Disney’s A Goofy Movie has a special place in Disney fans’ hearts and now Funko Games has brought the world and its characters to the tabletop in a new board game. A Goofy Movie Game tasks players with collecting the most points as they move Max, Roxanne, Bobby, and P.J. across the country to watch Powerline in concert. Prospero Hall captures the brightly-colored world brilliantly, and gameplay is quickly paced and new-player-friendly, so much so that you can fit in multiple games during one night. A Goofy Movie Game is a bit lighter to help facilitate that faster pace though, so more experienced players might not be as engaged in subsequent playthroughs, but for those who adore the film and enjoy a lighthearted and fun experience, A Goofy Movie Game will undoubtedly be well received.
Videos by ComicBook.com
To claim victory in A Goofy Movie Game you’ll need to end up with the most points by the time Powerline reaches his concert in Los Angeles, and to do that you’ll collect Scrapbook Cards on each of your turns. Scrapbook Cards are replaced when one is taken from the board, and they offer several specialized cards that get you points either on their own or when combined with other matching symbols, and then you can add even more points to your acquired cards by landing on Bonus Token spaces along the way.
There are two primary ways to obtain cards, and because of the way this mechanic is implemented, odds are you won’t go too many turns without adding a Scrapbook card to your collection. While there are ways to maximize your points with some additional strategies, the main turn-by-turn gameplay is exceptionally easy to pick up after just a few turns, and pretty soon you’ll be moving through turns at a brisk pace regardless of experience level.
That’s part of what makes A Goofy Movie so satisfying and fun to play, though it’s also worth mentioning the overall aesthetic of the board and its components and how much they embrace the original film. The artwork feels lifted right out of the film, and the board pops with color. The miniatures are delightful (especially Powerline), and then Prospero Hall went the extra mile and created a full concert poster on the other side of the board that fans will absolutely love.
As for general tactics, most of the strategy comes in the form of your approach to points and your approach to traveling across the board. Scrapbook cards are split into 5 types, and each one has its own benefits and point totals. For example, Camera Cards get you 1 point each, but for the player who obtains the most Camera Cards when everything is totaled, you will get 2 points for each Camera Card.
Meanwhile, Microphone Cards aren’t actually worth anything individually, so you’ll either need to have the most of them of any player and get 5 points or have the second most of any player and get 3 points. Car Cards require you to have three of them to score 6 points, but there are ways to shake that up in the form of Bonus Tokens. Bonus Tokens live on certain spaces, but they are finite, so depending on which bonus you get you might need to alter your strategy a bit to take advantage. You can also take the long way around to the concert to get more cards and points, but getting to the concert first will net you a whopping 20 points, so there is incentive to get there before anyone else.
Movement offers its own strategy, as you can’t be on the same space as other players, so you will automatically skip that space and move to the next. If you stay near other players, you can certainly use this to your advantage to get further ahead, though they can do the same, and then you also have to factor in turn order, as players who reveal the lowest number cards at the beginning of the turn take their turns first, though that also means you likely didn’t get a Scrapbook card at the beginning of the turn, so there is a push and pull to your turn by turn decisions.
If this sounds fun and approachable, it absolutely is, but after a few games, you might find yourself noticing a few mechanics that could have used some additional layers. This is mainly noticeable with Goofy, who comes with his own miniature but doesn’t actually have a substantial role to play. Certain spaces on the board allow you to roll a die, and it will either have a Powerline symbol or a Goofy symbol (or both). Powerline symbols move Powerline one step closer to Los Angeles, while Goofy symbols direct the player to pick up the Scrapbook card on Goofy’s current location and then move him to the next one. While you do get a Scrapbook card, it doesn’t differ in any way from other cards, and I found that Powerline symbols come up quite a bit more than Goofy symbols, so in some games, he barely factored in at all. Plus, when you move him over to the next space, the card itself can still be picked up in any ordinary way, so it just feels superfluous to everything else.
There’s also the characters themselves, who all have delightful miniatures and card art on their respective decks, but other than visually there aren’t any differences between the characters. You all have cards that can move you one or two spaces and that’s it, so while the miniatures are appreciated, I would have loved a unique ability assigned to each character that gave them some sort of edge, which would also incentivize changing characters on each playthrough.
Again, none of that is deal-breaking and the game is a truly delightful time even without those additional elements. It’s also a brilliant game for newer players, and you’ll soon find those unfamiliar with more traditional board game mechanics cruising after a turn or two. Those who are massive fans of the movie will adore this as well, and if you have a fan of the original film amongst your friends this is a no-brainer. I truly enjoyed my time with A Goofy Movie Game, and I look forward to more fun-filled nights with Goofy, Max, and the rest of the crew down the line.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Published By: Funko Games
Designed By: Prospero Hall
Disney A Goofy Movie Game is available in stores now.
Review copy provided by the publisher
