Star Wars Unlimited

A buddy of mine owns a game store in Minneapolis and got a couple of 2-player starters to try out before he hosts a pre-release event. Last night he brought them over and we got several games (and beers) in.

I was very on the fence about whether or not I gave much of a shit about this game. I love 70's era Star Wars but really don't care all that much for anything else. Also, it's a blind-buy CCG...

Gotta admit, it's pretty fun! It doesn't do anything really groundbreaking but it's very sleek and cleans up a lot of the pain points in most CCG's. You start with 2 resources (mana) and are guaranteed to gain another each round. On your turn you can only take one action which keeps the game moving and the engagement level high. Since you can't build up to a monster turn where you rip off a huge unstoppable combo, you really have to stay on your feet. Combos needing multiple turns to develop means your plans can and will constantly change as the board state evolves so quickly.

The theater of war is pretty abstract compared to the old Decipher CCG. Instead of battling it out on specific planets and locations, you fight over generic "ground" and "space" sectors while you try and destroy the other player's secret base. These bases are all pretty much the same except for their color which helps determine what cards you can use to deck build. So Luke operating out of Yavin might play very differently than Luke operating out of Cloud City.

Speaking of Luke, the leader mechanic is also very cool. You need to decide when to bring them out from the rear where they are nice and safe but have only a minor effect on the game and onto the front lines where they are vulnerable to attrition but become devastating pieces that NEED to be dealt with.

The biggest plus for this game so far is that the 2-player start is SUPURB. It's a very complete and balanced game right out of the box with no deck building and almost all the major characters most of us would want to play with. It also comes with 2 playmats and all the tokens you need.

It's not perfect. The theme feels a little weak as nothing in the mechanics really screams Star Wars to me. Also, the artwork is pretty hit and miss. I don't mind the comic book look they are aiming for but it's very inconsistent.

As fun as it is, I doubt I'll really dive into this as I have zero desire to get caught up in a collectible game. It's a shame, too. If the release model was more like a LCG, I'd be a lot more tempted. I'll probably stick to the old Decipher game but it's great that there's a good Star Wars card game for newer players!

I'm going to pick up a 2-player starter to play with my 6-year-old. Depending on if he eats his dinners without fuss or not throughout the week I'll also grab the odd booster pack on weekends.

It looks like a quick fun game for us to play.