by Ed Fortune
Funko’s Star Wars Rivals is a breath of fresh air, a simple card-powered game that evokes all the majesty of the Star Wars franchise without needing any preparation but with enough depth and design to encourage rapid and repeated play. In a world full of super-complicated, multiple-component games that simulate everything, a fun little game is exactly what we wanted.
The Star Wars Rivals – Series 1 Premier Set contains everything you need to begin playing; on the light side, we get Luke Skywalker and Commander Cody, and the side with cookies and force lightning have Darth Vader and Asajj Ventress. In addition, we get a funny-shaped die and all the cards and markers you need to play. This is essentially a card game; the figures are just for fun.
The aim of the game is to take control of the location cards, which are placed in the middle of the table. These are all recognisable places from the franchise, with light and fun art (this is a family game, so the art style is aimed at all ages). We send characters to locations, roll dice, play cards from our hand, and resolve who won what battle (and thus the location). The cards lean into the Star Wars vibe, so, for example, Darth Vader and Luke both have cards that make it more likely for them to face each other. When you run out of location cards, you count who won what and declare the winner.
There are some cute touches; the starting player token is called the High Ground, translucent blue versions of all the figures are available and are called ‘holograms’, defeated characters go to the ‘bacta tank’ and so on. None of this makes the game more difficult to understand; they’re all fun little things that add to the experience.
Because this is Funko, the figures are high quality. Each one is a single pose, a full-painted stylised version of the character. These could simply be cardboard tokens, but we’re glad Funko decided to stick to their brand and add a touch of cuteness to the game. These aren’t the super-sized bobbleheads you might expect; they’re slimmer and cuter than that. The cards are durable and well-designed.
In addition to the core set, there are blind boxes themed Light and Dark Side that contain an extra figure, cards, etc. You can play the game by picking up a pair of these boxes, but we recommend the starter set and throwing in as many extra boxes as you fancy. Obviously, this is designed to appeal to collectors, but it’s also a nifty way of introducing the game to groups or families.
Rivals is both a playground card game and an appetiser. It’s the sort of thing you can play on a break or as something quick and fun to play before you get stuck into the likes of Star Wars Rebellion or Funko’s Rear Window. Light, silly and very, very playable. Recommended.
