Villainous (board game)

Villainous
DesignersProspero Hall
Publishers
Publication2018 (2018)
Genres
Players2–6
Playing time45–120 minutes
Age range10+

Villainous is an asymmetric strategy board game designed by Prospero Hall and published by Wonder Forge and Ravensburger in 2018.[1] The game is for 2–6 players, and each player chooses to play as a Disney villain, with their own special abilities and objectives to win the game. Villainous has spawned many expansions with more playable villain characters, and spin-offs including Marvel Villainous and Star Wars Villainous.

Publishing history

Villainous was designed by the independent game design studio Prospero Hall, with core game mechanics coming from Aaron Donogh and Brian Kirk.[2][3] The rights to use Disney villains were licensed by Wonder Forge, who had previously published games such as Eye Found It! and Pictopia: Disney Edition in co-operation with The Walt Disney Company.[4] The original edition of the game, Villainous: The Worst Takes it All featured the villains Maleficent, Ursula, The Queen of Hearts, Jafar, Prince John, and Captain Hook, and was first released in August 2018 with a debut at Gen Con.[5][6] Villainous was initially published jointly by Wonder Forge and its parent company Ravensburger, with later expansions and spin-offs published solely by Ravensburger.

Gameplay

Each player chooses a different Disney villain to play and takes the corresponding character's moving piece, realm board, villain guide, deck of villain cards, and deck of fate cards. Players place the moving piece to the left of the realm board and draw four cards the villain deck as their hand. Play starts in clockwise order, and on a player's turn they first have to move to a new location on their board. When they have done this, they will have a maximum of 4 actions they can perform. A player must end their turn with 4 cards in their deck.[7][8]

The player who achieves their Villain's objective first is the winner of the game.[9]

Actions

During a player's turn, they can perform different actions depending on what is symbolized in their location on their realm board.

Action Ability
Gain Power Gives the player the ability to collect power tokens from the Cauldron. Power tokens can pay the cost of playing cards
Play a Card Gives the player the ability to play a card from their hand and carrying out what it says on the card. Cards can either be an Ally, Condition, Effect, Hero or Item.
Activate Gives the player the ability to activate and perform an ability of an Ally or Item in their realm. Activate does not mean that the player discards the Ally or Item.
Fate Gives the player the ability to reveal the top two cards of an opponent's Fate deck. The player chooses one to perform and discards the other in their oppononent's Fate discard pile.
Move an Item or Ally Gives the player the ability to move an Ally or Item in their realm to an adjacent location.
Move a Hero Gives the player the ability to move a Hero to an adjacent location
Vanquish Gives the player the ability to defeat a Hero in their realm by using one or more Allies. Players must discard the Allies after they have been used
Discard Cards Gives the player the ability to discard as many cards from their hand as they wish.

Expansions and spin-offs

As of February 2026, Ravensburger has published seven Disney Villainous expansions, adding numerous additional rules, realms and characters: Wicked to the Core (2019), Evil Comes Prepared (2019), Perfectly Wretched (2020), Despicable Plots (2021), Bigger and Badder (2022), Introduction to Evil (2023), Filled with Fright (2023), Sugar and Spite (2024) and Treacherous Tides (2025).[10] Additionally, two new expansions are set to release in 2026.[11] These expansions are generally compatible with each other and can be played together.

Ravensburger also published the spin-offs Marvel Villainous and Star Wars Villainous and their expansions, which keep much of the same game structure but with new villains and mechanics themed around other Disney properties.[12][13] Disney Villainous Unstoppable! was released in 2025, adapting the game mechanics of Villainous into a faster paced and simpler standalone game.[14]

Reception

GamesRadar+ called the game "surprisingly tactical" and recommended the game for adults to play rather than children, because of its more complex rules.[15] Nate Anderson, writing for Ars Technica, also noted the complexity of the rules and acknowledged the cheap game components, but praised the game's theme, artwork, and asymmetrical gameplay, calling it an "easy "buy” recommendation" for Disney fans.[7] In a review for PC Gamer, Rafael Cordero admired the "unique and nuanced" gameplay each villain provides and emphasized the game's replayability.[16]

Villainous: The Worst Takes it All won the 2019 Toy of the Year "Game of the Year" award.[5]

Official tournaments for Villainous were established by Ravensburger at conventions such as Gen Con and PAX Unplugged in North America, Europe, and Australia.[14]

Ravenburger's success with Villainous allowed them later to utilize their connection with Disney to produce the trading card game Disney Lorcana.[17]

Sales

In 2022, it was reported that Disney Villanious and Marvel Villainous: Infinite Power sold nearly three million units together.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Meehan, Alex (2022-03-16). "Disney and Marvel Villainous have collectively sold almost 3 million units". Dicebreaker. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
  2. ^ Prospero Hall (2019-05-15). Disney Villainous: The Making of the Game (Extended Version). Retrieved 2026-02-26 – via YouTube.
  3. ^ TerreDice Games (2024-09-04). An In-depth Interview with One of Original Designers of Villainous!. Retrieved 2026-02-26 – via YouTube.
  4. ^ "Disney | Our Brands". Wonder Forge. Archived from the original on 2018-04-22. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
  5. ^ a b Talbott, Chris (2019-12-02). "Ravensburger's Capitol Hill office shows the growth of the board game creation industry in Seattle". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
  6. ^ Bunge, Nicole (2018-07-13). "Being Wicked Has Never Been More Rewarding". ICv2. Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  7. ^ a b Anderson, Nate (2018-08-25). "Play a Disney villain in new Villainous board game". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
  8. ^ "Villainous Intructions" (PDF). Wonder Forge. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-11-04. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
  9. ^ Dugmore, Sam (2024-11-21). "Ravensburger Disney Villainous Board Game Review - Fun Yet Evil". Pixel Refresh. Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  10. ^ Basil, Matt (2025-09-23). "Disney Villainous expansion guide". Wargamer. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
  11. ^ Dohm-Sanchez, Jeffrey (2026-01-22). "Ravensburger Announces Two 'Disney Villainous' Titles". ICv2. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
  12. ^ Pettit, Charlie (2021-05-20). "Marvel Villainous: Infinite Power Review". Tabletop Gaming. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
  13. ^ Abbott, Benjamin (2022-07-26). "Star Wars Villainous vs Disney Villainous - is the new board game worth getting?". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  14. ^ a b Zeoli, Rowan (2025-01-20). "Ravensburger announces new Disney Villainous games and international tournaments". Polygon. Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  15. ^ Abbott, Benjamin (2020-04-03). "Disney Villainous board game review: "Delightfully wicked"". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  16. ^ Cordero, Rafael (2018-08-13). "Villainous is a strategic board game where Disney villains battle for supremacy". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
  17. ^ Kim, Matt (2022-09-16). "Lorcana Interview: How the New Disney TCG Prioritizes Players Over Collectors". IGN. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.