A few months ago, Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) announced that for the last three years they had been working on something big – Star Wars: Unlimited. A new trading collectible card game (TCG) that would appeal to all ages and eras of fandom. Having been a huge Star Wars: Destiny player, I had my doubts. This was a game that needed to be better than Destiny, that needed to be good enough to make me want to spend money for every new release and needed to be given the continued support of FFG that would ensure its longevity. It was a lot to ask.
So Asmodee invited Jedi News to a retailer event, to have a look at the new game and see if it was worth the hype that is starting to surround this game. I’ll be honest, my expectations were low. What could this game do that others aren’t? Disney Lorcana has been out for a few weeks now and has taken the card gaming hobby by storm. Star Wars: Shatterpoint has been out for a few months for gamers who like to have miniatures in their games. Star Wars: Rivals by Funko Games has been out for several months allowing gaming for younger players. Where would this game fit in?
The day started with an introduction by Alex Green, the managing director of Asmodee. You could hear his enthusiasm and the start of the phrase that was repeated again and again by different members of the team, that the game was “super fun”. The main part of the presentation was then delivered by Davide Bonati who is Global VP; Hobby, Sales & Strategy for Asmodee. This is where all the key information about the game was revealed. So let’s delve into it.
The game, while focusing primarily on the Original Trilogy, Rebels and Rogue One in this initial wave, is going to build up to encompass the whole Star Wars universe, from comics to films, from novels to games. Nothing is off limits for the team and this means there are a lot of options available for this game going forward. This didn’t come as too much as a surprise. What was next explained really got me interested, which were the modes of play. As a gamer, this was what I needed to know. So there are three main modes that the game is designed for:
1. The first is a fifty card deck plus leader and base. You’re allowed three of the same card and this is where you can build your decks and create the best deck you can.
2. The next is a draft where you have three boosters. Bonati said this was one of the core things they wanted to bring to the game.
3. The final mode they talked about was a sealed mode where you use six boosters.
This had me very, very excited. In any card game, in fact most games where you are buying boosters and constructing decks or squads, you inevitably get meta. Those decks or squads that work so well and become the go to thing to play. Unless you play super competitively, this can sometimes ruin a a game when one player is playing the meta and the other just wants a casual game. The fact that a draft game was at the core of the designing really showed me the principles that FFG and Asmodee are going for. A draft game that requires absolutely nothing but three boosters. You get some cards, you get a balanced game without overly thinking about deck building all for a fairly basic price. This was a huge selling point for me. Throw in the fact that Bonati said they are working on a multiplayer option so more than two players can play at once and I started to see how this game would start to fit into a gaming collection.
There was some discussion about organised play, which I won’t get into here, but suffice to say FFG and Asmodee are going to be supporting stores and bigger tournaments for this game. Bonati then spoke about the first set Spark of Rebellion. There’s going to be a prerelease set on 1st March 2024, a week before actual release of a two player starter and boosters. This prerelease set will retail for £29.99. The cost I actually think is very reasonable. But there’s a couple of things other than this that really made me pause. Firstly, that’s the releases for the first wave. One set of starters, a prerelease and boosters. With Disney Lorcana there were three separate starters, all that needed purchasing separately and I have to say, seeing a basic release was a pleasant surprise. The second thing, in the two player starter there are ten exclusive cards. I know what you’re thinking, here we go, you need to buy three sets to be able to run three of that really good card (remember those days in Star Wars: Destiny!). Bonati then revealed that the starter comes with three copies of each of those exclusive cards. My expectations were suddenly starting to change. Not only did I have game modes that allowed for multiple players, that took charge and dealt with the meta but it was also thinking carefully about how exclusives were going to be released. It was hard not to be impressed.
We then moved onto the special cards. Each card would have a foil version, no surprise really. They then revealed there would be a hyperspace variant where the border of the card would be different. Ultra rare would be foil, hyperspace cards. I’ll be honest, this doesn’t appeal to me but they are no different to the regular cards and so won’t affect game play, so – why worry! The release schedule as it stands, is going to be three sets a year, the first been Spark of Rebellion, followed by Shadows of the Galaxy and then Twilight of the Republic. Three releases a year I’m not sure about, too many or just the right amount? On that, only time will tell.
Finally, we had Gamegenic show us some of the accessories that have been designed for the game. From deck pods to soft shells, from sleeves to mats and premium token sets, there is something for everyone. We played our games on the two player mat and I have to say it was super helpful in keeping us organised and knowing what we were doing. I imagine these things will fly out at release.
That was our morning concluded. There were some really great things in terms of play, in terms of considering the fan base over selling multiple sets. things that as a consumer I was very happy about. The variants are always a thing with TCGs and I could ignore that. The release schedule, slightly concerned but then if the game was good, maybe I’d be very happy with new cards every few months. A lot of things said, a lot of things shown but what I really needed to know was was the game any good? Three years of development with the largest dedicated staff onboard ever for the game, had it been worth it?
Sitting down, with Luke as my leader and Vader as my opponent, I tried my first game. Let’s get the obvious out of the way, this is very similar to Disney Lorcana. There is no getting away from that. The ability to sacrifice a card from your deck to become a resource is almost identical. The playing of cards, exhausting them, discarding them, I mean you can point to most games with similar ideas going all the way back to Magic: The Gathering. So is there enough to make this different? Is there enough theme to carry the mechanics through?
The overall aim is to defeat your opponents base before they defeat yours, which each have thirty hit points. Of course, this is similar to gaining victory points but rather than gaining your robbing your opponent of them. What makes this different is there are two areas of play: space and ground. You have to balance one with the other or your opponent might start attacking your base with nothing to stop them. I liked this aspect of the game and it reminded me very much of the areas of play in Wizards of the Coast Star Wars TCG. here are different effects with the cards, with ships allowing healing of the base, characters that allow others to attack, all the things you’d expect from a game like this. Your leader also has a power that they can use once per turn. When you accumulate enough resources you can even send that leader to the battle itself to take part- encouraging you to gain resources quickly. There is a rush to finish your actions so you can claim initiative and really go to town on your opponent in the first action of the next turn. I ended up playing two games, one as Luke and the Rebels, the other as Vader and the Empire.
Before I actually played the game, I did feel sorry for the team behind it. So long in development to then have Disney Lorcana released. A game so similar that would this just get lost? How couldn’t it? After playing the game however, I can see this game can offer a lot. We played with two demo decks and the bits of synergy that were there, were very evident. You could see with a wider variety of cards how this would get better and better. Once we knew the game, we completed a game in fifteen minutes and it felt like Star Wars. Bringing the starships, pulling out Chewbacca on an opponent, destroying your opponents units, it all felt very well done. There is a fluidity to this game that I think is really missing from Disney Lorcana that felt a bit clunky to me. Not only that, but there is an aspect that we didn’t really explore but there will be factions that you can take. In Disney Lorcana you can take two types of colour (factions) and you’re done. In Unlimited you can take any faction cards, even if they don’t fit yours, but they cost more to play. It means you will never have a wasted card for your deck and this is a huge advantage. Then I come back to that phrase that the team kept saying, ‘super fun’. I can’t lie, it was super fun! Pew pew sounds abound, ‘I am your father’ shouted at me, the theme in this game seeps through and you end up just enjoying the ride. I watched two other people playing, who had never played a TCG before and they were smiling and acting like pros in minutes (thanks again to our demo guide Oliver, who did a superb job explaining everything to us!). The simplicity of the game means it is accessible to all, even those who don’t usually play.
I wasn’t expecting to like this game, I wasn’t feeling much excitement for another entry into the Star Wars gaming franchise, yet I came away feeling invigorated and wanting more. On the car journey home, we spoke the whole way about the game, about the mechanics, things that I hadn’t noticed that were super cool (the Empire has a lot of troops that have effects if they die – hang on – Vader can kill his own troops!? *chef’s kiss*), all of it positive. I think this game is going to surprise a lot of people. Although it might be released almost a year after Lorcana, you can see where the time has been spent making sure this game is perfect. The games we played, winning was one action difference and who got there first. It was that close. For me, that’s a sign of a very good, well-balanced game. March cannot come quick enough and I’m eager to see what news we’ll get about multiplayer mode and what other cards are in the set. If the multiplayer mode works, this will really help to cement this game for me, as every other Star Wars game we have had so far is primarily for two players, with the exception of Star Wars: Outer Rim (and that takes up a lot more time). A group of friends around a table fighting for freedom or order in the galaxy? Sounds like a super fun time to me!
