“To Infinity and Beyond!” Toy Story: Obstacles & Adventures Strategy and Tips – Designer Diary
Get ready for a rootin’ tootin’ good time in Toy Story: Obstacles and Adventures, a cooperative deck-building game. In this game, you get to play as one of the iconic toys from the movies as you work together to overcome Hazards and Dangers to bring about a true “happily ever after” victory for Woody, Buzz, Bo Peep, Rex and Jessie. The game unfolds through a series of six games that correspond to the four Toy Story feature films and two made-for-TV holiday specials. We sat down with Kami Mandell, the designer for this Disney adventure deck-building card game to getting the most fun out of your playtime!
What game tips would you recommend for players?
Communicate with each other! Each Toy has their own special cards and abilities and players will need to lean into the strength of each Toy to win. Each successive game in the box introduces new twists and it is imperative by Adventures 4 and 5 that players truly embrace their Toy and are a little more selective about the cards they acquire. Speaking of acquiring cards, this is a deck building game. Each Toy has a basic 10 card starting deck. Each turn, you will have the opportunity to use your Imagination to get better cards. Sometimes the best card you can acquire for your Toy is not necessarily the one that costs the most Imagination be selective and help each other by passing cards that might be better for another Toy to add to their deck instead.
How would you encourage changing up the game to help with replay ability?
One of my favorite aspects of Toy Story: Obstacles and Adventures is the replay value of the game. Within the main box are six smaller boxes numbered Adventures 1 through 6. As you win each Adventure, you get to open the next box and add more content and experience the different aspects to the game. It will take you usually take more than six games to unlock all the content, but once you do here are some things to try to make the game more interesting.
- If you played as the same Toy for each Adventure, try to play as a new Toy!
- Shuffle the special cards found in Adventure 5 and randomly give two to each Toy to choose from.
- Start with the token two spaces down the track.
- Only when you have the game mastered, shuffle some of the Adventure 4 and 5 Danger cards into the Danger deck and start over from Adventure 1. Good Luck!
And with that, you’re well on your way to overcoming challenges and collaborating with friends to relive your favorite moments from the Toy Story films on the tabletop! The Op Plays Team played through Game 2 of Toy Story: Obstacles and Adventures, follow the link to see another look at the cooperative game. Have you already played through a few games of Toy Story: Obstacles and Adventures or are getting ready for your next game night? Be sure to share your adventure along with us on social media by tagging us at @TheOpGames on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and logging your games on BoardGameGeek!
