Star Wars Villainous will let you play as Darth Vader, Clone Wars and Mandalorian baddies, but not the Emperor
Board game series sets course for a galaxy far, far away this summer.
Villainous, the board game series starring iconic baddies from the worlds of Disney and Marvel, is headed to a galaxy far, far away in a new Star Wars-themed entry arriving this summer.
Star Wars Villainous: Power of the Dark Side follows Disney Villainous and Marvel Villainous in allowing two to four players to control a rogue’s gallery of famous scum and villainy from across the Star Wars movies, as well as the expanded universe’s more recent TV shows.
To no-one’s surprise, leading the roster are original trilogy baddie Darth Vader and sequel trilogy antagonist Kylo Ren. However, the rest of the line-up offers some potential surprises in the form of Revenge of the Sith’s fan-favourite droid General Grievous, Asajj Ventress - an assassin who appears in animated series The Clone Wars - and Moff Gideon, Giancarlo Esposito’s formidable foe seen in live-action spin-off The Mandalorian. Perhaps the biggest surprise is that Sith lord Emperor Palpatine, aka Darth Sidious, is nowhere to be seen in the base box.
Like previous Villainous games, each villain will have a different objective - in the case of Darth Vader the player will need to defeat Luke Skywalker, while Moff must try and capture ‘Baby Yoda’ himself, Grogu. Meanwhile, Asajj must fulfil random contracts and Grievous is looking to add to his collection of lightsabers from defeated Jedi. The standalone game will not be compatible with other Villainous instalments, so you can’t face off Loki against Grievous or Maleficent against Asajj.
Gameplay will also be familiar to players of Villainous’ Disney and Marvel outings, as players use their character’s unique deck of cards to pursue their own ends while also trying to trip up their rivals by playing heroes and other obstacles to their board. Characters must move between different locations on their board - representing various places in the Star Wars universe - to perform actions and advance their way to victory.
Star Wars Villainous will introduce several new gameplay elements, too. Players can use their villain’s ‘ambition’ to use the Force and other unique abilities. Ambition can also be used to summon vehicles, the game’s biggest addition to the series. Ships such as the Millennium Falcon and Imperial TIE Fighters can engage in combat with each other, as well as providing other options for players on their turn.
The baddies will be represented by Villainous’ stylised plastic miniatures, which will feature a new flecked mixture of colours that will vary slightly between each set.
Star Wars Villainous will be released in August. No expansions have been announced for the game yet - hold tight, Greedo fans.