Disney Sorcerers Arena Board Game Review

I’m a huge Disney fan – if you were to walk into my house today you would see Disney LEGO sets adorning shelves, Disney Blu Rays in the basement…basically Disney everywhere.

Being a sucker for Disney board games, whether good or bad, recently we had the chance to play Disney Sorcerers Arena. I’m always a little sceptical of arena games, but this one does it right, while also being accessible to a wide audience of players. Let’s take a look!

In Disney Sorcerers Arena, two players will choose teams of heroes or villains, and will construct a deck of cards associated with those characters. A turn order is created using the characters chosen, with Player 1 using a character, then Player 2 using a character, then back to Player 1, etc.

On their turn, players will use cards in their hand to perform actions, such as moving or attacking an opponent. Characters also might have special powers available to them, all of which creates a fairly straightforward but still unique gameplay experience.

I think this is the appropriate time to note how accessible this game is. I enjoyed playing it with my wife, but also had a blast playing it with my 9 year old, who quickly picked up how the game worked and what strategies you might want to apply.

The ultimate goal in this arena game is to collect victory points so that you can win, and those can be earned by more than just defeating heroes. Some cards might provide victory points, and beginning your turn on a victory point space on the board will also earn you victory points.

Throughout the game there are also other things to consider, such as upgrading your character card. Doing this requires you to banish cards from your discard pile equal to the upgrade cost on your character card. When done, you can flip your character card and take advantage of better stats and bonuses.

Whenever you get to mix and match Disney characters in a game the outcome is probably going to be pretty good. In recent memory, I’ve been thinking of games like Disney Villainous and Disney Lorcana. That feeling is very apparent in this release as well. Having Aladdin battle against Ariel is so weird it works, and feels really cool.

What also helps make this game so enjoyable is the excellent production quality. The standees construction is outstanding, and the other game pieces – cardboard chits, plastic rings, etc. – are also superb. Playing a game with good components inherently makes that game more enjoyable to play, and that is definitely the case here.

I love suggesting games like this to casual board game fans because the concepts introduced are not overly complicated. However, this game, like so many other arena games, provides a wealth of strategic opportunities that really make you think, and drive you to play game after game.

If you want to mix Disney with an arena battler, don’t look any further than Disney Sorcerers Arena. This is one to have in your collection, and can even be expanded with expansions. While this copy was provided by The OP for the purpose of this review, I liked it enough to invest in expansions. It’s that good, and that much fun!