It is a great time to be a Star Wars fan. The Star Wars is continuing in theaters. The Star Wars standalone movies are shining light on new corners of the Star Wars universe, including Rogue One, which is dominating the box office. Plus there’s Star Wars Rebels on television, new Star Wars comics from Marvel, and Star Wars video games from EA.
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But it doesn’t have to stop there. That galaxy far, far away can be as close as your tabletop or local game store. The Star Wars licence has been used for countless games and toys over the years, but most recently it has been granted to Fantasy Flight Games, and Fantasy Flight has done a remarkable job of making games that aren’t just fun for fans of Star Wars but are genuinely fun to play for fans of tabletop gaming in general.
If you’re still high on that Star Wars feeling after seeing Rogue One and want to share it with a group of friends, here are five great tabletop games that will help you do just that.
Star Wars: Destiny
Fantasy Flight’s latest star wars release isย Star Wars: Destiny, and it has taken players by storm.
Star Wars: Destinyย offers players the opportunity to assemble a team of their favorite Star Wars characters from across the saga to take on an opponent. Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Rey, Finn, Kylo Ren, Count Dooku, Jabba the Hutt, Jango Fett – they’re all accounted for and ready to act on your behalf.
Each character is represented by a unique die and set of cards. Battle take place on locations, also represented by cards, from across the saga, from Coruscant to Mustafar, to Hoth, to Jakku.
Where to start: Pick up one of theย Star Wars: Destiny starterย sets. For those who walk the path of the light side, there’s the Rey Starter Set. For players who have fallen to the dark side, there’s the Kylo Ren starter set. Both are flying off of store shelves, so you may have to search for them, but Fantasy Flight is doing its best to keep stores stocked up and it will be well worth the effort.
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X-Wing
One of the signatures of the Star Wars movies is the epic space dogfighting between the Rebel Alliance/Resistance and the Galacticย Empire/Force Order.
Fantasy Flight’sย X-Wingย Miniatures Game brings those dogfights to life on the table. Players build squadrons of Rebel, Imperial, or Scum and Villainy pilots and try to blast each other out of space.
In X-Wing, players’ moves are planned in secret and revealed simultaneously, so there’s practically no down time and both sides are forced to think ahead if they want to stay alive.
Where to start:ย Pick up one of the twoย X-Wing: Core Set boxes. Both include two TIE Fighters and a single X-Wing, but one is based on the original trilogy models while the other features the models fromย Star Wars: The Force Awakens. If you don’t have a strong bias for the classic trilogy, we’d recommend theย Force Awakens set because the T-70 X-Wing is a significant upgrade over the original X-Wing, but you’ll probably want to pick up the original Core Set eventually for the sweet R2-D2 astromech upgrade anyway.
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Star Wars: Imperial Assault
So you prefer your warfare more grounded than X-Wing’s dogfighting?ย Fantasy Flight has you covered there as well.
Star Wars: Imperial Assault as a tactical strategy game that places 2-5 players into ground-based, squad-level warfare.
Really,ย Star Wars: Imperial Assault is two games in one. The skirmish game allows for straight up combat, but campaign games let players invest in a cinematic storyline that plays out like a Star Wars story set betweenย A New Hope andย The Empire Strikes Back.
Where to start:ย Definitely pick up theย Star Wars: Imperial Assualt core set. It comes with all the rules and reference cards you’ll need, plus a campaign guide, as well as figures, map tiles, dice, a Luke Skywalker Ally Pack and a Darth Vader Villain Pack.
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Star Wars: Edge of Empire
It isn’t always about the combat. Sometimes its just about surviving in a galaxy controlled by an evil empire.
Star Wars: Edge of Empire is a role-playing game that takes place on the fringes of the Galactic Empire. Players create a scoundrel, smuggler, bounty hunter, or some other galactic citizens looking to make their own way and stay off of the Empire’s radar. Where most of the Star War mythos is about the power struggle between light and dark,ย Edge of Empire lives in the gray area between. It’s a bit like ifย Firefly took place in the Star Wars universe, except you and your friends created the characters and are the actors.
Of course, if you’re not the scoundrel type, there’s are two other games in Fantasy Flight’sย Star Wars Roleplaying Game series.ย Age of Rebellion will put players in the thick of the fight for freedom, andย Fore and Destiny will explore life as somewhere sensitive to the force during the Empire’s reign.
Where to start:ย Theย Star Wars: Edge of Empire Beginner Game has everything up to 5 players need to begin playing. The box set includes pre-generated characters and an adventure specifically designed to teach players theย Star Wars Roleplaying Gameย system as they work their way through the narrative. After completing the Beginner Game, players will want to pick up the Star Wars:ย Edge of Empire Core Rulebook, which will show players how to create their own original characters, narratives, and adventures.
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Star Wars: The Card Game
Star Wars: The Card Game is what is known to tabletop gamers as a living card game. Living card games feature many of the same mechanics as tradition trading card games likeย Magic the Gathering, but without the randomness and collectibility of booster packs.
Instead, all of the cards forย Star Wars: The Card Game are available in box sets, beginning with the Core Set itself.ย Star Wars: The Card Game focuses on the original Star Wars trilogy, and features six factions for deckbuilding: the Imperial Navy, Sith, and Scum and Villainy for the Dark Side, and the Jedi, Rebel Alliance, and Smuggler and Spies for the Light Side.
The game really soaks in the spirit of the original trilogy with the Dark Side dial, which acts like a ticking clock counting down until the end of the Rebellion. The Dark Side players is constantly looking to advance the Dark Side dial and end the Rebel’s resistance, while the Rebels race to complete their objective before the clock runs out.
Where to start:ย Pick up theย Star Wars: The Card Gameย box set. Build some decks and try the game out with friends. From there, there a plenty of deluxe boxset expansions and Force Packs to choose from based on whatever playstyle you find most to your liking.
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