This week, we journey once more to a galaxy far, far away with The Mandalorian Adventures. This strategy title comes from designer Corey Konieczka, whose work with Fantasy Flight will be quite familiar to Star Wars fans, and his company Unexpected Games. With the Clan of Two expansion recently announced, we got the chance to strap on our Beskar armor and try our hand at bounty hunting with a copy of the game courtesy of Unexpected and Asmodee.
What’s In The Box?
- 1 Rulebook
- 1 Mission Book
- 191 Cards
- 20 Mini Cards
- 142 Tokens
- 8 Standees
- 2 Envelopes
Like pretty much every Star Wars game the art and look of the game isn’t far from production stills. It’s given a painterly quality that overall evokes the feel of Marvel’s Star Wars comics. This is helped by the missions booklet, which is a direct retelling of the story of The Mandalorian told through a comic format. And while the overall art is relatively uninspired, the design of the book and various game pieces is well done. Little flourishes help things feel a bit more immersive like the assorted fonts, especially on the two “secret” envelopes that have the look and feel of some sort of Imperial contraband.
How’s It Play?
The Mandalorian Adventures is the first Star Wars entry into the now en vogue storybook game format that we’ve seen with Mass Effect, Lord of the Rings, and even Wizard of Oz. If you’ve played any of those games you’ll get the gist of this one: each “chapter” is its own two pages in the oversized booklet and it is on here that you move, attack, and work to accomplish your mission goals. Depending on the chapter you’ll have a few characters to choose from but you’ll always have a Din Djarin. There’s less differentiation between characters and they mostly exist to solve puzzles and overcome challenges for the player strategically. If you have fewer players than characters you simply control them all in turn, and if there’s more players than characters you either share control or enter a “Sandbox mode” that gives you a free choice of characters.
The action economy of the game is basic and uses cards to dictate movement, combat, and other actions. The value of each action i.e. how far you move is dictated by the strength of the card. So the higher the number, the more you can move, shoot, interact, etc. Combat is straightforward for the most part, though threats start out face down and need to be revealed (or attacked blindly). Event cards come into play after actions are played (two per person) and move around threats, change the location of targets, etc.
One of the things that helps to set The Mandalorian Adventures apart from similar games is its Guide Deck, which is followed sequentially through the game and adds in new cards, new rules, etc to help it grow over time. You very much learn the mechanics as you go so that by the end there’s a fully fleshed out game you can enjoy. While this mechanic is similar to legacy titles, this isn’t a Legacy game or even a game that’s only really fun on one play. The story is set (it’s just the show’s first season) so what’s left is you and your fellow players ability to solve the problems of each scenario. There’s also a really cool hidden traitor mechanic that comes into play with the Secret Envelopes which allows players to decided whether or not to share important intel. All of this makes it a lot more replayable than you might think.
The Verdict?
Like most of these licensed storybook games, The Mandalorian Adventures is constrained a little by its nature as an adaptation. The need to replicate and echo the story of the source means there’s less creativity for design and scenarios. That said, this is a fantastic iteration of the format thanks to some really interesting choices with how actions flow and the element of secrecy that is at play. Knowing your enemy is vital to success and you can win or lose based on what you and your fellow bounty hunters understand about each challenge. It fits the theme perfectly and elevates things beyond simple strategy. While it might not be able to transcend the Star Wars property, it’s another fantastic way for Star Wars fans to have bring a little adventure home and a beautifully executed return to the property by one of its best designers.
No review found! Insert a valid review ID.
You can grab The Mandalorian Adventures from the Asmodee shop, Amazon, or your FLGS at an MSRP of $49.99.
Images and review copy via Unexpected Games and LucasFilm
Have strong thoughts about this piece you need to share? Or maybe there’s something else on your mind you’re wanting to talk about with fellow Fandomentals? Head on over to our Community server to join in the conversation!