Can you believe how many Villainous titles there are now?
Since 2018 there have been TWENTY different Villainous releases across the three different branches of the game, as well as a re-work of the original and a spin-off title aimed at younger players.
The sheer number of Disney Villainous titles on the market is a testament to just how many legendary miscreants the House of Mouse has been able to come up with over the years, and the latest offering ‘Success at Any Cost’ brings us two more stone cold scoundrels to get to grips with.
How do they shape up? Let's find out!
Is Less… More?
The recent trend for Villainous has been 2-character expansions, with both ‘Sugar & Spite’ and ‘Treacherous Tides’ only featuring pairs of bad guys. That continues here as ‘Success at Any Cost’ pairs Prince Hans from Frozen with Ernesto de la Cruz from Coco; heels from two absolute blockbuster Disney Movies.
Getting ‘short changed’ out of one whole villain might seem disappointing at first, but there was quite often a ‘weaker’ entry in the 3-character boxes, so if the trade off is two very well-balanced experiences instead it can be forgiven… but is that what we’ve got here? And just WHO do you get?
For The First Time In Forever…
Given just how popular Frozen still is, it’s quite frankly amazing that the franchise hadn’t made it into a Villainous game before now. That said, when compared to the likes of Captain Hook, Maleficent, Gaston, Scar and so on, Prince Hans isn’t the strongest villain on the Disney roster.
So much of Frozen is about the internal struggle Elsa faces, and the strain that puts on her relationship with Anna, that Hans almost feels like an afterthought. A paint-by-numbers antagonist who exists purely to give the movie some peril, rather than being a fully fledged evil-doer.
Thankfully his Villainous incarnation is actually implemented pretty well. To win Hans must freeze over all the locations in Arendelle using ‘Frozen Rings’, then defeat Anna and Elsa in a frozen location.
What makes Hans unique to the Disney Villainous series is that his Realm Board is double sided and has to be flipped over and ‘frozen’ on both sides. A similar mechanic has been used in the Star Wars series, but it’s a first for the mainline Disney ones.
Hans’ game is all about cycling the deck as quickly as possible to play cards that utilise frozen rings, then drag Anna and Elsa into play in order to beat them.
Difficulty-wise, it isn’t the hardest of objectives, but Hans can be set back quite easily if the Fate deck is unkind, and sometimes it feels like an entire turn or two will pass without any progress being made which can be frustrating.
Un Poco Loco
Coco’s charming crooner with a decidedly deceitful past, Ernesto De La Cruz, is the other villain in the box, and his objective is much more straight-forward.
As in the movie, Ernesto’s plan is to remove all trace of Hector Rivera and ensure his success continues rather than being rightfully attributed to his former musical partner.
To do this he must flip over all 6 squares of a photograph, transforming it from a family photo of Hector and Coco to his own majestic visage.
Ernesto is an interesting character to play as, especially if you are a seasoned Villainous pro. Unlike most of the villains who have to focus on vanquishing heroes in order to win, playing as Ernesto isn’t really about that… it’s purely about retaining this façade and protecting your reputation.
Targeting heroes rarely benefits the player, and they are more of an inconvenience that limits what options are available rather than being something that needs to be dealt with (with the exception of Hector, who cannot be on the board when Ernesto achieves his win condition.)
What his game actually ends up being is a tit-for-tat battle to flip the picture cards back and forth, and this is both the characters best attribute and main criticism.
Ernesto is fun to play as, in fact I’d go as far as to say he’s one of my favourites already, but he’s also a pain to play against because there are a couple of cards in his deck that feel far too overpowered.
‘Seize Your Moment’ is powerful, but it also requires a fair bit of groundwork and forward planning to get the most out of the 5 power it costs to use it.
‘Forgetting Me’ is far more powerful for its low cost of 3, as it lets you choose a photo card and flip all adjacent cards. Two of these cards can effectively end the game if played strategically, and there’s very little other players can do to stop it.
Is It a Success?
So… is Success at Any Cost a good addition to the Disney Villainous collection?
Overall, yes.
Both new villains have something quite unique about them, be it the double-sided board or the fact you aren’t as focused on vanquishing Heroes as in other objectives.
As always, the artwork is on point, the movers look great (especially Ernesto!) and you can see the effort that has gone into theming the games rather than just using a generic concept and adding a thin coat of Disney paint.
Hans is just OK though, and unless you’re a huge Frozen fan you might find yourself wishing you’d chosen someone else.
Ernesto is right on the opposite end of the spectrum, REALLY fun to play as but frustrating for your opponents, and not as well balanced as others in the franchise.
If you love Frozen or Coco then this is a must buy, but otherwise it might be a purchase once you’ve exhausted all the other sets and want something a bit different.
