I had no idea what to expect from Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls Disney Edition. Though Ravensburger’s latest tabletop collaboration with the House of Mouse describes itself as the ‘Disney Edition’, it seems to be the only Chronicles of Light out there (aside from an unrelatedFinal Fantasy 16graphic novel). What it really is is a simplified, yet more active and collaborative riff on Ravensburger’s monster catching gameHorrified- one that celebrates some lesser lights in Disney’s stable while providing enough challenge for more seasoned board game players with an ease of access for newbies too.
In Chronicles of Light, you play as either Belle, Moana, Maid Marian, or Violet Parr, which is already an interesting premise. These are not Disney’s four most popular characters ever, but have been chosen because they fit together well, and that’s immediately to the game’s credit. Using unique abilities, the heroes must clear the land of villains created by ‘the Vortex’, as well as working on individual quests.
Each character has two movement tiles, and three abilities that offer boons in combat or while moving. However, one of these abilities is locked until their quest is complete, and the team (Chronicles is purely cooperative) can only make six actions in total per turn, so the heroes need to balance out whose abilities are most useful, and strategise the best time to use them.
Chronicles Of Light Has Colourful, High Quality Pieces
This, plus the fact that you only get six turns (seven with three players, eight with four) creates a major sense of time pressure. It’s a jeopardy you don’t feel much in other games, and that does add some intrigue that separates it from being ‘Disney Horrified’. In fact, while the quests are simpler, the ticking clock keeps it difficult without adding complexity. On our first run as Belle and Moana, we failed to clear the board in time. But on our second, as Maid Marian and Violet, we won with a card to spare.
It’s not necessarily that some characters are good or bad, either. Part of the problem was that we were playing for the first time and didn’t always make the best decisions, but it also came down to luck of where our quest items and the swirling Vortex fell. Too much random chance can be a detriment for board games, but here I think the variety it brings is a positive. The board is a series of tiles that can connect in almost any order (some are land and some are water, so they must make sense), and that keeps it fresh every time.
Each character has four unique quests, with one drawn at random per character at the start of every game. It might be escorting villagers to safety, piecing together gems, diving for treasure, or finding missing keys. But mostly, it means going to a place and picking up a token, then moving to another place with that token. However, every board game sounds repetitive if you strip it back - the flavour text brings a sense of fun, but I’m not sure the quests always match up. Why does Violet need to open treasure chests?
Alongside these quests, you’re trying to take out the Vortex. This tile moves around the board as you draw a new card, and summons villains as it goes. Each villain must be defeated to win, and the Vortex must be weakened (which limits its ability to summon villains), then defeated also. However, you can’t attack the Vortex until the quests are done, but also can’t ignore the villains or you’ll have too many to take on by the end.
If you’ve played a Ravensburger game before, you’ll recognise the dice. Each character has two in their signature colour, and can deal one, two, or three damage per die, as well as rolling a blank or taking damage themselves. Using abilities (and thus taking one of those six precious slots) adds some layer of tactics, but aside from risking taking damage, you can roll multiple times per turn with little consequence. The quests don’t use combat, but it’s a bit of a shame so much of the game relies on it when it’s less interesting than exploring.
It also raises another issue - each hero just doesn’t have a lot of villains to choose from. Sure, Disney has the mega-successfulVillainousseries, but each game focusses on specific headline villains. Each hero here comes with six tokens featuring villains from their movies, and Moana especially just doesn’t have the rogues gallery for this to work. I’ve seen all of these movies, each one at least twice and some several times more, and a few of the tokens left me scratching my head. What do you mean you don’t remember the eight-eyed bat?!
The villain tokens themselves, along with the quest tokens, action tokens, and cards are all excellent, keeping a uniform Disney style while adding a crystallisation effect that fits the idea of being warriors of light - another accidental nod to Final Fantasy. The real stars of the show are the character movers though, with superbly designed plastic figurines. The art is great, and each character has their own coloured bag which raises the overall quality, but the board tiles were a little curved when I opened the box - the only disappointment to the presentation.
Most Board Tiles Have Minor Curvage
Theme wise, it works in that ‘hey I like Disney’ sells, and I appreciate this cast of characters. Not that I’m complaining, but the fact they’re all women doesn’t appear too important to the loose lore of the game, and there’s not much of a story for where this setting actually is, what the Vortex is, or why these characters are fighting it. That’s probably something you only care about if you’re reviewing the game, not actually playing it, but… I am reviewing the game, so what are you gonna do?
Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls Disney Edition is a great new entry in the Disney-Ravensburger partnership, and despite the name manages to offer a more unique board game experience than a Disney-flavoured version of something that already exists. It borrows from Horrified, Adventure Book, and Forbidden while remaining its own thing, and feels like a must play for Disney fans seeking something fresh.
Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls - Disney Edition
Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls - Disney Edition is a co-operative tabletop board game featuring Belle, Moana, Violet Parr, and Maid Marian attempting to rid the kingdom of evil and defeat the vortex of shadows while completing individual quests.
