Star Wars has garnered many, many tabletop game adaptations, from role playing games to skirmish games to heavy strategy board games to simple card games. Until recently though, there wasn’t a big Star Wars trading card game. Star Wars Unlimited has changed that, coming out not long after fellow Disney-IP based TCG Lorcana, taking influence both from that and Magic: The Gathering. Is Star Wars Unlimited worth all the hype? Is it a good game outside of the theme, and does the theme even matter? Yes, to all of the above.
Rules
As stated, Star Wars Unlimited shares a lot of DNA with Magic, but feels unique enough that it warrants having its own place in TCG players’ hearts. Like most TCGs, Star Wars Unlimited is a two player head-to-head duel to destroy the other player’s base. Each player has three icons for cards they are recommended to put into their deck. Other icons will work, but will be twice the printed cost. These icons come from the player’s selected base and selected hero, something that feels fresh about this game. Each hero has a unique ability that can be used once per round, as well as a resource threshold necessary to send them into battle. Once they are destroyed in battle they come back, still allowing you to use their special ability, but making you unable to send them out into the fray again.
Resources
Resources are similar to lands from Magic, but not nearly as restrictive. Resources are cards you select from your hand at the beginning of the game and every subsequent round to place face down in front of you, which means you will never be able to use the card for its actual purpose, but instead can use it to spawn other units. For example, say on your first turn you drew an eight cost card that you were unsure if you would ever be able to play. Instead of having it clog your hand, you can select that card to be used as a resource. This choice allows players to not have to clog their decks with cards, instead letting them choose any card they want to be used to spawn other cards. It can be a really tough decision, but I mean that in a good way.
Star Wars on the Tabletop
That is really the game in a nutshell, each player goes back and forth taking one action at a time until both players have passed. Allowing for an additional resource to be put down, and every exhausted card to be refreshed, including cards that were put down in the previous round, a la summoning sickness from Magic. As someone who has never been into TCGs, this game has my attention and threatens to drain my wallet of some funds in the hope of getting a holo Boba Fett. A proper Star Wars TCG has been due for some time, but if the potential money sink scares you off, there are many other Star Wars games I can recommend.
If looking for something similar to Unlimited, last year’s Star Wars: The Deckbuilding Game is a fantastic option, trading the TCG in for a more contained experience. For a much bigger two player Star Wars experience, Star Wars: Rebellion is one I can recommend. One player plays the Empire, the other the Rebellion, in a 2-4 hour struggle for galactic dominance. My personal favorite, Star Wars: Imperial Assault is a fantastic way to get those friends that are much more interested in RPGs or skirmish games into board games. In this all against one campaign game, one player plays the Empire and up to four others play the rebellion, going through scenarios that unfold into a true Star Wars story.
Star Wars has always had a place on the tabletop, and Unlimited is another fantastic addition.
