Shiny Toys (1991)

A new family has moved in next door, and Jenny Park is excited to meet her new neighbor. But Vera’s family is very secretive, and Vera herself even stranger. In the quest to make a new friend, Jenny gains more than she bargained for, when she discovers that Vera’s sinister toys have a life of their own!

Design

Weird uncanny child. Haunted dolls. Evil possessed action figures. Horror is filled with the imagery of child-like things being corrupted and scary somehow. Shiny Toys is our take on this trope, bringing all of these aspects together. Not only is the Child some creepy kid, all her toys are seemingly haunted or alive!

This monster was made for many reasons, but one of the main ones was the cute idea of referencing old base game monsters in some way through alt-universe merchandise. What would a Charles-In-The-Box look like? What about a Remover Action Figure? Well, now we do thanks to Shiny Toys! To really make it feel like you’re playing a Child who is giving away her haunted toys, each of the toys effectively “latches onto” another player, waiting for the Child to approach and “play” with them, resulting in some scary effects!

Be careful what toys you borrow from the Child. You may not live to regret it!

Ideation

The real question was how hard we wanted to commit to the bit of depicting the monster merch in the poster. Would they appear within the fiction of the movie itself? We ultimately decided not to do so. Instead, we focused on showing your typical children’s toys such as stuffed animals. We wanted the child to be creepy but not too overtly dangerous. The dichotomy of seeing such a cute Child hold a Knife was really evocative.

In the end, the poster we chose is one of my favorites in the set, showing a subtle danger in the toy’s eyes that gives it plausible deniability. Is it actually haunted or am I just imagining things?

Strategy

Shiny Toys is all about the toys! Each toy has a powerful effect that is on-par (if not stronger) than an average Spooktacular card, giving the Child ultimate flexibility and power. The only thing she needs to do is actually CATCH them. Since the toys are given away to the other players at the start of the game, the Child must first catch-up to the monster in order to use the toy they are holding. This makes for a play style that is strong but requires flexibility on the player’s part. They can’t guarantee that any given player (and thus, toy) will be available to them by next turn. So, they’ll have to make do with the nearby “friends” who are willing to play. Of course, if no one wants to play, you could always just play with the toy you’re already holding, but you can really only do that once.

In line with this, Tea Party is without a doubt the monster’s most important card. Serving as the only way to redistribute toys, this card is crucial to any successful game as Shiny Toys. Where, when, and why you use this card will often make or break your game, so make sure to use it wisely!

Play If You Like:

• Strong effects that you get for free
• Adaptable gameplans that require you to evaluate the board
• Long-term decision making that rewards careful thought

Avoid If You Dislike:

• Having to chase other players around
• Handing partial control of your power to other players
• Discovering combo plays from disparate tools

See it LIVE!

Watch us PLAY here!

COMING SOON!

We'll be showing off Gorgasnax 2: The Hunt for Gorgasnax on this week's play!

Alternate Poster

The Filipino poster for Shiny Toys comes from the great nani. There’s a little bit of a modern spin to this version, with the toys having become collectibles. It’s very relatable for where I’m from. By the way, "Kalaro" roughly translates to "playmate".

Are you gonna play a game? Tell me in the comments below!