Star Wars: The Card Game

As previously posted (here), card games are near and dear to my heart- especially "collectible" or "living" card games.  Star wars, of course, is also high on my list, so combining the two is a rare treat indeed.  Here, I look at the recently-released Star Wars: The Card Game, by Fantasy Flight games (official website here).

Game Overview

In Star Wars: The Card Game, you take on the role of either the light side (hereafter, LS) or dark side (DS) in the struggle for control of the Star Wars galaxy.  Essentially, you win by destroying your opponent’s objectives (actually, the victory conditions are asymmetric; the LS wins by destroying three DS objectives; the DS wins when the Death Star dials reaches 12.  However, whenever the DS destroys a LS objective, the dial advances, so destroying objectives is really the point).

Generally, you use “units” (characters, droids, starships, and vehicles) to destroy your opponent’s objectives (and protect your own).  Each unit has icons on it that enable it to do one (or more) of three things:

- Damage your opponent’s objectives
- Damage your opponent’s units
- “Exhaust” your opponent’s units (render them unusable for one or more turns)

Each turn, you field units, and attack your opponent’s objectives (and their units, if they choose to defend an objective with them).  Then, your opponent does the same.  You take turns until one side is victorious.  There’s more to it than that- other types of cards enhance play and “edge battles” add an element to the game, for example- but it’s the gist of things.

Factions and Deck Construction

Each game must be LS vs. DS, but within each side, there are 3 factions.  The LS has the Rebel Alliance, the Jedi, and Smugglers & Spies.  The DS has the Imperial Navy, the Sith, and Scum & Villainy.  On a given side, you can construct a deck with several factions, but generally sticking to one faction increases your deck’s synergy and effectiveness. 

Deck construction is unique.  In most card games featuring custom decks, you pick each card individually when you’re building the deck.  Here, instead, you pick objective sets- a set of 6 cards, featuring 1 objective card, and a mix of 5 other cards (units or enhancements).  So, when it comes to deck building, you choose 10 objective sets, for a total of 60 cards, and you’re done. 

Initial Thoughts

I’ve played only a few times, so I can’t say I have a 100% accurate feel for the game, but my initial impressions have been largely positive:

- The objective element is good; each objective provides resources, so each player starts off with the ability to play (potentially) powerful cards.  Most objectives also provide a condition that alters game play, which makes for a good, interactive experience.

- I enjoyed the overall combat experience, and I really like the three different icons units can have on them.  Each icon has its advantages, and makes the combat interesting.  It’s not just a “strength vs. strength” contest, like many card games.  One of the icons- the one that “exhausts” other units- can (potentially) exhaust a unit for multiple turns, which is a really interesting feature.

- Deck construction is much easier than a normal game, and it’s nice to be able to build decks so swiftly.  Also, the factions add a nice amount of variety without overly complicating things.

Not everything about the game is peachy.  Here are some things that bother me:

- The combat makes no distinction between characters and vehicles; in other words, you can have Han Solo fight a Star Destroyer.  That gives the game, at times, odd or ridiculous match-ups.

- The game fails to capture the epic nature of Star Wars- you can’t really build up fleets (or armies).  You could deploy Darth Vader in turn 1 and lose him in turn 2.  Units are quick to be deployed and destroyed.  It makes game play exciting, but it fails to get an epic feel to it as a result.

- Deck construction, while nice, also prohibits a customized distribution of card types.  If, for example, I like putting lots of starships in my deck, I won’t be able to, because (to date) no objective set is starship-heavy; only one or two ships may exist in a set.  This may be “fixed” in future releases.

- The game has a bit of a learning curve.  There are several kinds of tokens, and some game concepts take a while to grasp.  It’s not bad, after a time or two, but it can turn away potential players.

Conclusion

Concerns aside, the game is worthwhile, and I anticipate increased enjoyment when new installments are released in the coming months.

Rating: A-