Codenames is a game I really enjoy. It is a nice filler party game where perhaps it greatest strength can also be its greatest weakness (people trying to bend to rules or it overstaying it's welcome), but it is great as a starting or ending game on a game night. I'm not the only one who has enjoyed it, with the games getting a bunch of spin-off variants.
Disney is one of these variants. In this game, you are doing the normal Codenames thing of giving clues to guess the right stuff on a grid. But what you are trying to guess now is not words, but Disney pictures. This means you have pictures from Disney films such as Hercules, etc. and your clues have to relate to them.
My most glaring problem with this is that the pictures just aren't really that good. Most the pictures are really close-ups of a specific character or the like. I would have liked if the pictures were allot broader so you could relate more things together (i.e. taking objects from the background). It would've been really good if the cards were a bit bigger to accomodate this, but this is where being stuck to the Codenames card size is a detriment.
The card issue is compounded by the fact it loses allot of its accessibility. Now, you need to know obscure characters from movies in order to compete with those more knowledgable about Disney films. This issue is compounded by the previous issue of the extreme close-ups limiting the scope of the clues you can give, thus eliminating the clever word plays originally used.
That isn't to say this game doesn't do some good things. The intro/kid variant is a neat idea and the Disney background gave a wealth of iconic moments to draw from. Unfortunately, the price it pays in order to slap the Disney tag on this makes it feel like a cash-in on the Codenames and Disney brands.
2 out of 5 Frozen Waffles.
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