Haunted Mansion - Call of the Spirits Game

 Just released at the end of September, The Haunted Mansion Call of the Spirits Game from Funko may be just the place to get your Mansion fix if you're missing the ride.

This is the fourth official board game based on the attraction and only the second that wasn't a Disney exclusive. The first was simply the Haunted Mansion Game in 1972 which is a work of art in and of itself. The Disney exclusives were re-themes of existing games: Clue (2002) and The Game of Life (2010).

Enough history, let us call in the spirits! I haven't had a chance to play the game yet but the art design all around gets an A+.

This is the inside of the box lid featuring the stretching portrait room. How perfect!

The interior sides of the box each have a different set of portraits that can be found in the ride. I also love the way the game board folds so that when you open the box, you are greeting by the Mansion and "Welcome, foolish mortals".

This is the back of the board, the back! How great is this scene?

And here is the front of the board with different areas of the ride. Madame Leota sits in the seance room in the middle. It has a rotating feature which is why you see that large circle opening on the back of the board. The endless hallway surrounds the room and connects to the ballroom, dining room, attic, graveyard, mausoleums, and crypt.

 

Players are represented by these bat stanchion tokens. If you're not familiar with these, they are in the ride's loading area queue holding up the chains. More info here. I love that they included this guy but why not make the player tokens Doombuggies?

To win, you move around the mansion socializing with the ghosts (collecting them). At the end of the game, you score points based on the sets of ghosts you have. Ghosts of the same color score more points depending on how many you have. Some special ghosts, like the Bride, don't have a set but score better if you collect specific other ghosts. The art on the cards does a great job of capturing the...spirit of the ride.

You didn't think there would be a Haunted Mansion game without the Hitchhiking Ghosts, did you? These guys move around the board haunting the players. Whoever has the highest haunt score at the end loses some of their collected ghosts.

Unlike other Funko games, I haven't seen this one hit a major retailer in my area yet. I couldn't wait so I got my copy from Amazon.

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