Let the challenge begin! From Z-Man Games comes Star Wars: Jabba’s Palace, a fast-paced card game that pulls more from the nostalgia and visuals of the Star Wars franchise than anything else in a new twist on the classic Love Letter formula.
Designed by Justin Kemppainen and Todd Michlitsch with art by Jasmine Radue and Samuel R. Shimota, Jabba’s Palace offers up multiple scenarios for players to compete against each other. Players chose one of the four scenario cards that the game has to offer, and whoever does the best at them after multiple rounds comes out on top.
What’s In The Box?
- 19 Character Cards
- 4 Agenda Cards
- 13 Victory Tokens
- 6 Reference Cards
- 1 Cloth Bag
- Rule Booklet
How to Play Star Wars: Jabba’s Palace
When playing Jabba’s Palace for the first time, players use the Exalted One Agenda card to guide their gameplay. The goal of the players is to have the highest number value in their hand by the end of the game.
Players each start with one card that is pulled off the top of the shuffled deck of character cards. The starting player — whoever your group decides has most recently “rescued” someone in real life — will draw a single card from the deck and then choose which one of the cards they would like to play.
Players will go back and forth playing cards until the deck runs out. The winner of the round is determined by who best succeeded at the agenda. In the case of the “Exalted One” agenda, the player with the highest numbered card will win.
The winner of the round receives one victory token, and the game is reset to begin a new round. After reshuffling the card and re-dealing, players will use the same agenda card to play each round until someone has the winning amount of tokens. The more players there are, the fewer tokens you need to win.
The Verdict
Jabba’s Palace might make for short gameplay, but the overall experience is pretty fun! The game is stored in a very nice drawstring pouch that has the game’s logo printed on it.
The artwork is really great as well, and all of the victory tokens feel really well made (the matching logo they have to the bag is a nice touch as too). Having the reference cards is also really nice as they give you the space to strategize as the game goes on without having to have every single card in your hand.
I do think that this game is probably better the more people you play it with. Two-player sessions were fun enough, but the competition wasn’t super intense and having more people around would definitely help in that area.
As for the rules of the game, having a specified “first game” agenda card is really nice here. Especially because we were only playing a two-player game, it was a lot easier to learn how to play with the Exalted One scenario, and that made it easier to play games using the other agendas afterward.
Overall, Star Wars: Jabba’s Palace is great if you’re looking for a quick game with a little bit of Star Wars mixed in. While there isn’t really any of the franchise’s lore to be found in this game, it’s still very nice to look at and very fun to play.
Review Copy Courtesy of Z-Man Games
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