Disney: The Haunted Mansion – Call of the Spirits board game review

Disney Haunted Mansion board game — Let’s dance with the ghosts in The Haunted Mansion!

When was the last time your family spent some time in The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland or Disney World?

It’s a classic ride that Disney fans flock to the world over.

And now you can live it up on your own kitchen table!

Last year, while all the Disney parks were shut down, Funko Games published Disney: The Haunted Mansion – Call of the Spirits Game.

Players explore all the classic rooms of the ghost-infested manor, from the festivities-filled Ballroom to the Attic and out to the Graveyard and beyond in search of ghosts.

Are you ready for those grim grinning ghosts to socialize?

How to play Disney: The Haunted Mansion – Call of the Spirits Game

The main goal of The Haunted Mansion game is to score the most points by collecting sets of ghost cards from around the mansion. But they’ll also have to watch out for Haunt cards because the most haunted player will lose points.

The centerpiece of the game board is the Endless Hallway — which rotates in the center of the board. Each player places their mover in the Séance Room (very center) and the Hitchhiking Ghosts mover is placed in the Crypt to begin.

The Ghost cards, Haunt cards, and Event cards are also shuffled in their individual decks and placed face down.

The game is played over a series of rounds that consist of 2 phases: Event phase & Action phase.

Event Phase

At the start of each round, the top Event card is placed face up next to the deck. The Hitchhiking Ghosts are then moved the direction and number of rooms indicated on the card. Each player that is in a room the Hitchhiking Ghosts pass through draws 1 Haunt card. And each player that is in the room the Hitchhiking Ghosts end in draws 2 Haunt cards.

In addition, each Event card lists a condition that applies for the duration of that round.

Next, Ghost cards are drawn and placed face up in the various rooms. The number drawn is equal to the number of players plus 3. The first 2 cards are placed in the same room as the Hitchhiking Ghosts. Then, moving clockwise, one card is placed in each room until all have been placed.

Then it’s time for action!

Action Phase

Beginning with the First Player for the round, each player will take one turn and then the round ends. On their turn, a player may take 3 of the following actions in any order (and may take the same action multiple times).

Move

The game board is divided into 6 different rooms. However, player’s movers remain on the center dial on the board — either in the very center Séance Room or on a Hallway space aligned with a specific room. For an action, a player may move their mover to an adjacent room (by placing it on the aligned section for that room) or between the Hallway and Séance Room.

Rotate the Endless Hallway

For one action, a player may rotate the Endless Hallway as far as they’d like.

Collect a Ghost Card

A player may take 1 Ghost card from the room they’re in. Player may take more than 1 Ghost card from a room, but each card taken requires 1 action. If the card has an Effect, the effect is performed immediately. The player places the collected card face up in front of them.

If a player collects a card from a room with the Hitchhiking Ghosts, they also must draw a Haunt card.

Duel

If a player is in the same room as another player, they may declare a Duel to attempt to steal one of their cards.

The player announces who they are dueling and which of their Ghost cards they are trying to steal. Then each dueling player takes one of the Duel Dials. They each secretly chose a number on the dial — 0, 1, 2, or 3. This represents how many Haunt cards they are willing to draw to get the Ghost card they’re dueling over.

When both are ready, they simultaneously reveal their bids. Whoever bid the higher number, gets the Ghost card. If there is a tie, the Ghost card remains with the defender.

Regardless of the outcome, both players draw the amount of Haunt cards they bid.

Players can only take the Duel action once on their turn.

Discard a Haunt Card

If a player is in the Séance Room, they may use an action to discard one of their Haunt cards to the bottom of the Haunt deck. Like a Duel, a player may only take this action once per turn.

After each player has taken a turn, the round ends. The First Player marker is passed to the left and a new round begins.

During the Event phase, if the Event card revealed is the “Final Round” card, this will be the final round of the game. In the final round, 3 additional Ghost cards are placed on the board.

Once the final round is over, players add up their points.

First, players add up the value of all their Haunt cards. The player with the highest value must discard all of their Ghost cards of the type that they have the most of.

Then players add up all the points from their Ghost cards and the player with the most points wins!

Scoring Ghost Cards

There are 8 different types of Ghost cards plus 5 Special Ghosts.

Ballroom Ghosts each score 4 points (but players must draw a Haunt card each time they collect a Ballroom Ghost).
Groom Ghosts are each worth 1 point. When collected, the player also collect the top card from the Ghost deck.
Dancing Ghosts are individually worth 0 points. But a pair of dancing ghosts is worth 7 points.
Tea Party Ghosts each score 2 points. When collected, the player must move the Hitchhiking Ghosts the number of rooms indicated (the player chooses the direction).
Grim Grinning Ghosts each score 2 points. When collected, the player discards a Haunt card of their choice.
Musician Ghosts are worth the squared value of the number of musician ghosts collected. For example, 3 musician ghosts grant 9 total points and 4 musician ghosts grant 16 total points.
Painting and Artifacts grant points based on how many are collected. One scores 3 points. A pair scores 0 points. And a set of 3 scores 12 points. If a player has more than 3, extras are scored as a separate set.
Stretching Portraits come in 4 different types (denoted by icons). A set of 3 identical stretching portraits score 15 points. A set of 4 unique stretching portraits score 18 points. Each stretching portrait may only be included in one set. And any that don’t fit in a set are worth 0 points.
The 5 Special Ghosts score in unique ways as described on their cards.

Can the whole family enjoy The Haunted Mansion?

Disney: The Haunted Mansion – Call of the Spirits Game is a fun game most members of the family can enjoy playing together. I say “most” because understanding the different ways the types of ghosts score may be difficult for young kids. The recommended age for the game is 9+ and that feels pretty accurate to us.

As we like to see in board games focused on family play, The Haunted Mansion has a good mix of luck and strategy. Players are faced with choices that make a difference in the outcome, yet they’re also impacted by the luck of the card draws. And of course, all players are impacted by the choices others make.

And we find the level of player interaction in the game a perfect fit.

Since everyone’s collected ghost cards remain face up in front of them throughout the game, it’s easy to see how other players are trying to score points. And players can make choices based on trying to keep certain cards out of reach of their opponents (like by shifting the Endless Hallway to move them away from certain rooms).

The only cards players keep secret are their Haunt cards. They range in value from 1 to 3 and players want to steer clear of having the highest total value at the end of the game because they’ll have to give up their most-collected type of cards and not score them.

The most direct player interaction are the Duels — where players attempt to steal cards from each other. It’s a very interesting dynamic because ghost cards will have differing values based on what the players have collected so far. For example, one card may be simply okay for one player, but very valuable for another player because they could score a set.

But knowing that the player trying to steal may score big points if they get the card, the defender may choose to secretly bid high on the Duel Dial just to keep it from that player.

However, the draw back is that, regardless of the outcome, both players in a Duel have to draw the number of Haunt cards equal to their bid. So you may get the card you want, but it may bite you in the end if you get high value Haunts that make you lose those fought-over ghost cards in the end.

The secret bidding can be a very engaging part of the game. But we also know others that don’t care to Duel at all. The great news is that it’s up to you and your group dynamics on how it plays out.

We’ve also found that, because of the luck of the card draws, players aren’t able to plan too far ahead in the game. Every round the Hitchhiking Ghosts will move around, a new Event card may change a condition, and new Ghost cards will be randomly set out in the rooms. So you’ll have to adjust each round on what you’re going to do based on the options in the moment.

You can set your sights on collecting certain sets of cards, but should be prepared to be flexible and opportunistic as well.

Perhaps our favorite element of the game that also feels so thematic is the rotating Endless Hallway in the center of the game board. It’s a separate board piece that sits in the middle of the board so it can spin freely. And it totally captures the feel of the Disney ride.

Plus the artwork on the cards also match perfectly with the theme park ride.

How does The Haunted Mansion score on our “Let’s Play Again” game meter?

Disney: The Haunted Mansion – Call of the Spirits Game scores well on our “let’s play again” game meter because it’s a fun family board game that’s well-produced, gives players interesting choices, and captures the theme of the ride very well.