Ravensburger Star Wars Villainous: Power of The Dark Side - Strategy Board Game for Ages 10 & Up, 2-4 players

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In April 2020, she started writing for Android Authority, covering listicles, helpful how-to's for Android devices, and content on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. Two major additions that sets Star Wars Villainous apart from its predecessors are the introduction of Ambition and Vehicles. The former acts as a second currency alongside Credit Tokens and is collected in a variety of ways including one token at the beginning of every turn. Some cards require Credits to play, while others require Ambition. The currency can also be used to activate card abilities and in some cases win the game –once other criteria are met. Meet Your Destiny, Become an iconic Star Wars Villain! Use your sinister influence and unique abilities to manipulate events in your favour. Are you powerful and clever enough to fulfill your dark destiny before your opponents? Whether you're wielding the Force, commanding an army, or using stealth to infiltrate your enemies' hideouts, each Villain uses unique abilites and strategies to win. Explore your sector to earn credits, recruit allies, deploy ships, and set obstacles in the way of your opponents. Achieve your objective before the other Villains to defeat them! At the start of your turn, before moving your Villain Mover, you must gain one Ambition token from the general Supply (referred to as The Chamber.) The first expansion for the popular Star Wars Villainousboard game has arrived, featuring Boba Fett and more in the new Scum & Villainy. Featuring three new playable characters and new mechanics to learn , Scum and Villainy allows players eager for a new challenge to enter the seedier side of the galaxy where friends and foes can change at the drop of Cad Bane's signature big hat. Starring Boba Fett, Cad Bane, and the Empire's Seventh Sister, the central theme of Scum & Villainy is all about hunting down targets before moving on to the next big score.

An early version of Darth Vader’s sideboard reveals his various locations, as well as a new Deep Space location for vehicles. Image: Ravensburger and Lucasfilm Ltd.

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If you enjoy the Star Wars licence there are lots of other games to consider but they’re all very different from Villainous and most are as much, if not more, complicated. Perhaps the most accessible is Star Wars: X-Wing, where you fly ready-painted models of iconic ships in deep space dogfights. It looks great and plays great but be aware that it’s the thin end of a wedge, with eye-popping numbers of additional ships available if you want them. Asajj Ventress must complete three Mission cards to win. As Asajj completes each step in a Mission, she adds an Ambition token to the Mission card. After all steps are finished, Asajj collects the Ambition and moves on to the next Mission to repeat the process. Several other elite Jedi hunters became known to Ezra Bridger and his band of rebels -- including the Seventh Sister. Armed with a cadre of ID9 seeker droids, the Spectres first ran afoul of the Mirialan Inquisitor as she stalked Bridger and Sabine Wren aboard an abandoned medical station. With a plan and the bold cunning to carry it out, the Seventh Sister proved a dogged enemy to both the rebels and former Padawan Ahsoka Tano as the latter fought to prevent Inquisitors from seizing Force-sensitive children throughout the galaxy. Deadly with a lightsaber, determined, and manipulative, the Seventh Sister remains a constant, menacing threat to Bridger’s friends.

A lot of this comes down to how unique each villain feels. Like so many of the Disney Villainous expansions, the characters here provide an experience we've not seen from the game before. Clone Wars staple Asajj Ventress has to complete mission cards inspired by the show, for instance, and these usually involve hunting down specific heroes for a reward. First unveiled in 2018, Disney Villainous: The Worst Takes All flipped the script in the world of tabletop gaming by allowing players to take on the roles of infamous evildoers from classic Disney animated films. That initial title was developed by Prospero Hall ( now part of Funko Games) and included Maleficent ( Sleeping Beauty), Ursula ( The Little Mermaid), Jafar ( Aladdin), Prince John ( Robin Hood), Queen of Hearts ( Alice in Wonderland), and Captain Hook ( Peter Pan). There was something for every kind of classic Disney animation fan — including compelling, card-based gameplay and a hefty dose of screw-your-neighbor-style competition. The Villainous series is now developed in-house and published internationally by Ravensburger. It’s a scary galaxy out there. Keep a sharp eye around corners and stay away from Dathomir this month, okay? Taken as a whole, this makes Star Wars Villainous one of the best additions to the franchise in years Star Wars Villainous: Power of the Dark Side is great new addition to the Villainous family of games from Ravensburger, and while it might take some getting used to for new and old players alike, the inclusion of some complex but rewarding new mechanics elevate the experience. + Great selection of Villains with unique goalsThe figures for the game are again very well made with lots of care and detail going into each of the characters designs. However, Ravensburger have given a unique twist to these figures by adding a slight swirl to the moulds to give them a battle-worn look. For some of these figures, such General Grievous and Kylo Ren, it works very well and really adds a lot of depth to their designs. For others, such as Darth Vader, it is less effective and, in my opinion, takes away from the overall menacing look these characters should give. It’s worth noting that these designs are completely random, so whilst one set may have a more noticeable swirl design, another set may be more subtle. The figures are still, however, very impressive and will look great set up on any table. May The Force Be With You Each villain has a small board called a Sector, which houses their mover and informs their actions during the game. Neat additions for new players are five unique Villain Guides that explain a few key details about each character and five identical Reference Charts that briefly explain what all of the action icons mean and each of the villains’ objectives. It’s worth mentioning that the Activate action is not used by any villain and will presumably come into play via future expansions. Star Wars Villainous uses two currencies, Ambition and Credits, represented as tokens. These fit in the supplied token tub, along with Strength Tokens. (Image credit: Future) Deep Space is a special area on the far right side of your Villain's board. This area is specifically used for playing Vehicle cards, as well as certain cards that are able to be played to Deep Space or that can be played on top of Vehicle cards. Every time it's your turn, you repeat the process of taking one Ambition token, relocating your Mover piece to a new location, carrying out any actions you want to, and drawing new cards, if necessary.

To slow each other down, players will have access to vehicles — a franchise first. Vehicles brought into play with Ambition will provide villains with new and powerful moves to perform on their turns. Meanwhile, vehicles brought into play with Fate will be flown by in-fiction heroes bent on taking the bad guys down. Currently there are many versions of Villainous available including Disney Villainous along with its multiple expansions and of course, Marvel Villainous. Different incarnations of the game seem to have their own twists and differences which make for a refreshing experience each time you play. The list of additions only continues to grow as Ravensburger is showing no signs of slowing down in adding to this fantastic franchise. Hello There Star Wars™ Villainous uses the award-winning Villainous game system with added elements to fully immerse players in the Star Wars™ Universe. Deploy iconic ships like TIE Fighters as you engage with the Millennium Falcon. Use Ambition to power your Villain’s unique abilities, whether you’re playing as a Force user, leader, or manipulator. Moff Gideon needs to have three cards in play at once in the same location on his Sector: Grogu, Doctor Pershing, and Laboratory Samples. When all three cards are in one location, he has to pay five Ambition to win the game.

Star Wars Villainous’ refined mechanics are enough to turn even the most virtuous of Jedi Knights to the Dark Side – sometimes it’s good to be bad .

I've heard of the Villainous line of board games, but this was my first time actually playing one. To someone who's not familiar with board games at all, Star Wars Villainous might be a bit frustrating. But to someone who's familiar with common board game mechanics, like me, it was pretty easy to understand the rules within 30 minutes to an hour. I definitely had to reference the instructional booklet during the first game, but after one game, I had the rules memorized. The only thing that differs between players is their villain’s unique objectives. For example, all eight of General Grievous’ Lightsaber Tokens are positioned away from the Sector and in easy reach as the Separatist commander will have to collect them throughout the course of the game. STAR WARS VILLAINOUS: PLAYING A GAME Sarah has an Associate of Arts from Collin College and a Bachelor of Arts in English with a Creative Writing concentration from Nicholls State University. Star Wars Villainous will be the first in what is now the franchise’s third game system, the first two being Disney Villainous and Marvel Villainous. Characters aren’t compatible between the three systems, so no putting Thanos up against Hades or Darth Vader for instance. But that means Star Wars Villainous’ new mechanics are also unique and distinct. It's clear that each character's cards were crafted with their specific lore and timeline in mind, and I was blown away by the amount of detail that went into the artwork and descriptions of the Fate and Villain cards. As a small example of timeline differences, there's a younger Obi-Wan Kenobi on one of Asajj Ventress' Fate cards, while Darth Vader's Fate card displayed an older Obi-Wan Kenobi.

First and foremost, Scum & Villainy is indeed compatible with Power of the Dark Side, allowing players to combine characters from both boxes in the same game. This means that Boba Fett, Cad Bane, and Seventh Sister have now joined the roster of available Star Wars Villainous characters such as Darth Vader, General Grievous, Asajj Ventress, Moff Gideon, and Kylo Ren. However, it's also worth reminding players that while both versions of Star Wars Villainous are compatible with each other, they're not compatible with the Marvel or Disney versions as each franchise theme has its own unique rules and extra mechanics. Each Vehicle card provides a new location for your Sector that your Villain can move to at the beginning of your turn, and will provide you with actions and a special Ability.The components in each Villainous game have always been done to a very high standard. The artwork on each of the character boards, Villain Guides, and the cards themselves are beautiful and quite often can give the player a real sense of nostalgia. Of course, the most striking component of any Villainous game are the villain tokens themselves. Beautifully sculpted to reflect the essence of the character they are emulating, these hefty playing pieces are made with great care, attention to detail and are often the visual focal point of the game. Regarding the new design for the figures, it is in no way a game changer (excuse the pun). The gameplay is not affected by the character designs, it is purely cosmetic, and I would not let that stop me from recommending this game to any Star Wars or Villainous fan. It should sit proudly on everyone’s shelf. To explain all the intricacies of every action would take a long time (and honestly the instructional booklet does it way better), but here are some of the most basic actions you can take on a turn. You can collect credits, which is the game's currency, play a card from your hand, use Ambition points to play an Ambition card or activate an Ambition ability, or discard as many cards from your hand as you want. If you play a card or discard any cards, you draw new cards until you have a total of four in your hand, unless there's something special changing the maximum number of cards you can have in your hand. Villainous supports two to four players and although we had great fun playing with two, three is arguably the sweet spot. A lot can happen in a single turn so when four players are duking it out it’s perhaps best if the majority are familiar with the game to minimize downtime. Taken as a whole, this makes Star Wars Villainous one of the best additions to the franchise in years. For me, it's a stronger entry than Marvel Villainous and builds on the formula in clever ways. Should you buy Star Wars Villainous: Power of the Dark Side?