Star Wars: Outer Rim from Fantasy Flight Games

Table set up and rules reading

I played Star Wars: Outer Rim last night. I ran Ketsu Onyo and played against Lando, Jynn Erso and Bossk. It's a fun game and felt relatively thematic to the Star Wars universe (it felt like all of the characters who showed up fit in the same time). I listened to a review beforehand so I knew basically what to expect. And I was not disappointed It is, for the most part, a pick up and deliver game with some combat and challenges along the way.

The rulebook seems clearly laid out and with only one person reading the rules, literally 30 minutes before we played, all 4 players were able to get up and moving on Turn 1. That is not to say there are not some nuances that required us to look things up. But again, the layout of the guide books made finding an answer easy. I am a strong proponent of not needing to watch a playthrough video in order to play the first game (but that is also not to say I think playthrough videos are a bad idea, they are very useful). The rulebook and components should make playing simple.

Like X-Wing, it is important to remember that “hits” on the dice are not the same as “crits.” If a skill test calls for a “hit,” rolling a “crit” does not count as a success. We had many times where there was cheering briefly before groans of disappointment when realizing the roll was the crit.

Ketsu Onyo - she exterminated Lobot

One thing I heard in another review that, at least on my one play, I think may be true, is that the character you pick at the start really determines whether you will be bounty hunter or smuggler. I won't say it with 100% certainty having only played once. But the unique character abilities don't lend themselves to going outside that role. For example, Ketsu's ability allowed me to engage contacts on a planet up to 3 spaces away. From what I saw, contacts do not play any roll in smuggling (they are either bounties or crew to be hired) so that ability would probably not come in useful in the smuggling role. And if you are not using your ability, then you are at a disadvantage.

I can see lots of multiple plays out of the game and any expansion that adds more jobs and equipment would only make it better. I'd really love to see this period of time (pre A New Hope) fleshed out even more because I think there is lots of potential.

Yeah, it's IG-88s ship, I stole it out from under him.

Finally, I think this game is easy enough to learn/teach that it would be a good gateway game for players who like the Star Wars universe but may be intimidated by the thought of a BIG game. It feels big when you play with so many choices and opportunities, but with the quick reference card and the clear instructions on job cards, there is very little to confuse new gamers.