Please Don't Let Me Buy Into Another Star Wars Card Game
Some time ago, I went to boardgamegeek.com to find something I could suggest for a proposed game night with my wife’s friends. I was pleasantly surprised to see something called “X-Wing Miniatures Game” among the highest-rated systems of all time. Fast-forward seven years and I am meticulously painting tiny models of Clone Wars characters in my basement.
Tabletop gaming has proved a good hobby for me. But I remain over-invested in Star Wars–themed products. I’m not that obsessed with Star Wars, he typed, laughably, in his Star Wars newsletter. I’ve thought about getting into a game with a different theme, like Warhammer or Lord of the Rings. Who am I kidding?
Recently, I’ve vowed I won’t get into Fantasy Flight Games’ upcoming release: Star Wars Unlimited. So I repeat: Who am I kidding? I played FFG’s previous card game, Star Wars Destiny, which involved rolling big colorful dice, in addition to the usual deck-building fun.
What made Destiny unique, however, seemingly killed it, as the dice proved hard to manufacture. So Unlimited steps into the void as a very similar game, but with a sleeker aesthetic and no pesky plastic.
Collectible card games are a bad financial decision. You have to buy packs not knowing what you’re getting inside. And then they make the best cards rarer in said packs. Fool me once, etc.
Then I look through my old Destiny cards. I hold my Sebulba/Snoke deck in my hand and I feel its raw power. Help…I’m too weak.
Many have pointed out that the lead Great Mother in Ahsoka (or at least the one always standing in front) is played by sci-fi legend Claudia Black. But another Great Mother actor, Jane Edwina Seymour, has pulled off a probably unprecedented feat in the genre, portraying a live-action Star Wars and Star Trek villain in the same year. (Spoilers for Star Trek: Picard: She plays a Borg Queen.)
Most of the actors who have previously appeared in both franchises fall into one of two categories: voice actors or personal friends of J.J. Abrams. With Star Wars becoming a TV franchise, though, there’s potential for more great sci-fi TV veterans who aren’t quite movie stars, like Black and Seymour, to appear. For instance, Clancy Brown has now appeared in Star Trek, Rebels as cartoon Ryder Azadi, Ahsoka as live-action Ryder Azadi, The Clone Wars as a cartoon version of the Devil, and The Mandalorian as a live-action version of a different Devil. The man is not content to live off those Mr. Krabs residuals!
People are once again sharing their rankings of the Star Wars films. It’s like a virus that spreads every year when the weather gets colder. Increasingly, I only find sincere contrarian orderings interesting. Such as:
Attack of the Clones first
Solo first
A New Hope last
The original trilogy consecutively, but somewhere in the middle
Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure ahead of Rogue One
Rise of Skywalker first
Leaving a Skywalker Saga movie off
Putting The Phantom Menace behind-the-scenes documentary first
Putting The Attack of the Clones behind-the-scenes Yoda CGI documentary first
Dune (1984) first
Photo by @funkymaclunkey; figure by TheWarStars
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