Be mindful of the living For…card game?

It was announced recently that Fantasy Flight Games acquired the rights to Star Wars card, roleplaying and miniature games.  Previous, Wizards of the Coast held this license and produced the Star Wars Saga Edition RPG and their Star Wars miniatures. When they lost, or didn’t renew, their license last year. it was speculated that someone would pick it up. Star Wars is a valuable license after all.

FFG (Fantasy Flight Games, not a guided missile frigate), makes a lot of good games. I enjoy their Battlestar Galactica Board Game. So we could see some good stuff come out of them. They don’t have many RPG’s, and I’ve never played any of the ones they do make. I’m not sure making a new SWRPG system would be worthwhile right now. Saga is a good system and the last book in the set only came out last year. Making an entirely new system probably wouldn’t get a lot of revenue. Unless they also develop some online tools specifically for the new game.

Currently, they have announced two games they will making with this license. A miniatures game, Star Wars: X-Wing, and a Living Card Game called simply, Star Wars The Card Game. I’ve never played a miniatures game, though I suspect it would work similar to Battleship Galaxies. Ships with different stats that you use to try and defeat your opponent in a tactical combat.

I’ve played Trading Card Games in the past. Magic: The Gathering when I was in Jr. High and the TCG that was attached to SWG. I enjoyed that game, especially the fact that it was on the computer. You could make different decks and challenge the computer. I played some tournaments, but I didn’t invest much money into it, or time, so my decks were always inferior. One of the things I loved and hated about those games was the randomness of what cards you got with packs. This Living Card Game concept sounds interesting.

Instead of buying a pack of cards and having no idea what you’re getting, it sounds like you buy the cards that you want. That would certainly take care of the crappy packs that just have a bunch of repeats. Though, opening a pack to see what was in there was always kind of fun. It was a surprise. The regular expansion packs that contain a set amount of cards, takes away that surprise, but it adds in better knowledge of what you’re buying.

Unfortunately, this looks like it’s just a pure physical game. I enjoy those, but it makes playing pretty difficult. Finding someone who enjoys the game and then finding time to play is pretty difficult. The thing I like about the SWG:TCG was the ability to log in and play whenever I wanted. Currently, we get together with friends 1-2 times a month to play group games. I’d never be able to get together more frequently, especially with a baby on the way.

But it is Star Wars, and I’m a sucker. So I’ll keep an eye on it and what else is coming out of FFG while they hold the license.