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A Funko World
Nothing has grabbed the imagination of the general public in recent years as much as Funko Pops. These pint sized figures are now available as almost anyone from popular culture. Although the company is almost twenty-five years old, it is only in recent years that the pop figure has risen to stardom. Let's speak about the Funkoverse: Golden Girls...
Designed in the style of the Japanese chibi, the figures have big eyes and big heads in order to be as adorable as possible! As one of the most collectable items in the world, it was inevitable that they would make their way to tabletops. In 2019 Prospero Hall released FunkoVerse: A Strategy Board Game. The game itself is a standard two player skirmish. (The rules do explain how you might play as four players in two teams but the core design definitely leans towards a head-to-head system).
Across one of two board designs that come in the box you will move your characters around in order to achieve a goal. These goals can change from box to box but are based around a small handful. Territory and Control force you to hold an area for as long as possible. Flags is about stopping opponents from nicking your flag - all while stealing theirs. And Leaders tasks you with protecting a randomly-selected character.
These objectives add to what could otherwise be a straight-up brawl. This demands that players think ahead rather than just storm through. Because you can also use cover and site lines to your advantage (or knock down foes that must then be revived), there are plenty of variables to consider when going into battle. There are basic actions such as move, pick up and attack. Attacking is a simple roll of the dice with highest hit winning. The other is knocked down and must be revived before being hit again leading to them being out of the game. No matter what the win condition, once one side loses all their characters, the game ends. So what about the characters? This is where Funkoverse comes alive.
There are two types of sets, one of two and one of four characters, all stand alone games. Each character is a mini Pop figure and each box is themed on a popular intellectual property. This is where the collectability comes in. Each character has an asymmetric set of abilities for which you have to spend tokens to play.
When a token is played, it will go on a cool down track so you can't keep on using the same power over and over again. This mechanism really makes you think about when to play that super powerful move and when to hold out. Most characters also come with a special item which fits snugly into your pop figures hand. These will also give you additional powers.
Some characters will also have accomplices who will move around the board independently and offer you additional actions. As your collection builds, you can mix and match from all the different sets and build teams that might include Bruce (the shark from Jaws) on the same team as Batman or Rick (from Rick and Morty). Items can also be swapped so suddenly Sally (The Nightmare Before Christmas) might see her poison being wielded by the Kool-Aid Man. This absurd variability is really what the game is about.
A Golden Idea
This set is one of the more absurd. Right at the beginning of the Funkoverse journey, they announced the Golden Girls sets. For those who are not as aware of these characters, the Golden Girls was an American sitcom which ran from 1985 to 1992. The set up for the series was three women in their fifties and one of their mothers, living together in Miami.
The show was a huge hit in the US and was not only funny but also tackled social issues such racism andhomophobia. The series didn't quite have the same impact in the UK but has since become a cult classic, especially in the LGBTQ+ community. This collection brings together two of the characters, Blanche Deveraeux and Rose Nyland. Played by Rue McClanahan, Blanche is a sex obsessed southern belle. Her ongoing character ability is 'Devastatingly Beautiful'. This makes all adjacent rivals roll one less dice.
Golden Girl's Blanche's personal actions are mainly about getting closer to her rivals with 'Southern Hospitality' and 'Hi Boys'. And finally, her 'Flirt' action allows her to take an ability token from her unsuspected rival before attacking them. Thematically perfect, Blanche is great at getting close enough to make a hit but sadly her hit is weak. This means that Blanche relies a lot on the luck of the dice.
And then Golden Girl's Betty White's Rose is a naive and dimwitted innocent. Famous for boring everyone with stories from her days in St Olaf she can pack a punch. Her ongoing ability allows to do a response attack on a rival if she is still standing after being hit. Her three personal powers revolve around friendship. She can move friends/allies with 'Story Time' and can give her friendship status card in 'Thank You for Being a Friend'.
This card allows Rose to take extra actions when her friend does. The strongest action is her 'Life isn't fair, Kiddo'. This is a challenge 4, allowing four dice to be rolled. Rose is really good at moving her team around and if she can get close enough herself, she has one hell of a right hook! She also comes with her cheesecake item (an icon of the show!) which allows whoever holds it to stand back up for free after being knocked down.
Thank You For Being A Friend
However, let's discuss the mini elephant pop figure in the room. It is impossible to talk about Funkoverse without comparing it to the Unmatched series from Restoration Games. They are both skirmish type games that use well known IPs as part of the collectability. It has to be said, the deck style game play of Unmatched is far superior to the basic action system of Funkoverse.
However, Funkoverse offers much more variety with their different game modes and as of right now, have far more sets available. Although similar, where Unmatched aims at more experienced gamers, Funkoverse is targeting a more entry level player. With simpler rules and more colourful characters it definitely feels more family orientated. If this is a property that you have a connection to then this is a great addition to the collection. There is nothing more satisfying than watching a fifty-something woman holding a cheesecake go up and punch Voldermort in the face, knocking him out in one blow.
