SNAP Review – Mickey’s Christmas Carol

Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is a timeless classic, although it’s been adapted many times. Even Disney did it, with their Mickey’s Christmas Carol in 1984… It’s also short, so it’s a good introduction to the story for kids.

And so is this game!

This is a SNAP review for Disney Mickey’s Christmas Carol Game.

Game

Mickey’s Christmas Carol is for 1-4 players, age 4 and up, and published by Funko Games.

In this game, players cooperate to complete puzzles that tell the story of A Christmas Carol – in order – before Scrooge wakes up.

Art

So Mom, let’s talk about the art in this game!

When I opened the box, this game immediately looked classic to me, like the simple puzzles my kids used to do when they were younger. The puzzle frames are really well constructed – like this one – I love how you see a shadowy version of the picture when the puzzle’s not complete.

Every tile has a partial border on the front and a colored back; both of these match the frame, so it’s easy to tell which puzzle it goes to.

Everything in this game is sturdy and ready for young kids to play with.

And of course, all six puzzles show scenes from the Mickey’s Christmas Carol.

Mechanics

Hey Mom, let’s talk about the mechanics.

All right, here’s how to play the game:

Choose four puzzles out of the six in the box and put all the puzzle pieces for those in the bag, along with the brown special tiles. Put Scrooge on 9 o’clock on the central clock board, showing that he’s “asleep”. Lay the puzzles out in numerical order, either around the clock or in a row.

The youngest player goes first!

On your turn, pull tiles out of the bag, one at a time. You may pull up to five tiles and choose two to add to the puzzles…. unless you pull a special tile! (Booo!)

Elliot, what makes the special tiles different?

The special tiles are brown. They camp out in the bag, and they’re really bad – all of them – except for one of them!

Most of them make you stop drawing tiles, play all the tiles you pulled this turn, whether they’re good for you or not, and move Scrooge one space clockwise – moving forward towards 8am.

But this tile right here lets you ignore all other special tiles. It’s the one good special tile you can get. If you draw that one, just keep drawing until you have five puzzle tiles and then choose two to play.

When you complete a puzzle, and Scrooge will also move! He moves one space backward (counterclockwise) if all the earlier puzzles are complete. But if you completed this puzzle out of order, Scrooge moves forward as many spaces as the number printed on the top of the puzzle! With a number like 4 or 5, you risk waking him up early!

The game ends when either all the puzzles are completed (yay!) or if Scrooge reaches 8 on the clock, symbolizing morning. (He woke up! Boo!)

And that’s it! That’s how you play.

Expectations

Hey, what were the [our] expectations?

Funko seems to do a really great job on games for little kids to play with the adults in their lives. We’ve reviewed their Mad Tea Party and It’s a Small World. I hoped this would be similar: a simple game without being boring.

I got a little worried when I first opened the box and saw the puzzles; that this would be like the cheaper cardboard puzzles I’ve seen – the kind that barely fit together and have to be positioned just right and eventually fall apart.

That leads us into our surprises.

Surprises

We already mentioned that the puzzles are actually nice and sturdy. I didn’t notice this nice backing on them until I took them apart for the first time.

The simplicity of the game really draws me in – although my kids are already a little old for the intended age range – Elliot here is 8 – but we’re still enjoying playing together – or even playing it solo!

My favorite part was the puzzles, because I think they’re all really fun to put together. Because I’m a puzzle person.

The analog clock really fits the theme but since analog clocks aren’t really common anymore, many kids will struggle with this idea. I don’t think it’s a bad thing – it offers a low-stress way to reinforce clock-reading skills.

It also led Elliot and I to a discussion of AM and PM – because the clock starts at 9 (PM) and ends at 8 (AM).

The clock also kind of works as a scoreboard. The closer you are to 9 o’clock when you finish the game, the better you’ve done.

Recommended?

That leads us to our recommendations.

I think we would recommend Mickey’s Christmas Carol Game, for families with younger kids – or even for grandparents! It feels to me like the kind of game we should keep with our stack of holiday books, to pull out and enjoy every December.

It’s not deeply strategic or fast-paced. Instead, it’s simple, combining luck, pattern-matching, and just a little bit of prediction: perfect for younger kids to play with adults or older kids like Elliot to play on their own.

What are we going to rate Mickey’s Christmas Carol Game?

I think we’re going to give it 4 and a half PUZZLES out of 5.

That’s Disney Mickey’s Christmas Carol Game – in a SNAP!

Find it on Amazon this holiday season.

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The Family Gamers received a copy of Disney Mickey’s Christmas Carol Game from Funko Games for this review.

This post contains affiliate links, which do not change your price, but help support The Family Gamers.

SNAP review music is Avalanche, provided courtesy of You Bred Raptors?