Star Wars Destiny Review

The big moment in The Force Awakens ends in a cliffhanger, literally. Right as Rey considers giving in to the Dark Side and finishing Kylo Ren off, a chasm opens and the earth separates them. Star Wars Destiny’s two Starter Sets allow you to resolve that battle, regardless of what Hollywood comes up with. Yes it’s a collectible model, and yes it’s another Star Wars game to add to the growing pile of FFG standouts, but just like those others it’s an excellent game.

Star Wars Destiny is one of those games that is simply complex, or may it’s complexly simple. What you can do on your turn is pretty limited, though as the game goes on your options grow. Back and forth you’ll go, alternating blaster file with the kzshhhhfwwooh of a lightsaber activating as you attempt to eliminate your opponent’s characters or run out their deck. It’s a fast and tactical affair that rarely runs over 30 minutes for a battle. Like lightsaber duels themselves they’re a flurry of action followed by someone picking their dice – or hand – off the floor.

Both the game and the deck revolve around your characters. To build a deck you start with 2-4 characters (there is a points system) and their dice. From these characters flow the rest of your deck design. Characters from Rey and Finn are heroes and thus your deck can only include hero or neutral cards. Kylo and his generic First Order Trooper are villains and naturally have their own restriction. On top of that, characters are designated by color; if you want the powerful Thermal Detonator in your deck you’ll need to find a yellow character you want to field as well.

Rey, activated and ready for battle

And that’s where Destiny stumbles. You don’t just need to find a yellow character, you need to find the Detonator in the first place. Destiny is a collectible game which means blind boosters or secondary markets. The starter boxes are 10 cards short of a legal deck which means you need boosters just to get up to the full game. On top of that, you need enough cards that match both the color and the alignment of your characters. It’s a bit of a bummer, but one that I’ve found myself willing to overlook. This game is fun, really fun and I’m ok putting a little money into a good game. Especially when it’s Star Wars.

Let’s dig into that Thermal Detonator a little bit because what makes Star Wars Destiny so fun is how the mechanics manage to mimic the on-screen action of Star Wars. Here’s a picture of the card:

“…because he’s holding a Thermal Detonator!”

It’d be fair to expect this card to deal piles of damage – and it can through its Special results -but that’s not all it does. The first three symbols on the die force an opponent to discard cards or let you gain a resource. It’s negotiation at the point of a bomb, in other words.

There are lots of little details like this throughout the game. Destiny’s lead designer, Lukas Litzsinger, previously worked on Netrunner. While the games share almost no mechanical similarities, they both manage to evoke their settings in ways both overt and subtle. The Thermal Detonator is an overt example, but the battle between the Rey and Kylo starters is more subtle, as the entire arc of the battle mimics the arc of The Force Awakens.

Rey has the potential to deal a lot of damage from the beginning, but it’s inconsistent and unlikely. Many of her die sides are damage modifiers which means they’re useless if she or an ally don’t role a direct damage symbol to pair them with. On top of that, just rolling it isn’t enough. Players alternate after every action so even rolling a direct Melee means nothing if your opponent has a trick or card that lets him remove it. Kylo on the hand, lays right in with damage as soon as the fight starts. All three die that the Kylo Starter Box fields from the start have direct damage, with no need to worry about your damage potential being limited by modifiers or timely dice shenanigans.

Rey won’t be doing much damage if she can’t get a regular Melee damage on the field.

However, their starter decks are built completely different and that’s where the story begins. Rey starts inconsistent or unsure of her own power, but by the time the late game rolls around and she’s got Jedi Robes, a Lightsaber, and BB-8 in play? Now it’s the end of the movie and Kylo is on the ropes, beating on his wounds just to stay in the game. It’s easy to play but the layers of tactical decisions quickly pile on and you find yourself choosing between a number of different options, hoping the Force guides you (and your dice) to victory. I love games that tell stories. Star Wars Destiny not only tells a story, it tells a Star Wars story.