Disney Return of the Headless Horseman Game Review

Beware! The Headless Horseman has returned in Funko’s Disney Return of the Headless Horseman Game. Based on the ghost story from Disney’s animated The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, this cooperative game has players working together to help Ichabod get to the covered bridge.

Even though there are six pages of instructions, it only takes about 15 minutes to play the game. You’ll need two to four players ages 6 and up. Unlike in other games, all players play together on every turn. First, each player plays a card from their hand face down, and then all the cards get flipped over and placed in a row at the bottom of the board. If two or more cards have matching numbers at the top, Ichabod can move. Then you move Ichabod the matching number of spaces along the path toward the covered bridge. As Ichabod moves, he might land on a special space. If it’s a Secret Path, Ichabod finds a shortcut and moves to the end of the secret path. If it’s a tree, spin the tree and move Ichabod the number of spaces you spun. And if it’s a Scare, flip one Scare token face up. 

Now it’s time to move the Headless Horseman. Go back to the row of cards and count up any numbers showing on the bottom. That’s the number of spaces the Headless Horseman gets moved. If a card has a question mark at the bottom, the Headless Horseman must move the additional number of spaces shown on the Speed tile. If the Headless Horseman catches or passes Ichabod, he scares him. Place the Headless Horseman directly behind Ichabod and move Ichabod to the next blank space on the path. Then flip over one Scare token.

The cards you played get discarded, and you start a new turn. If all four pumpkin scare tokens are face up before Ichabod reaches the bridge, all players lose. But if you end a turn with Ichabod on the covered bridge before all four tokens are turned over, then everybody wins.

There are also two variations to play with less strategy or to make the game more challenging.

The game comes with a game board, spinning tree with base, Ichabod figure, Headless Horseman figure, 30 cards, 8 scare tokens, speed tile, and instructions.