After acquiring a Star Wars: Rivals game from the Funko booth at Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023, Kat and Mark rushed back to Jedi News House to break open the box and play this exciting new table top game.
Mark: Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023. As with any Celebration, there were a lot of exclusives, from pins to books, and just about everything else you could imagine in between. As a seasoned gamer there were a few gaming releases I was looking forward to sampling, including heavy games with lots of mechanics and strategic thinking. Ones that I was sure would have me buzzing for their eventual release.
Days before the event, Funko Games announced that they would be demoing and selling a limited number of their new game – Star Wars Rivals. A lightweight, family friendly game featuring their distinctive style of characters. Gamers have had a lot of light-weight games inspired by a galaxy far, far away recently and I have to say, they haven’t impressed me. They were all based around mechanics and not really made to embrace the theme of Star Wars. When I saw the announcement of Rivals, I admit, I thought this was just another one of those games to add to the list. How wrong I was.
At Celebration, my co-pilot Kat and I were able to partake in a demo of Rivals. Before we even started playing, there was a look of awe on both our faces. The appearance of this game is simply incredible and I’m not even sure where to begin! That’s because, without even playing a single round, you can see so much love for this franchise. Many of the cards are in the shape of Star Wars Sabacc cards (don’t think I’ll be sleeving these!) and the die is in the shape of a kyber crystal! Just this alone, shows the thought, care, and the attention to detail that Funko Games has put into this new game. But then when you look at the cards, well, Kat, how did you find the artwork on these cards?
Kat: Funko has a unique style that is so very appealing, and Rivals maintains that cartoon-like appeal, but in a slightly different way to the iconic Funko POPs! For anyone who has read the Star Wars graphic novels published by IDW, then the art by Arnel Baluyot is quite reminiscent of that. It’s fun while still incredibly detailed, and every location and character are instantly recognisable.
Each playable character gets a unique character card, and these illustrations are so dynamic. Han’s holding his blaster, Dooku’s aloofness just oozes out, and Palpatine looks evil even in this cuter style. Every pose is different and really captures a part of that character’s personality. The locations are just as amazing! They are so detailed and span across the entire galaxy, including basically every film and television series, so there is something for every Star Wars fan. I think that’s something that Rivals achieves remarkably well. Its scope, even in this first series, is truly remarkable.
Mark: It certainly is, particularly when you look at what this game is trying to do. It is a family gateway game for fans. Being intended for families means you can never be sure what part of the Star Wars galaxy is going to be most enjoyed, so to have that range is great to get anyone and everyone involved. With these characters, you build your own team of any three characters. They can be themed by era, or you can mix and match depending on your preference.
For our demo, I had Luke Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano and Commander Cody, whereas Kat had Boba Fett, Asajj Ventress and Darth Vader. Which brings us to another point, you are fighting Light Side versus Dark Side and construct your teams as such. Now boosters are going to be sold in order for you to expand your character choices. Some companies would have these completely blind-bagged, yet Funko go one step further and give you a choice between Light and Dark boxes. It might seem small, but I think it shows a care by Funko Games to make sure you don’t spend too much money on models that you might never use. Again, you can tell this is a company who have put love into this game and want fans to get the most they can without having miniatures they can’t use. The ability to create teams already adds some variation, no game will be the same (and this is just the first of many variables) and there is plenty of scope for expansion.
Kat: And that brings us nicely onto the mechanics of Rivals. After choosing your characters, who all have varying degrees of Influence, a player gets the High Ground and chooses one action card from their hand (which is 3 cards). After that their opponent does the same, placing the card face-down. From there the first player places a character at one of three possible locations, and this is repeated until all characters are in play.
Here is where the most variability comes in. Although you can choose to play a character at each location there is no guarantee that a battle will occur at any one particular place. Enter the kyber crystal dice. This is rolled by the first player (the one with the High Ground) and informs which locations will see battles occur. It could be all three, two and three, or even one and three. So, placing characters is always a gamble, one Han Solo would certainly approve. Whichever player has the most Influence at a location wins that card, though this can easily be affected by whatever action cards are in play. Rounds continue until all locations – up to 12 – have been won, and the player with the most points win.
While the gameplay is relatively simple, that is the best part of Rivals. Mark and I picked this game up in about 5 minutes (big thanks to the Funko representative who explained it so well) and even younger fans will be able to learn Rivals easily. It’s the randomness of the kyber dice and the possible action cards in play that add to the strategy of this game, not to mention how a player decides to build their character team.
Mark: As well, within the game, your character takes damage, making them less effective. The more times you send them into that battle, the more other characters are going to outshine them. That is unless you send them to the Bacta Tank, which allows a character to heal, but then they miss a round of action. Also, the cards themselves, three per character, are named after quotes from the movies, just adding to the feeling of Star Wars immersion, let alone the High Ground token. As Kat says, it’s simple game play but that is the beauty of it. It’s the love of Star Wars that shines through.
One of the best Star Wars games I’ve ever played is Rebellion by Fantasy Flight Games. It has deep mechanics, strategic thinking and a run time that goes into the hours. Now while great, when you have a family, having that amount of free time on a regular basis isn’t feasible, let alone a game that you would be able to teach to a non-seasoned gamer. It’s not practical to play regularly.
Rivals on the other hand has that same love of Star Wars coming through, with rules that might seem simple on the surface, but that have a lot of depth for even seasoned gamers. Characters don’t need to go to empty locations – you can place two on one to ensure you win it. But your opponent may have a card that allows one of their characters to move. In addition, the cards you use go to your discard and reshuffle when you run out. Simple. Except for cards that have victory points at the bottom. You’re left with a decision to play them straight away to get the victory points (in which case they go on the victory pile) or do you wait so they can recycle and use their top ability again. There are so many intricacies to this game that I was taken aback while playing the demo. On the surface, there shouldn’t be that many deep-thinking decisions to make, but they’re there. I stood for minutes at a time wondering what my best move was, was it right to put a character on a certain location, and what card was Kat going to spring on me. For a game that will take 20-30 minutes, that’s a great bit of strategy in place to get you really thinking about how you are going to gamble your characters.
Kat: Another huge benefit of Rivals gameplay is that you don’t necessarily need the base game. While that offers the kyber crystal dice, exclusive characters and their respective cards, Rivals can also be played just using a Light and Dark booster pack, so this is perfect for travel or a quicker game. These boosters will also definitely add to the strategy. As each character has unique abilities and Influence then curating the perfect team through the booster packs will be something that fans will enjoy. Is it better to have maximum Influence on 3 characters? Or maybe to keep Boba Fett handy because his jetpack allows him to move? There are so many possibilities that no two games of Rivals will ever be the same.
We should probably talk about the character figures at this point. They are about two inches tall and beautifully sculpted, featuring screen-accurate details that are finished with fantastic painting. Again, these encapsulate the Funko style in a unique way and I had to resist just playing with the figures during the demo! It’s just so fun moving them around and adds a great tactile quality to Rivals. Anything to add for the figures Mark?
Mark: The style is a great choice, like you say, the detail is something older fans will enjoy but the style itself will especially appeal to younger fans. I like that they are not just on a plain base but scenic (it’s reminiscent of a Star Destroyer hallway), just to help the immersion into a galaxy far, far away. If that wasn’t enough, there are also holographic versions of eight of the characters. These holographic figures aren’t just a reskin of their normal counterparts but come with a different deck of cards as well. It means that even within this single series, there is a huge number of combinations, cards, and locations, adding to an already impressive variable pool of player options.
What hopefully is becoming evident, is that this is a game that was a huge surprise to us that really outshone anything else at Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023. The love and care that has gone into this game can be seen throughout, from its game play to decisions on design, to the audience. This is a game that will allow fans of all ages to play together to have a fun Star Wars experience, something that has been lacking in this area for a while. Yes, it’s a gateway game for those budding gamers, but it adds hidden depth to keep experienced players happy and content.
Kat: Getting to play Rivals at the Funko booth was one of the best experiences we had at Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023, and we could not stop talking about it as we explored the show floors. Getting the chance to speak to some of the amazing people behind Rivals only added to our understanding and appreciation for this game, and just how much time Funko Games have put into making Rivals such an immersive Star Wars tabletop experience.
Mark: So, how can you get the game? We spoke to Stephan Brissaud, Senior Director of Funko Games, who explained that the game had been selling out each day at Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023 (no surprise there) as there was a limited release for the show. In the UK, it will be released on June 18th, exclusively at Game for £18 and each booster will be £5. In the USA, they get it slightly sooner on May 4th, exclusively at Walmart for $19.99 and each booster will be $4.99.
We did ask Brissaud if he was surprised at the popularity shown for the game, to which he told us, “It’s a beautiful mechanic, the miniatures are gorgeous, and we have access to the entire Star Wars universe. So, you can play with all your favorite characters. It’s light but there is some strategy to it, randomness and fans love it. We’re looking forward to making more.”
I don’t think there can be any doubt there will be more series Kat, so just to end, who would you like to see made next?
Kat: Kylo Ren! I’m actually really surprised that he wasn’t included in this first series alongside Rey. What about you?
Mark: Bo Katan and Tusken Raiders I think. Maybe a cheeky Jawa who could manipulate opponents’ cards… I guess we’ll have to wait and see!
