Real Talk By: Haggy

Have you ever gotten into a discussion with your friends along the lines of “Hey, who would win in a fight…” with of course your favorite heroes and villains pitted against each other? Well, Fantasy Flight has thought about this sort of questioning, and has not only decided to make a dueling card game around this very question, but have also decided to use their rights to the Star Wars License to frame this question Long ago, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away.  However, is it any good?  Would it be something to consider along the already established card games, and What is with those dice?

Star Wars: Destiny is a dueling Card Game, in which players select from a large collection of heroes and villains from Star Wars, and then make their decks based off what they would think to add to their chosen character through Events, Abilities, Supports, and Weapons.  Some of these cards also come with corresponding dice that once that character has been activated, adds some actions and abilities to your turn.  Aside from adding RNG, Destiny alternates between players on Actions, and thus turns can go by exceptionally quick (Full games can even be fast as well if both players know what they’re doing.) Sounds promising, but how does it hold out on its own?

We’ll start with the titular characters.  Select your heroes first by going through what Heroes or Villains you want (There are some neutral cards that can go either way), then the heroes you want based off of their ability and class color.  For Example, Red Characters are Military Professionals, Blue Character are strong with the Force, and Yellow Characters are your classic Fringers.  This gives your decks a lot of options to go, as your character choices are plentiful.  You also have to decide if you would rather one or two power houses, or maybe some lackeys like storm troopers, and the limitation means that you’ll always have some good card synergy even if you don’t pour over every detail, though you can always make exceptional decks if you want to go that in-depth.

Furthermore, some cards have a die associated with them.  This is pending on the Character/Ability and is a driving force of the game.  For example, based off your rolls you either deal damage, gain resources, discard opponents cards, or other aspects.  It all depends on the sort of heroes/abilities you want your deck to focus on.  This ensures some versatility in your deck, even if you try to go with specific themes, and this also makes it easy to identify what cards to strengthen, or heroes that would make interesting pairings with each other.

Once decks are designed, the goal is to take it in rounds, defeating other player(s) until all opponents have surrendered, or there is only one player left with heroes.   Think Hearthstone but with multiple heroes.  The Game itself somewhat hits its first problem here with pacing.  Turns themselves are astoundingly fast.  Each round starting with the players at 5 cards, and taking it in turns one action at a time until both players pass then the next round begins.  However, the number of rounds can some times be a lot, especially if someone is running a deck that focuses on shields or absorbing damage.  Some times games will take a while, and participants will hardly have a chance to think of anything else (Though if you don’t like people getting distracted in your games that’s a good thing.)

However, its biggest drawing point, is the fact that decks are built from sets and booster packs.  Meaning, if you need to get a specific card, there might be difficulties getting it cheaper (Especially higher quality ones).  It’s still fun to get a booster pack with a hidden gem or two, plus Fantasy Flight’s Asset Quality is still quite exemplary.  With thick, nice cards (And good card sleeves on the cheap) and nice robust dice and tokens.  It does not break FF’s tradition of good presentation.

All in all, Star Wars: Destiny makes for a nice, easy to learn, quick card game experience.  With a lot of variety in heroes and cards, there is little chance you won’t find something that isn’t quite enjoyable.  Plus, there’s a good module for it on TTS so if you wanted to try before you buy, there’s a good outlet for it.  Not to mention the Destiny Community is actually quite active right now.  It’s also becoming more and more popular at games stores and wherever else you’d expect to find these.  I’ve been enjoying it so far, and I am not so hot with my card games.

Of my first fifteen games with Destiny, the best I could do was win once.  However, they were all decently close!

 

Star Wars: Destiny Gets

4 out of 5

 

What’s Legit?

+Fantasy Flight’s Got Great Art, and All Assets Feel Great

+The Game is Fast Paced, and Players Will Be Invested Start to Finish

+The Addition of Dice Makes This Game Unique, and Easier To Understand

+The Starter Sets are Cheap, and are Amazing Ways to Learn and Play

 

What’s Perpetrating?

-The Dice are Slightly Large, Which Helps With Visuals But Occasionally Feels Awkward to Roll Properly

-Sometimes Games as a Whole Go On too Long

-Booster Packs Might Not Be Useful (Though This is more a personal gripe)