FUNKO SOMETHING WILD! GAME REVIEW

Sharing is caring!

We were sent the Funko Something Wild! Game for the purposes of this review.

Click here for our Toy Review Catalogue to read our reviews before you buy!

Funko holds a special place in our family’s heart, right along with tabletop games. So Funko Tabletop Games are the equivalent of Unicorns in our home. I’ve lost count of the amount of Pop Funko characters around the house – each year new Funko peeps sit on top of each person’s birthday cake, appear in Halloween Calendars and Baskets, and Christmas Eve hampers. There’s something amazing about them that draws us all in.

This week a Jones Family unicorn arrived in the form of Funko’s Something Wild! game – and out of the corner peeped Jack – we were sent the Nightmare Before Christmas Edition. We whipped up some of our favourite Nightmare Before Christmas Movie Snacks and settled in for games night!

There are other Something Wild Card Games featuring other characters such as Mickey Mouse, Aladdin, Woody, Maleficent and Ariel from the Little Mermaid, but as we have quite a thing for the Nightmare Before Christmas and celebrate every New Year’s Day with our annual Jack Skellington Breakfast, when our set popped through the letterbox, we were tickled pink. Or black and white.

Inside the box there’s a little fold out instruction leaflet, 45 character cards featuring characters from the Disney story, numbered 1-9. Jack Skellington’s cards show Sally, Jack, Zero, Lock, Stock and Barrel, Dr, Finkelstein, and a Pocket Pop sized Jack Skellington. There are also 10 Power Cards.

It’s game for 2-4 players, from 6+, which means that all of our family *could* play age wise. Play time is 15 minutes, which after a few rounds seems quite accurate.

HOW TO WIN!

The first person to score three power cards is the winner! Power cards are gained by making a set of cards or a run. A set is three cards of any colour but with the same number, and a run is three cards of the same colour with the numbers in order. We call this one a colour run to remind ourselves.

QUICK SET UP

The game is really simple to set up and small enough to take anywhere. We usually take top trumps with us to play in Disney queues, but this would be possible too when waiting for the shows to start when we’re all stood still in line!

So here’s how to set up. Shuffle the 10 Power cards – these are the ones with the bright green Nightmare Before Christmas decoration on the back of them. Put them in a pile face down in the middle of the playing area. Turn over the top Power card so that it can be read by everyone, and pop the Jack Pop vinyl next to this pile.

Next shuffle the 45 character cards and deal three to each player. These cards are for your eyes only – keep your hand a secret from everyone else! The rest of the cards are placed face down in a pile next to the Power cards, and your discard pile will be next to this once play begins.

HOW TO PLAY FUNKO SOMETHING WILD!

Hero is pretty delighted that the youngest person goes first, and play passes to the left [clockwise around the table].

The play is very prescriptive and easy to remember:

Draw from the top of the deck into your hand

Play one card from your hand face up in front of you

Take Figure – if you play a card that’s the same colour as the current Power card which is on show, you can take the Jack Pop figure. You keep Jack and are able to use him each turn until someone else plays a card in the same way to win him from you.

Power – If you have the Jack Pop figure, and you also have a Power card which you’ve won, you can use the Power detailed on your card, or you can use the Power card which is currently face up on the pile, waiting to be won.

Score – If you’ve managed to create a colour run or a set of cards in front of you, you can score the Power card which is face up on the pile! Discard the three cards which made up your set or colour run into the discard pile.

Discard – If you have more than five cards in front of you, you must discard at the end of your turn until there are only five.

Three Power cards means you win! Woohoo! if all of the cards are used before this happens, simply shuffle the discard pile and place it face down ready to play again.

COMBINING FUNKO SOMETHING WILD! SETS

It’s possible to combine other Something Wild card games to play an even more exciting game – this means there will be one Power pile for each figure, but all of the character cards are shuffled together from each game being included.