For the last few years, Disney has embraced the idea of crossing its various IP streams, whether in the cozy Dreamlight Valley or the trading card game Lorcana. This month, however, the House of Mouse branches into a more collaborative direction with Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls, a new board game from Lorcana publisher Ravensburger.
In the story behind Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls, the Realm of Light is being invaded by shadows of nefarious Disney villains, spilling from a Vortex that moves across the realm. The people call for help, and four heroines from across Disney’s history arrive in crystalline form to banish the shadows, close the Vortex, and save the day.
As a collaborative game for 1-4, players assume the roles of either Belle (Beauty and the Beast), Maid Marian (Robin Hood), Violet (The Incredibles), and Moana (Moana). Each character receives an individualized objective to complete; to succeed, the players must finish their quests, wipe all the Shadow enemies off the board, and defeat/close the Vortex. However, if they are defeated themselves or take too long, the game ends.
First of all, Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls is a beautifully crafted board game. The heroines have a stained glass motif to their appearance in the artwork, which translates well into the miniatures representing them on the board. A similar look is used for the world itself, granting the game an idyllic feel. It’s a pleasing thematic complement to Ravensburger’s “other” Disney board game franchise, Villainous.
The actual physical components are generously designed as well. Among the laundry list of pieces each character needs to assemble during setup, each character has a set of tokens related to their various quest options. For example, for her simplest quest, Belle has villager tokens, which she needs to pick up and deposit at different spots across the board. This helps each of them feel unique right from the start.
“Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls makes cooperation key, as players only have six actions in total each round and only so many rounds to complete all their objectives.”
I appreciated how Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls is designed for easy storage and sorting, after the initial setup at least. The box includes colour-coded baggies so each character’s pieces can be stored together once all the tokens are punched out of their cardboard sprues. Many games don’t come with this sort of baked-in storage solution. As someone who gets a little uptight about how the pieces go back into their box, this was a big design win.
That being said, I would’ve appreciated a little more distinction between the colours representing the heroines. In person, the shades of red, orange, and yellow were a touch too similar at a glance.
Collaboration starts right off the hop by building the world map itself. There are specific map tiles for each character, as well as a special tile to add for two-player games. These are meant to be placed at the players’ discretion, so players would be wise to carefully consider their heroine’s unique movement ability and how the tiles connect. Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls is fairly generous in this department, letting players choose the layout as they wish so long as land and water tiles connect properly.
The setup itself isn’t as complex as all the various components might suggest, and then it’s time to play. Rounds (or days) can only have six total player actions, after which the round ends, the Vortex moves, more Shadows spawn, and it all starts over. There is a limited number of turns; if you run out of the Darkness cards that determine the Vortex and Shadow movements each turn, the game ends—so every action counts.
“Chronicles of Light‘s rerolling option is fairly generous, especially since you can initiate another battle with the Shadow if you aren’t successful or team up with allies.”
Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls makes cooperation key, as players only have six actions in total each round and only so many rounds to complete all their objectives; when playing with four players, someone will have to take fewer moves each day. All four characters have two generic action tokens that let them either heal themselves or move, a unique movement action, and a special ability, like Maid Marian’s ability to battle Shadows from a distance or Violet shielding allies from harm. Once their individual quests are completed, they unlock a fifth action token with a “super” ability.
When a player runs into a Shadow, they can’t proceed unless they defeat it in a battle—which means it’s time to roll some dice. Shadows have a toughness rating, and the player must roll that many hit icons on 2d6 to dispatch them. Get a bad roll? Don’t worry; you can reroll either of them once to get a better result. Get a bad reroll? Okay, now it’s time to panic.
The dice’s sides have either a damage icon, various combinations of hit icons, or are blank. If your roll in a battle includes a damage icon, your character’s health is reduced by one; when a character’s health hits 0, the team’s health tracker reduces by one; when the team tracker hits 0, the game is lost.
Chronicles of Light‘s rerolling option is fairly generous, especially since you can initiate another battle with the Shadow if you aren’t successful or team up with allies. However, a Shadow’s health must be depleted in a single battle. Say you’re fighting a 6-strength Shadow, and you roll 2 hits and 1 damage; you take the hit and can fight again right away, but the Shadow’s health has not diminished. Thus, battling can easily be more risk than reward. It can’t be avoided, either, as the board must be cleared to succeed.
This was the root of my only qualms with Chronicles of Light. In some aspects, it feels like the rules could use some fine-tuning, especially in a two-player game. Coordination truly is essential, and the old divide-and-conquer approach may be a detriment if you need to band together to take on Shadows, especially with fewer players.
As a game rated for ages 8 and up, there’s a lot of appeal for that younger demographic, especially with the range of heroes chosen. Parents or guardians should definitely take the game for a spin before bringing in the kids in, though. This may not be a “pick up and play” experience for everyone in the younger demographics, as the rules are simple enough to learn but harder to master and not always laid out with perfect clarity in the guide. The game gives with one hand and takes away with the other.
Nonetheless, there’s a lot of potential here. After learning the ropes in a couple of introductory games, Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls could be another great option for family game nights, thanks to the inherent replayability of having several quests with unique objectives. Should this become the next Villainous and see further expansions, there’s a huge roster of potential heroines that could be drawn upon.
Even as it is, it’s a charming experience, and a collaborative option for young Disney fans is certainly welcome.
(Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls is available for preorder now at Target in the US.)
