Star Wars: Destiny Review

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This is probably the best dice game I've ever played. It really blows King of Tokyo and all of the others away, and the addition of cardplay elements brings a lot of depth. There's tons of drama, action and fun so it feels totally SW- moreso than some of FFG's larger attempts at the setting.

I really wish they would do set packs with fixed cards- like a Hoth set, where you get all of that stuff. Then a Rey/Kylo Ren/Snoke battle pack. There's so many they could do, so many different scenes, battles, and environments that could be explored without the collectible distribution. I would buy every set like this they would make.

I almost bought a $40 Asohka single since she's a favorite character. But I balked when I realized that I could put another $40 with that, buy a booster box, and sell five rares out of it for $100 or more. And then buy Asohka and have $60 to spare. Seriously- flip those legendaries you aren't attached to. You can buy extra boxes with just a couple of them.

I have the new starters, Luke and Boba Fett, for review...haven't gotten them open yet, but looking forward to them. The starters have been really good so far.

Busted. You're not supposed to be able to read this yet, but MB can because Admin rights, and I think everyone can now because it's on the forum

Michael Barnes wrote: This is probably the best dice game I've ever played. It really blows King of Tokyo and all of the others away, and the addition of cardplay elements brings a lot of depth.

Not going to argue with any of that, except that KoT will always have a place at my table because it's so easy and because big multi-player fights are the biz. I haven't tried Destiny with more than two yet: I know it's theoretically possible but I don't think it's going to work that well.

Michael Barnes wrote: I really wish they would do set packs with fixed cards- like a Hoth set, where you get all of that stuff. Then a Rey/Kylo Ren/Snoke battle pack. There's so many they could do, so many different scenes, battles, and environments that could be explored without the collectible distribution.

Awesome idea. Hopefully in that "review", I did communicate the idea that this is a game that works really well without the deckbuilding, just as my friend had promised. One thing I didn't like so much about it was that although it feels like Star Wars, it lacks much of a narrative. Having a set of cards based around a situation rather than just a character would go a long way toward fixing that.

Michael Barnes wrote: Seriously- flip those legendaries you aren't attached to. You can buy extra boxes with just a couple of them.

Of the six legendaries in the box, four were pretty worthless. The only other decent one was Mace Windu, and I'm tempted to sell that, although it won't anywhere near pay for another box, even if I sold the four lesser ones alongside him.

Well, I would say that the narrative is actually in the deck building. When I put together decks, really all I’m thinking about is if all makes sense for the characters- or setting up “what it” scenarios... classic match ups (Han and Luke versus Vader and Jabba) or going crazy with timelines (Rey and Leia versus a deck loaded with Asajj Ventress and Night Sisters).

Michael Barnes wrote: I almost bought a $40 Asohka single since she's a favorite character. But I balked when I realized that I could put another $40 with that, buy a booster box, and sell five rares out of it for $100 or more. And then buy Asohka and have $60 to spare. Seriously- flip those legendaries you aren't attached to. You can buy extra boxes with just a couple of them.

Yup. This is why I cannot play this game. I get that other people would be able to not buy any more and just play with the starter, I respect that, but I cannot. So better I don't touch it. Too many good games.

This game is fucking great. I've played it a bunch with my youngest son (age 8), and we both like it a lot. I've probably dropped around $75 or so on boosters and singles, and I think we're all set. I don't need to buy any more cards. I don't have Vader or Luke or Han, but who cares. I can field Leia and Admiral Ackbar instead, and that's fun. My son thoroughly kicked my ass the last time we played with his lightsaber-wielding Tusken Raider.

I've never played a collectible card game before. Never got into Magic or Pokemon or any of that shit. I never understood the appeal. NOW I understand the appeal. That endorphin rush you get when you open a new blind pack is very real, and very dangerous.

I like the idea of making "themed" deck. I hadn't considered that.

It's also worth noting that the dice are really nice. Heavy, chunky, nicely printed.

Yeah, if you are thinking "I'll just pick up the starter and check it out", forget it. You are in it to the hilt even at that point. And if you are a no self control wastrel like me, you are getting on that treadmill with the quickness.

I got so incredibly lucky when I got into it, I caught a mistake Ebay listing that had TWO boxes for the price of one. So...yep.

I need to get a box of the new set...and I'm still wanting Cad Bane. And Asohka.

The thing is, some of the big bucks singles are the most popular and iconic characters, but the reality is that a) you will get a least a couple of A-listers in any box and b) a lot of the minor characters are just as fun in terms of gameplay. You can totally partner up Admiral Ackbar with R2D2 if you want to. Most of the cards AREN'T expensive. I have picked up a couple of singles, like I wanted Ezra Bridger and Kanaan Jarrus from Rebels- they were like $5 together. I wanted General Grievous and paid BIG BUCKS for him, a cool $8. I also wanted to do a Chirrut and Baze bromance deck, so I spent another $4-5 there. Then when you add in their special weapons and cards that either picture them or make sense for the characters, your narrative deckbuilding is pretty much done.

Michael Barnes wrote: Yeah, if you are thinking "I'll just pick up the starter and check it out", forget it. You are in it to the hilt even at that point.

I think it's entirely possible to just play with the starter decks - it's an inexpensive way to try it out, and it's just fun to play regardless of what cards you've got. Sure it won't have the same shelf-life as if you invested in some boosters, but you'll still have a great time.

Lifespan? This game checks all the boxes for the "Discontinued 18 months later" category of games. Collectible, Star Wars, FFG, mainstream market placement . . .

You can pick up a starter set and 36 boosters on Amazon for under $100. But, if it's due to die in the next six months you'll be able to pick that much up for $40 in November.

Looks interesting.

Sagrilarus wrote: Lifespan? This game checks all the boxes for the "Discontinued 18 months later" category of games. Collectible, Star Wars, FFG, mainstream market placement . . .

You can pick up a starter set and 36 boosters on Amazon for under $100. But, if it's due to die in the next six months you'll be able to pick that much up for $40 in November.

Looks interesting.

What FFG Star Wars game died after only 18 months? Even the unpopular LCG lasted years.

I didn't conflate the two. FFG has a list of lost souls on their Christmas special each year. Star Wars have a few hundred titles released on it over the years, very few of which are still in publication.

But I'll ask the question again -- do you guys think this game is going to be publishing new boosters a year from now? Or is it likely to run its course in a year or two?

Seeing boosters on Amazon for $2 apiece in bulk makes me think it doesn't have a good footing, but that may be just the discounters doing what discounters do. Or as I'm sure Asmodee would suspect they're knock-off copies. It likely won't be easy to expand this for years, as the number of named characters in Star Wars is relatively fixed and not terribly large. Not sure there's a lot of call for Major Derlin cards.

I don't care either way, good game is good game. I may pick up $100 worth for the May-Getaway convention at the shore and just break it open there with the guys. Just thinking through my options. I may be buying used stuff off of you guys at some point in the near future.

S.

Yes, I think it will still be around 2 years from now at least.

Sagrilarus wrote: But I'll ask the question again -- do you guys think this game is going to be publishing new boosters a year from now? Or is it likely to run its course in a year or two?

Seeing boosters on Amazon for $2 apiece in bulk makes me think it doesn't have a good footing, but that may be just the discounters doing what discounters do.

I think it's got the legs. It's been around 18 months now and has proved popular enough to justify 3 waves of expansions in that space of time. Given that it's known to have high production costs with all the custom dice, that's a solid investment on the part of the publisher so they must feel the investment is worthwhile.

I don't have a great track record in making these sorts of predictions, but fortunately, I don't need to in this case. As I implied in the review, it's a game you can enjoy without spending a penny on boosters. Get the starter sets, roll the dice, have fun.

As far as discounters go, it's worth knowing that there's a very pernicious practice on this game doing the rounds in less reputable retailers. Each box of boosters has exactly six legendaries, which are worth between $5-$25 each. So some scum-sucking retailers have been opening packs from each box until they find all six, and then flipping the rest as "individual" boosters. That may explain why it's possible to buy them so cheap, and also why fans recommend you buy them by the boxful.

MattDP wrote: As far as discounters go, it's worth knowing that there's a very pernicious practice on this game doing the rounds in less reputable retailers. Each box of boosters has exactly six legendaries, which are worth between $5-$25 each. So some scum-sucking retailers have been opening packs from each box until they find all six, and then flipping the rest as "individual" boosters. That may explain why it's possible to buy them so cheap, and also why fans recommend you buy them by the boxful.

Yeah, I was looking at the price of entire boxes. But that would be a question worth asking.

As for the practice of each box having exactly 6 legendaries . . . are the publishers unaware that they're selling to gamers? That kind of thing gets figured out and optimized.

If they've had 3 waves of expansions there's more than enough material for me. The question comes down to how much to spend (i.e., when to purchase).

Sagrilarus wrote: As for the practice of each box having exactly 6 legendaries . . . are the publishers unaware that they're selling to gamers? That kind of thing gets figured out and optimized.

I'm sure they have. Note the result: they're shifting entire boxes at a time instead of a handful of boosters here and there.