Page 34 - Star Wars Insider #188

DICING WITH DESTINY

true now that most board games
are meticulously calibrated to
maximize engagement (posterior-
numbing play times are much
rarer now), and come with
attractive, often geek culture-
inspired themes.
“Geeks are cool now,” says
Alex Green, commercial director
of Asmodee U.K., Britain’s biggest
board game distributor. He points
at programs like The Big Bang
Theory, the sitcom which helped
bring many niche obsessions such

as science fiction, comic books,
and gaming into the mainstream.
And then there’s the ever-growing
popularity of Star Wars. “It’s a great
story and a great backdrop, so you
have a lot of people wanting to live
out the stories themselves,” he adds.

Getting Rolling
As Escape From Death Star proved
a long time ago, the journey
towards fully realizing the Star
Wars galaxy in tabletop form took
many years.
“We didn’t know a lot about
game design back in the day,” says
Brooks, “so a lot of games were just
roll-and-move. There was no skill
involved, no decision points, zero
agency. You just resolved the game.”
With early titles like Adventures
of R2-D2 (1977), Hoth Ice Planet
Adventure (1980), or Yoda the Jedi
Master (1981), the Star Wars theme 02
was front-and-center, but the game
mechanisms didn’t engage beyond like, ‘well the property market on
someone eventually, randomly Alderaan’s really gone downhill—
managing to win. Then there there’s nothing left!’ But I like Star
were (and still are) the Star Wars Wars, so I’d prefer a version that
versions of existing, classic board reflects my personal taste.”
games: the mystery-solving Clue, Away from such branded tie-
the territory-dominating Risk, the ins, pure Star Wars gaming took a
fog-of-war weaving Battleship and, leap forward in sophistication and
naturally, the property-trading complexity with West End Games’
mainstay that is Monopoly. Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game
“The idea of buying property (1987). Published to coincide with
around the galaxy is a bit odd,” Star Wars: A New Hope’s (1977)
laughs Jarvis. “Especially as it’s one 10th anniversary, it was a major
where planets get blown up. It’s milestone. As with Dungeons &
Dragons, it enabled players to create
their own heroes and undertake
02 Alex Kim’s powerful box art for the their own quests, but in George
Star Wars: Legion game. Lucas’ galaxy rather than a fantasy
world of treasure and magic. It
03 A group of gamers roll several dice

to discover their Star Wars: Destiny. proved hugely popular—and not 03

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