The problem with any given 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Villainous expansion is that there are just so many of them. Between Disney, Marvel, and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Star Wars (which, technically, are all Disney), the Sugar and Spite expansion featuring King Candy and Shere Khan is the 14th Villainous release. Unless you're a major Wreck-It-Ralph or The Jungle Book fan, where's the appeal? But Sugar and Spite has a trick up its sleeve with King Candy, and if nothing else, that makes it the most unique expansion I have ever played.

A brief Villainous rundown, for the uninitiated: you play as a Villain who is given a specific, personal goal. You have your own cards to help you achieve this goal, which include Allies to fight for you, Effects to turn the game in your favour, Consequences to react to the other players, and Items to improve any of the other cards. There’s also a Fate deck, featuring Heroes (since you're the villain, Heroes are bad news). Other players play these against you, and they block you from playing certain cards and can have other negative impacts, but they can be defeated by your Allies.

This uniqueness is thanks to the design of the board. Where Shere Khan has his standard four realms he can move through on his turn, King Candy is instead on a figure-eight race track. He moves between one to four spaces each turn, and can use the icon he's on, the one directly behind him, and the one directly in front of him, while playing cards also allows him to move around the track. Heroes can still block off the top section of the track to limit his options as they do in normal play though, so he's not totally out of the woods.

Overall, this makes a substantial difference in tactical play. With other characters, you often pick the realm you want to go to next based on one or two of its icons, and just use whatever else is there out of convenience. Maybe you bounce between two that build up Power. Maybe you're trying to Fate your opponent as much as possible. Maybe you need to discard over and over. Or, as is often the case, you're still feeling out your strategy and thus your moves are random.

With King Candy, there's more thought to everything. Do you race to 3 Power immediately, then onto the next tactic? Or spend three turns stopping before, on, and after 3 Power to get a reserve of nine built up? Do you dash forward to an icon you need now, at the expense of overshooting one you may need right after, or risk making choices that are imperfect in the moment in the hopes of a better pattern forming?

I'm not entirely sure it's an improved way of playing. It can leave you quite far from the icon you need when your opponent is only ever one move away (Hero cards notwithstanding), but the added control probably balances the whole thing out. In any case, you'll feel differently depending on your experience. If you're looking to dive into Villainous for the first time, maybe another expansion with two standard boards is better. But if you've played a couple of the others and want something different, Sugar and Spite is perfect.

As for the rest of the game, well, it's Villainous. Though a two-player expansion to be mixed and matched with other Disney sets (but not Star Wars or Marvel), it can also be played as a standalone, which is how I tested it. On its own, it has the same pros and cons as always: the game is relatively easy to pick up, includes some neat deeper cuts for Disney fans, and encourages tactical play without getting bogged down in complex strategy. But it also suffers from an over-reliance on Fate cards, directionless opening sequences, and a lopsided economy that makes playing cards tough at the start and easy at the end.

The problem is Fate works in mysterious ways. Playing a Fate card against your opponent is the best way to hinder their progress. But it can also let them succeed. Shere Khan needs to defeat Mowgli, and King Candy needs to defeat Vanellope Von Schweetz, both of whom start the game in the Fate deck. While you draw two and choose which one to play (and thus don't have to choose the Hero your opponent needs), it can lead to confusion at the table. Official rules don't force you to play the Hero when drawn, but some house rules do to speed the game up a little, and it always feels like a slightly wonky mechanic.

Mostly, this is because when the game starts, you have nothing to do. Shere Khan has two cards that let him go through the Fate deck, while King Candy has one, plus the ability to search for Ralph and draw Vanellope once he has been defeated. But characters with a total reliance on Fate draws always seem a little lethargic compared to mor🎉e proact🐽ive goals.

The board does come back into play with Vanellope though. Defeating her through traditional means is not the goal - instead you must use a Glitch Item then use your cards to beat her in a race. It makes great thematic use of Candy's unique mechanic and gives the battle a lot more flavour, it's just a shame you're spinning your wheels on the starting line until she's drawn.

Shere Khan is a more simple Villain, and is not just easier to pick up and play, but has numerous advantages over King Candy. But King Candy offers a more unique experience and finds it easier to turn Fate in his favour. Overall, the Fate searching makes it hard to suggest this as the perfect starter, and the new approach to board manoeuvring probably hits different if you've played a few regular games anyway. For anyone looking for something fresh in a Villainous expansion though, Sugar and Spite delivers a new take on the popular series.

Disney Villainous: Sugar And Spite

Player Count

2

Age Recommendation

10+

Franchise Name

Dis✨ney Villainous 𝔍

Publishing Co

Ravensburger 🌞

Introducing King Candy and Shere Khan to Disney Villainous, this first 'expandalone' features two characters ready to play straight out the box, or played against any other villain in the Disney Villainous lineup.

Expand Collapse