As I mentioned in my review of Legendary: Marvel, living card games are new to me, but I really like how they play and give each player the same starting resources, thereby guaranteeing that people will win or lose based solely on how they strategically play their cards. While I still somewhat feel this way, after a few games of Star Wars, The Card Game, it has become rather obvious that the feeling of equality is reliant upon individual game rules, as the odds in Star Wars are definitely skewed in favor of the Dark Side. This isn’t to say that the Light Side will typically have a harder time of winning, just that they will need to think much more strategically than their opponent (at least with the cards available in the core set). Whatever side you pick, however, you are bound to have a blast, as this has quickly become one of my favorite games that I look forward to playing whenever I can.
I’m not going to bore you with the rules; hell, the game itself doesn’t even do that. One of the coolest things I discovered upon opening the box was a note that basically said “Don’t read the rules, go to this website and watch a video tutorial.”, so I did, and I can’t tell you how helpful it was in understanding the rules of the game and how turns are played out. Sure, I went through the rule book as well to learn all the intricacies of gameplay, but I can honestly say that if someone were just to watch the video, they would be able to sit down and play with little to no problems. In fact, you can check it out right here, if you like!
-Y
The basic gist of the game is that Dark Side players take control of the Sith, Imperial Navy, or Scum and Villainy, and pit their deck against the Light Side, made up of Jedi, Rebel Alliance or Smugglers and Spies, and then put all their resources towards destroying opponent objectives and skewing the balance of the Force in their favor. To win, The Light Side must destroy 3 Dark Side objectives, while the Dark Side is trying to advance the Death Star counter to 12 in order to crush their opponents into the ground; it is mainly due to the Death Star counter that makes Star Wars such an easy game to play as it acts as a built in timer that guarantees the game won’t last more than 40-60 minutes (except for your first time through, learning the rules).
Deck customization is much more robust here, as players can mix and match any cards they want into their deck, so long as they include the matching objective. This allowed me to build a killer Sith deck with a few big Star Destroyers thrown in for good measure, while my opponent went more tactical with the Rebel Alliance and just Obi-Wan as a backup Jedi. Whatever way you choose to play will almost always mirror the tension and drama found in the movies. My first time through, the Dark Side player was absolutely dominating, advancing the Death Star faster and faster, and slaughtering all my characters. I finally got a lucky draw that allowed me to resurrect some fallen Jedi and through careful use of resources and a few intense battles, I snatched victory out of the Dark Side’s grasp with only 1 turn left before I would have lost. It was incredibly satisfying and completely exhilarating to say the least, and gave me a rush of emotions I don’t normally get from a board/card game.
While it is quite obvious that the Core Set is mainly meant to teach beginners and will be enhanced by future releases, I was a bit disappointed to see that it nearly completely ignores the “Scum and Villainy” and “Smugglers and Scoundrels” sets of cards. I realize they couldn’t include everything, but since it advertises that you can choose between 6 different factions, I expected to be able to do so right out of the box.
Minor quibbles aside, I’m having a blast with this game and can’t recommend it enough. While it’s not as tightly integrated as some other LCGs, it does more to suck you into the universe it represents than nearly any game out there. With the first two expansions already in the works (“The Desolation of Hoth” and “The Search for Skywalker”) it appears that Fantasy Flight Games is planning on supporting this for awhile, so you can buy with confidence that it’s not going to be forgotten anytime soon. Plus, you can pick it up on Amazon for only $30, so it’s not that huge of an investment, and I can almost guarantee that if you’re a Star Wars fan, you’re gonna love this!