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

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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.

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) In Villainous, you’ll play as an iconic Star Wars™ Villain. Choose Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, General Grievous, Asajj Ventress, or Moff Gideon. Each Villain has a unique objective and abilities based on their story and abilities. You’ll also meddle with your opponents by playing forcing them to face off against Jedi and heroes like Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, The Mandalorian, and Ahsoka Tano. I’ve played quite a few games now with varying numbers of players and I can safely say that the game feels very well balanced, though I do think that a 2-player game can perhaps tip the scale in favour of certain characters on occasion.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. Disney Villainous contained six playable characters but Star Wars Villainous follows the Marvel variant’s trend and only includes five: Darth Vader, General Grievous, Asajj Ventress, Kylo Ren and Moff Gideon. It’s a nice selection covering the width and breadth of the Skywalker Saga timeline, whether you’re a fan of the originals, prequels or sequels. It’s a scary galaxy out there. Keep a sharp eye around corners and stay away from Dathomir this month, okay?

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. 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 Villain Movers are beautifully designed, but the flakes embedded within each figure aren’t evenly distributed and can make them look unintentionally damaged. (Image credit: Future) 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. From a technical perspective,” said Webb, “these use a specific colored powder that’s infused into the base color, and then swirled around. Then they kind of bloom a little bit so we get this very cool kind of galactic feel.” Like other pawns in the Villainous franchise, all of the movers in this new game will be translucent and cast a colored light across the table during play. But when you hold them up to the light they will shimmer with a “kind of universe effect,” Webb said.Overall, I was incredibly pleased with this latest instalment to the Villainous franchise. I’m a huge fan of both Star Wars and Villainous, so when I heard Ravensburger were developing Star Wars Villainous: Power of the Dark Side, you can imagine my excitement. I’m pleased to say it did not disappoint. Gameplay gets a big thumbs up as well, even if it's a lot to take in at first (you'll definitely need to play a throwaway session to get the hang of things). Namely, the addition of vehicles from across the franchise isn't just a glorified ally card; they provide legitimate ways to enhance or hinder gameplay that you'll need to build into your strategy. Unless you want to grind to a halt when someone deploys an X-Wing that reduces the number of cards you can carry, of course. After adapting the world of Disney’s original villains for a new board game, Disney Villainous, the wizards at Ravensburger decided to start conquering other universes, first diving into Marvel’s vast store of villains, and now (after much hoping by many fans), they found themselves in a galaxy far, far away with Star Wars Villainous. Building off the core gameplay of the Disney Villainous series, while adding new complexions which both require time to learn but bring new strategies to bare, Star Wars Villainous: Power of the Dark Side is a worthy new Villainous venture and a great addition to the vast world of Star Wars board gaming.

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. In much the same way, some Fate cards are brutal. If deployed correctly, these can really level the playing field and have opponents cursing your name. In one of my test-sessions, Vader was served with an effect that stops him using Ambition abilities (and thus winning the game) unless he discarded his whole hand of cards… which contained the very cards he needed to win. It was a delicious Catch 22. Similarly, another saw Kylo Ren hit with a well-timed Rey that reset a lot of the player's hard work. Basically, they add real spice to proceedings and give you some much-needed breathing room if you're falling behind. Villainous, the award-winning board game series published by Ravensburger, is finally getting the expansion that fans have been clamoring for. Star Wars Villainous: Power of the Dark Side arrives this August, and will include Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, Asajj Ventress, General Grievous, and Moff Gideon as playable characters.

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With deep-set eyes and bone-white skin, bounty hunter Aurra Sing stirs up visions of skeletal horrors as she guns her unfortunate prey into oblivion. Aurra gleefully partners with the worst the galaxy has to offer, including Cad Bane and the aforementioned Bossk, with whom Sing coldly jettisoned a pod filled with Republic cadets into space simply because they knew too much. Her skills as a sniper make her one of the most notorious -- and feared -- hunters in the galaxy.

The artwork for each Villain, their Sector, and their cards are fantastic!! I’ve never been disappointed by that in DV and its expansions and I’m not surprised I wasn’t either for SWV! Often it’s hard to tell the artwork’s NOT a screenshot from either one of the films or The Clone Wars TV show, it’s just that good. I don’t know who did all of the artwork, but we do know who did Asajj Ventress’: Uzuri Art! You might recognize her and her work, as she continues to stun with great Star Wars, Marvel, and more pieces! Star Wars Villainous is a strategic tabletop game where you take the role of an iconic Star Wars franchise Villain. Your goal is to fulfill the evil scheme your Villain was trying to accomplish in the movie or series they are from - whoever completes this first, wins! In 1980, Darth Vader, in his attempt to turn Luke Skywalker, uttered the words that would leave many wishing they could have a taste of the Dark Side. Wondering if they too could become as powerful as Lord Vader himself, if only they had the means…well now they can in Star Wars Villainous: Power of The Dark Side. 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!

Adventure? Excitement? Not when you run into these folks.

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. 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. The Star Wars Villainous movers are some of the best this series has ever seen (Image credit: Future) 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. 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.