Star Wars CCG

Last year, I posted (here) about collectible games in general- what they were and why I love them.  This year, I plan to post on the 5 such games that I've enjoyed the most.  I posted briefly in February (here) on the Star Wars: the Card Game; today's entry is the Star Wars Customizable Card Game, or Star Wars CCG.

History

In 1995, two years after the collectible card game market took off with the release of Magic: the Gathering, Decipher released the Star Wars CCG.  For 6 years Decipher held the license, and they were busy.  The produced 12 standard expansions, a host of smaller, special releases, and several "Reflections" sets, where they combined the most popular cards from several sets and re-released them in giant packs.  The standard expansions were heavily specialized and (mostly) focused on locales in the original movies (the first prequel came out in 1999, so only a few expansions incorporated the new stuff into the game).  Their titles are generally enough to describe the theme.  Below is the list of expansions, grouped by movie focus (order of release is indicated by number in parentheses immediately following):

Episode IV: Premiere (1), A New Hope (2)
Episode V: Hoth (3), Dagobah (4), Cloud City (5)
Episode VI: Jabba's Palace (6), Endor (8), Death Star II (9)
Episodes IV-VI: Special Edition (7)

Episodes I, IV-VI: Tatooine (10)
Episode I: Coruscant (11), Theed Palace (12)

As you can see from the above, the releases were (generally) sequential with the movies.  Decipher held the license until 2001, when they lost the rights to Wizards of the Coast.*

Gameplay Overview

In the Star Wars CCG, you battle for control of locations (planets and sites), which have force icons that generate resources.  Use those resources to produce units (characters, starships, weapons, etc), which assist you in battling for control of locations.  You deploy starships to planets, and characters to sites.  Below are some card examples.

The object of the game is to reduce your opponent's "force" to zero.   The force is represented by each player's deck of cards, so you're effectively trying to get them to lose cards from their deck, which you accomplish by winning battles.  Each turn, you want to posture yourself in a way that maximizes your resource production AND gives you a favorable edge in battles- a tricky balance at times.  Spread yourself too thin, and you might get more resources, but increase your risk of losing big in battles at planets or sites.  So, there's a balance there.  The game is too detailed to discuss the rules in-depth here; use the links provided below if interested in details.

Thoughts on the Game

This game is a mixed lot.

The good:
- It has some nifty mechanics (especially in how it incorporates the deck into resource generation, usage and card drawing).
- It's very "Star Wars"- every character, ship, planet (no matter how minor) of the original trilogy gets a card in this game.
- There's so much variety and possibility.  You can play scenarios (like "Endor-only") or fight throughout the broad reach of the galaxy.  Characters can deploy to sites, take off in starships to the associated planet, and fly from planet to planet fighting.  You can do whatever you want- it's great.

The neutral:
- The expansions are extremely specific and quite unbalanced in terms of card type variety.  The Dagobah expansion, for example, had only two characters for the Light Side- Luke and Yoda- and the rest of the cards were support cards.  The Death Star II set had mostly starships, as it re-created the battle at that battle station.  It's a risky marketing tactic, and was met with mixed reviews.  Sometimes I liked it; sometimes I didn't.

The bad:
- In general the rules are complex and have a steep learning curve.
- The 'card text' on each card is often extremely detailed and scenario-specific, which makes for lots of reading during gameplay, as well as reduced effectiveness unless you luckily get that perfect combination on the table. 
- It was very hard to obtain main characters in packs- you had to buy a lot, which didn't sit well with the casual gamer.
- Card backs were faction-specific (Light Side or Dark Side), meaning you couldn't have 'neutral' decks of any kind (Bounty Hunters, for example, were affiliated with the Dark Side).

Conclusion

As a die-hard Star Wars and collectible game fan, I love this game.  I got into it shortly after Decipher lost the license, so many stores were selling the cards on clearance- and I snapped up boxes of them.  I'll always look back fondly on the hours I spent playing it in college with my friend "Tim."  Every Sunday afternoon, we'd get together and play in the common area of the residence hall.  Were we dorks?  Yep.  Do I regret it?  Not one bit.

At the same time, I have to be honest and admit that this game has pretty significant downsides that would dissuade many from playing.  In fact, though I kept a small portion of my collection, I've never asked friends to play with me unless they, too, were die-hard fans.  This is a first generation CCG- one that erred on the side of complexity.  In time, game makers have learned that simplicity is better for a successful game, and so the Star Wars CCG is a product of a bygone era.  I hope my children play with me some day, and we can re-live those moments in the movies that we so enjoy, or create our own in this extremely flexible, though complex, CCG. 

Rating: B

Links 

Wikipedia page
Image of old official Decipher page
Rules & Resources: here or here
Card Databases here or here
Star Wars CCG Player's Committee
Place to buy


*Wizards of the Coast created their own Star Wars game, the Star Wars Trading Card Game.  It was okay, but never reached the level of success the Star Wars CCG enjoyed.