Disney, the multimedia conglomerate led by a cartoon mouse with a squeaky voice, celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. What once began as a movie company with a focus on magical cartoons grew into a veritable empire with multiple movie studios, streaming services, theme parks and television companies. The House of Mouse, and thus the cartoons in particular, are an important part of childhood for many of us and even a lifestyle for some Disney Adults with an annual pass to the theme parks. In any case, with 100 years of Disney, there is plenty to celebrate and of course that includes Merchandise. In honor of this 100th anniversary, so too is the Disney edition of the popular association game Dixit.
Dixit has been around for a while now and is a regular fixture at Dice Daniel and friends’ game nights. You can play it with a large group and the rules are simple and straightforward, but the game is unique and surprising and still innovative enough in terms of game concept that it appeals to a wide range of players. The game is also very smooth as it has little downtime and because of the game mechanics it invites creative and associative thinking in a social and convivial setting. Dixit is one of my favorite favorite games.
In addition to Dixit, there are also variants such as Odyssey and Stella. Odyssey in particular is a variant to play in larger groups and teams, where Stella is a completely new game concept with similar mechanism using the same type of cards as Dixit, so the games have interchangeable parts for extra replayability. There are also plenty of expansions available so you always have enough variety of cards.
So how is Dixit actually played? Each round there is a narrator. The narrator selects a card from his or her hand, places it face down and provides a word, phrase, sound, feeling or melody. Other players select a card from their hand that best matches what the narrator was trying to make clear. At least, the other players select a card that they expect other player to make the association with what the narrator was telling.
All cards are turned up and players vote for the card they think was selected by the narrator. If they get it right they get points, but the narrator can also earn points. If not everyone got it right, the narrator gets points, but if all players gave the right answer or just all players gave the wrong answer, the narrator gets nought. All other players whose card is chosen also get one (extra) point. Then the next players is the narrator and this continues until one player scores enough points and this player is the winner.
The Disney edition of Dixit is really just the regular Dixit game in a Disney jacket, but that is not a bad thing at all. In fact, because of the Disney game components and cards, the game is also great to use as an addition to your regular Dixit collection. The game contains beautifully illustrated cards based on all sorts of different types of Disney movies. The game includes fun Disney meeple and the dials that come with the game are the most practical way to vote on cards.
It is a fun introduction to Dixit for Disney fans or an addition to the collection of Dixit fans.
