When Fantasy Flight Games announced Star Wars: Destiny, I was quite surprised (and, admittedly, amped). I was definitely surprised to see a new Star Wars card game, but I was even more surprised to learn that it used dice and was collectible. There are already a number of great Star Wars games out and FFG hasn’t made a collectible game in many years – not to mention that the model itself served as a selling point for FFG’s own Living Card Game model. I gave my initial impressions in this blog while I was still somewhat in shock at the whole thing.

When we started discussing Destiny as a potential add to the Covenant pipeline, things got real. It’s a Star Wars card game made by Fantasy Flight Games, surely Team Covenant is going to support it, right? The reality is that our supporting a game goes well beyond its potential to “make us money”. We look at the titles that we carry as offering something meaningful to the tabletop space, as pushing the industry forward. They need to pass a bar that we, as lifelong tabletop players, have set quite high. The theme needs to be there, the mechanics need to be there, the art needs to be there, and the parent company needs to be interested in operating with us effectively and pushing boundaries. To be completely honest, we decided a long time ago to not sell collectible games that would likely have “made us money” because of our mutual belief that they were holding Tabletop back by creating negative stigmas and hostile communities centered around exclusivity and cash.

If Destiny was going to be more of the same, there would be no reason for us to support it. For us to embrace a collectible game, even if it is a Star Wars-themed game by Fantasy Flight, it needs to deliver in a big way. It has to be a fantastic game that nails the Star Wars theme, and it has to innovate on the collectible space in a way that lessens or entirely removes the negative aspects of the genre.

After I sobered up a bit from the excitement of the announcement, I found that I was starting to get nervous about Destiny. Like Luke in Empire Strikes Back, maybe I didn’t want this to be my destiny? I mean, I would take Darth Vader as a dad, but was I ready to get behind a collectible Star Wars card game? And was I willing to stand up for it when deciding where Covenant was going to land? There were concerns, and lots of questions.

Luckily, less than a week after the announcement, we were at Gen Con 2016 getting a demo of Destiny.

After the demo was posted, I was asked for my impressions of Star Wars: Destiny multiple times. At GenCon, I tried to keep it brief, because I didn’t really get to dive too deeply into the game. My initial impression was that the game was surprisingly fun, but it would definitely need to offer more than what I experienced in the demo. I needed to play a lot more before I could say anything for certain, and it was not impressive enough to allay my initial concerns.

Destiny being collectible meant that it could easily be the kind of game that just didn’t fit with the direction we are pushing for Tabletop. It also meant that it could be really expensive, making it hard for players to keep up or get started. On top of the collectible element, this was a card game with dice. I’ve seen dice go very poorly, and their inclusion in a game can be a deal breaker for a good number of players. I was also starting to have concerns about the depth of the game due to the simplicity of the rules. Finally, it’s Star Wars. There’s a very special place in my heart for Star Wars, so any time a new game with that theme is coming out, I’m simultaneously excited and nervous. It’s hard to remain objective.

With these concerns in mind, Fantasy Flight Games approached us about doing a video preview series leading up to the release of the first set of Destiny, called Awakenings. They sent us home from GenCon with a Kylo Ren and Rey Starter, along with a bundle of cards. This meant we could take time to evaluate the game and gain an appreciation for it before making decisions about what we might do with it. Should we decide to support it and do the preview series, this early access would also allow us be much more familiar with the game in order to produce better content.

So we set about diving fervently into Star Wars: Destiny, approaching it from every angle. After returning from GenCon, we started playing Destiny until we just couldn’t stand it anymore…

Fortunately, that moment never came.

It Is Our Destiny

At this point, I have played a ludicrous amount of Star Wars: Destiny; maybe more than is healthy. I am excited to officially say that Covenant will be stocking and supporting the game. This blog kicks off our content series leading up to the release of Awakenings. We have added all of the Star Wars: Destiny products to our web store, added a blog category to the site, and are now putting together a plan to launch the most beneficial products and services that we can for it.

Okay, sure. We made the decision you may have expected us to make, but you’re still not convinced by Destiny and want more information. Keep reading to find out why we jumped onboard.

1. Gameplay, Mechanics, and Depth

Destiny is at the top of my “maybe most fun game ever” list. When I write that, I’m not just comparing it to other Star Wars games. I’m saying that of all the games I’ve ever played, Destiny may be the pinnacle of the “no caveats, no judgement, outrageously, innocently, entirely fun” category. The more I play, the more I find myself wanting to play again. And again. And again. Even with a very limited card pool.

The lightness of the game makes it easy to play and eliminates the “analysis tax” (aka hard, focused thinking) that can be exhausting enough to discourage sequential sessions. There are a lot of games that I’m not up for after a long day of work or a particularly stressful day, but I have yet to say “no” when Steven is pining for one more shot at Vader. And, honestly, that “one more shot” usually turns into a few games, a few card swaps, and deckbuilding texts later that night.

Complexity does not make a game better, but simple games often struggle to offer enough depth, especially for seasoned players. Balancing the two is the true art of game design. Destiny manages to balance depth with simplicity in a way that leaves you focusing on neither. Is it simple? No. Is it complex? No. Or for the skeptics among us, I’ll phrase it like this: Is it simple? Yes. Is it complex? Yes.

Then there is the necessary question of luck, and where it factors in the ultimate determination of a winner. Remove luck entirely and you have a cerebral experience, like Chess or Go. Add too much luck and you frustrate players who see no reason to play a dressed up version of Yahtzee. But if you hit it right in the middle, there is a sweet spot. With the right amount of luck, a game becomes a bit less “serious”, less severe, even, which bridges the gap between dedicated players and casual players. With the right amount of luck, those two types of players can enjoy a game together. Ideally, the dedicated player wins the vast majority of matches, but the luck element allows the less-experienced player to stay in the game, feel like it was close, and then occasionally grab an exhilarating win. That is when the magic happens. And that is what Destiny delivers.

I have looked back on my early games of Destiny and realized how poorly I was playing, how the best moves were far from obvious in the beginning. When I play now, I very much feel in control of the outcome, but never to the point where it becomes hard to make decisions. I can see the options that my opponent has on the table, I can hold my control cards in order to prevent devastating rolls, and I can set up bluffs that try to pull my opponent’s tricky effects out before it is optimal.

That is not to say that you will not get completely hosed every once in a while. You need a single damage across 5 dice and roll resources and blanks. Your opponent rolls four dice and gets all the damage, killing one of your characters unexpectedly on the next turn (hold those control cards!). But, believe it or not, this is actually one of the most enjoyable things about Destiny. Sometimes (I must stress: rarely) a roll simply blows up, and you just envision the scene and laugh. Steven and I default to the fist bump when something goes wildly against the odds. And then you try to win anyway, and often do.

The breakdown of turns into one-to-one actions back and forth really makes you feel like you’re wrapped up in the action. It feels so fast, and even in the midst of the rush, things stay clean. No stacks to resolve. No complicated, chained out combos. You take an action. I take an action. And before you know it, the game is over. Then a new one starts. A new one always starts.

The deck building is also remarkably wide open and satisfying. I keep making small adjustments, finding new interactions, and taking decks in new directions. Each change has a big impact on the way a deck works. It is liberating. What was easy to blame on “bad draws” or “unlucky dice” in the beginning has quickly become avoidable through better decision making. Even with very few cards and a vast number of games, I am always learning.

The dice have been designed surprisingly well, too. They are the key component of the game and obviously at the center of the design. Cards generally act with the dice instead of taking their place. I’m not convinced that blank sides were the right call (why not always increase options and prevent the “Why are my heroes just failing” problem?), but they increase the tempo of the game by forcing discards in order to re-roll. Physically, they seemed too big and colorful at first. As I played more and more though, I started appreciating the size for general clarity of the board state at all times, and it is satisfying to roll a big handful. Shout out to the old school “buckets of dice” miniatures players on that one! I get it now.

2. Star Wars

Theme goes beyond art, unique names, card templates, and aspects like whether or not Darth Vader plays like you might expect. When considering the theme in Destiny, it is a simple question: “Do I get lost in the story of Star Wars? Does it take me to that galaxy far, far away?”

As a good example, I’ll never forget the moment I got lost in my first game of X-Wing. I couldn’t keep the smile off of my face. I was locked into that dogfight from the first moment to the last, and I could almost hear the engines roar and the lasers firing.

Destiny focuses our attention from those incredible space battles to the more epic and intimate character conflicts. It deals with Star Wars at its most “zoomed in”, and it is hard to deny that these are the best moments. What Star Wars fan wouldn’t want to recreate the epic duel between Kylo and Rey on Starkiller Base or the fight between Luke and Vader on Bespin? Exactly! But even more interesting is the less-glamorous conflicts that play out in the game. Stormtroopers against Leia and her Rebel Troopers. Tuskens against Han Solo and Chewie. A few padawans facing off against Jango Fett. Star Wars has always been about a universe that cannot be contained or encapsulated by any amount of material, and Destiny respects and elevates that reality.

Cards are divided into three primary groups, Red (Military), Blue (Force Users), and Rogue (Scum and Smugglers). It further divides the cards through deck building restrictions into Hero, Villain, and Neutral cards. This is very clever, as it creates an expected unity between groups of characters (like soldiers), while also differentiating characters in ways you might expect (like Light and Dark Side abilities). As an example, any Force User can include Force Push. However, only Villain Force Users can include cards like Force Choke in their deck. This makes the Heroes and Villains play differently, unites themes, and keeps deck building open.

The gameplay consistently enhances the theme. Timing is everything in Destiny, and the deck size combined with the auto-loss caused by running out of cards creates conflict from the opening turn. You certainly spend more of your early actions building your dice pools, but the game wants you to engage. It forces you to engage. You know you only have so many cards and so much health, so you can’t just sit back and build.

The Battleground mechanic is also simply fantastic. It puts a tempting ability on the table, tied to the location of the conflict (theme!) and then grants that benefit to whoever checks out of the round first. It also gives that player the initiative next turn. This creates a fine balance between waiting out your opponent’s actions and claiming the Battleground in order to reap the benefits.

Destiny creates a Star Wars experience that is more than true to the theme, but one that also feels incredibly unique. This is very, very good.

3. Collectible

Destiny utilizes design philosophies that create an excellent experience, but they also seem to intentionally minimize the downsides of the collectible model. The 30-card deck size and cap of 2 copies per deck keeps games moving fast, but also means fewer cards are needed to build a cohesive theme. Comparatively, the standard is a 60-card deck size and cap of 4 copies per deck, so Destiny cuts the needed cards in half. The first set is only 180 cards so collecting is more affordable. It will undoubtedly cost more to play Destiny on a ‘competitive’ level than it would for an LCG, but it will also be a lot less expensive than a traditional collectible game. That helps.

With starters and just a few booster packs, anyone can pick up Destiny and have a great experience. But the game also offers a lot for those looking to dive deeper. For those players, buying a moderate amount of packs will give enough cards to explore deckbuilding fully. Paired with a healthy singles market and trading with other players, interested players should have no trouble getting started or staying current. This minimizes the concern of toxicity in the player base, along with FFG’s consistent policy of staying away from big cash prizes and other purely material rewards.

Speaking of trading, this is an important aspect of the game, especially when viewed through our lens of “human connection”. I haven’t traded cards in many years, but it was always one of the most effective ways that I connected with other players. A collectible game encourages interaction through trading for what you need, which is especially true when two copies of a card makes a playset. Attending weekly league nights, tournaments, and other meetups now offers a new boon in finding players to trade with, and that is ultimately a phenomenal thing. The connection is real.

The collectibility of the game definitely concerned me at first, but given the above it is less of an issue. In fact, I started thinking about all of my favorite parts of collectible games and reminisced about that rush of a new set “dropping” all at once. The scramble to find the best decks and try all of the new cards, and then to bring your ideas to the local tournament. And while they haven’t announced it, I’m very hopeful that we will see official Draft and Sealed formats – which offer the experience that I remember most fondly from my earlier days.

All in all, Destiny is going to be the most affordable collectible game I’ve ever played, and I can’t complain about that.

Is It Your Destiny?

Fantasy Flight Games has created a unique Star Wars game that offers a new, engaging, and addictive Star Wars experience. I’ve played a lot of collectible games and none of them are quite like this. As a huge fan of Star Wars games, I’m completely convinced. This is an incredible game and it will have an incredible community. All of my nerves and concerns are now replaced with eager anticipation.

We will have an interview with Lukas Litzsinger, the lead designer of Destiny, coming soon. We have added Star Wars: Destiny to our store, and have the Kylo and Rey starters, as well as booster packs and boxes, up for pre-order. We’re also amped to share a number of Destiny-focused videos, blogs, and products in the near future!

Until then, may the Force be with you all!