or nothing. Then you do what the cards say and check for the bases being destroyed and score, if you can. Finally draw 2 cards and the next player will go.

The Good: There are several quality of life improvements to this version of Smash Up that I absolutely loved. First of all, the base scoring mats. These are much needed! It makes it so much easier to actually score the bases and track where they're at. The rulebook continues to evolve to explain cards and terminologies. Even from the Marvel version this one has more useful information. The gameplay itself is always really nice. You can make some big combos if you play the right cards at the right times.

The Okay: There are some factions that I don't see myself ever using because I simply don't really like the IP. What I love about the branded versions of Smash Up is the emotional attachment and for some of these, like Nightmare Before Christmas or Mulan (don't hurt me), I just don't know that I'd use.

The Not So Good: I really have zero complaints with the gameplay of Smash Up so this is a tough section to write. Honestly, my biggest issue is with the box size. Each version gives you a pretty big box that only uses half of it. I know that you can combine versions but I wouldn't do that unless there's expansion content for Disney (cough cough Hercules cough).

Final Thoughts: Smash Up: Disney continues to evolve the franchise using even more branded character decks and approachable content. I love the gameplay itself and how much flexibility there is in each combination. I really hope to see even more expansion content but you can always use other versions as well. Overall, I think this would be an excellent starting off point to the Smash Up franchise.

Thanks to The Op for providing a review copy.