(Courtesy of Fantasy Flight Games)
Written by Ed Carter, Staff Writer
There have been many games in the ‘Star Wars’ universe, from the classic Living card game to Imperial Assault (one of the best IMO) to their most recent the Star Wars Deckbuilding Game.
Before we get into the specifics of this game, I wanted to go over some basic concepts of a Deckbuilding Game. This type of game starts with players starting with a basic set of cards that allow them to purchase cards from a set of available cards that improve their deck as the game progresses. These games also come complete with all of the cards needed to play, unlike other card games like Magic. Some of the most known Deckbuilding games are Dominion, Legendary, DC, and Star Realms.
Speaking of Star Realms, if you can play that, then this game is going to be an ease to learn. To set up, you first decide who will be the Rebellion and who will be the Empire. Each side has a set of 10 basic cards. Take out the balance of the force track and place the force marker on the rebellion side. Each side has a set of planets to choose from for their “base”. Each base has a number of hit points. The object of the game is to be the first person to destroy 3 of their opponent’s bases.
Take the remaining cards and shuffle them and draw 5 cards to make the galaxy row. These are the cards that are available to purchase or to attack. The galaxy deck is made up of cards made up of rebels, the Empire, and neutral factions. Amongst the different factions, there are characters, ships, and Capital ships. Cards have a cost paid for in supplies and/ or a combat value (how much damage they give) in addition, some cards also have a target value; the amount of damage they can take before being defeated.
Players can only purchase cards from their faction or that are neutral. Capital ships are used to mainly protect their bases. One unique mechanic is the “sabotage” or “hunt” depending on your faction, but the gameplay is the same. A player’s opponent can attack a card in the galaxy row before the player can recruit it. If they do enough damage in a single turn, that card is discarded and a new one is drawn to replace it. In addition, each card that gets removed provides a bonus to the one who defeated it.
The Capital ships when played, remain in front of a base to protect it. When a player attacks an opponent’s base with any capital ships, they must defeat those first. Any remaining damage then goes to the base. If no ships are present then a player may apply damage directly to their opponent’s base.
On a player’s turn, they draw 5 cards into their hand, using them to recruit with the number of supplies they have in total and attack with the amount of damage they inflict. Once they play all of their cards, they discard their hand, draw 5 more cards and their turn ends.
The game continues with each side taking turns attacking and purchasing cards until one side has destroyed 3 of their opponent’s bases, automatically winning. The balance of the Force track gives the player with the Force extra abilities from certain cards so there can be a constant tug of war during the game.
As a fan of deck building games, I believe this is a solid win. It is compact, only has two main currencies to track, supplies and damage, with the tug of war for the force. It’s easy to get to the table, with set up in minutes. It comes with solid plastic cubes to track damage and supplies. The cards are of good quality with the artwork that is in the entire ‘Star Wars’ line of games from Fantasy Flight.
Using different units (ships, troops, heroes) feels like a bigger game. The different units have different abilities and create combinations that are thematic as well as interesting gameplay choices. Do you take out a capital ship that gives your opponent extra damage or the hero in the galaxy row which will really swing the force to their side making their card combinations even more powerful? There are lots of strategic decisions made in the game.
In summary, I think that this is a strong game, as well as carrying the theme of ‘Star Wars.’ For fans of ‘Star Wars,’ it’s a great entry-level game with a theme that they will enjoy. For gamers, especially fans of Star Realms, this will seem very familiar but with some interesting new mechanics that, I believe, make it unique enough to enjoy as well. Definitely an 8/10 and well worth adding to your game collection.
Lynn Makes
Hi, I’m Lynn, and I Make.
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