Something Wild! is a series of card games featuring mini versions of the popular Funko Pop characters. From Disney to Star Wars, Indiana Jones to Marvel, there are plenty of universes to discover.
We first came across them when we were approached by Funko Games to take a look at a few of their products, Something Wild! Indiana Jones being one of them. Of all the games they sent us, this was not one of the first we tried as we are not huge fans of the Funko Pops and (rightly or wrongly) we assumed that the game would have been designed solely to make the most of these characters and therefore we were not hopeful for the gameplay. We were pleased to be proven wrong and enjoyed it so much, we ordered a couple more copies from different universes to try them out too!
First Impressions
The boxes are quite eye-catching with bold block colours and limited text with the character in full view behind a plastic window. Upon opening the packaging, there isn't alot inside but for the price and size of the box, I wasn't expecting there to be much. You get a pack of unique cards, the funko pop style character and the rulesheet.
Game Play Overview
The game is played in turns with each player taking drawing and playing cards until someone has achieved 3 power cards. On your turn, you will move through 6 phases, beginning by drawing a card from the deck and then playing a card from your hand in front of you. If the card you played matches the colour of the power card face up in the middle of the table or has the 'take a figure' icon, you get to take the figure into your play area, it will remain here until another player takes it. If you have the figure, you may then activate 1 power card either the central one or one that you have won previously and resolve the effect. Once any powers have been resolved, you may then score a set or run of cards to claim the face up power card for yourself before discarding the cards used to score. If you have more than 5 cards face up in your play area, you will need to discard down to 5 cards in play. Turn then passes to the next player. Play continues in turn order, until 1 player has achieved 3 power cards, at which point the game ends and they are crowned the winner!
Pros and Cons
Something Wild! is a quick to play, easy to pick up card game with a few twists to make it feel new and exciting. The different versions each have their own powers and artwork relevant to the theme and can be combined to create wilder gameplay with multiple characters and more variety in power cards. Each game includes the rules on how to combine them making it really easy to mix and match. Although the rules don't say that this means you can play at higher player counts, I can see this working really well. As it is a quick and relatively simple game to play, there isn't much strategy to be had and it's fairly luck based, depending heavily on what cards you draw and when, but for a small, quick game, this will certainly fill a nice little spot on many a shelf!
Final Verdict
Overall, we really enjoyed this game and felt that the balance between gameplay and novelty was well designed. Despite not being a fan generally of Funko Pop's, the figures in this game made a really nice addition to what could have been a bog standard card game.
In conclusion, we would rate this game a 9.5/10
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