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Product Description
Who will control Theed Palace? You're the leader in four different battles on three different game boards at the same time. Choose your cards carefully. Allocate your resources to forge ahead in some battles without falling too far behind in others. Planning, card management, and tactical positioning are key. Do you concentrate on the battlefield, the Jedi, Anakin, the palace, or a little of each? Play and find out.
Customer Reviews
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful.
Even if you didn't like the movie...
By Jim Genzano
This is a very entertaining strategy game based on the end of Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace. Regardless of how you felt about the movie (DISCLAIMER: I am a Star Wars fan, and actually liked the movie), if you enjoy a good strategy game, or even just a good board game in general, you will probably enjoy this game.
When you first look over the rather lengthy rule book (18 pages, I believe), you may feel a bit daunted. But the rules are actually very well written, and are accompanied by many pictures and examples to help you understand. For a two player game, one of you plays the bad guys (the Trade Federation) and the other plays the good guys (the Naboo). For a four player game, you play as two teams of two. Just like at the end of the movie, there are four battles going on simultaneously: 1) the Jedi Duel between Obi-Wan and Qui Gon, and Darth Maul, 2) the Space Battle, wherein Anakin is heading up to destroy the Droid Control Ship, 3) the Theed Palace Battle, wherein the Naboo are trying to take back their palace and the droids of the Trade Federation are trying to stop them, and finally 4) the Battlefield, where the Gungans, under the momentary protection of their shield, are facing off against the Trade Federation's droids.
The actual play mechanics are very simple. Everything proceeds through card play. The cards tell you which groups/characters in which battle you can move and attack with. Also, some special cards give your armies special abilities (for instance, certain cards will double the number of spaces that certain characters can be moved during that turn, while others, like the precious Use the Force card, allow you to play extra cards on your turn). In a two player game, each of you starts out with ten cards. You choose four of them to play during, and place them in the order you wish (this is where a lot of the strategy comes in). (In a four player game, you each get fewer cards--also, one person on your team handles two of the battles, and the other person handles the other two battles.) Then the round begins, and first one of you plays a card, then the next, and so on, back and forth, until you're all out of cards. Then you draw more cards and do it again.
Each of the battles is played differently, but they interconnect in interesting ways. The Battlefield battle is a pretty basic hex-based combat game. You move your armies according to set movement restrictions, and attack with dice rolls. Your enemy can sometimes defend with dice rolls. The interesting thing about this battle is the inclusion of the Gungan shield; until the shield goes down, the Trade Federation player cannot really move his heavy artillery in against the Gungans. But once the shield does go down, the Gungans are basically doomed. As in the movie, this battle is really only a distraction. But it's still important for both players to pay attention to it, because for every group you defeat on this board, you get a bonus card that you can play on your next turn. These can pile up and become very important.
The Jedi duel is also a simple dice-based combat game; winning this battle allows you to move your Jedi onto the Theed Palace board to affect the outcome of that battle.
The Theed Palace battle is another dice-based combat game, but it's played out on a three-dimensional board with three levels. The Naboo player has to get a majority of his characters on the top floor (the throne room), while the Trade Federation has to stop this from happening (he has to eliminate all but two Naboo characters to win this battle, and thus the whole game). Getting your Jedi into Theed Palace can totally change the outcome of this battle, as the Jedi can really wreak havoc here.
In the Anakin game, the Naboo player rolls dice in an attempt to move Anakin toward the control ship, while the Trade Federation player rolls dice and plays cards in an attempt to slow down Anakin (Anakin cannot be destroyed). If Anakin makes it to the ship, all of the droids are destroyed, which basically means that all of the Trade Federation players' armies are destroyed. However, the Naboo player doesn't win the game until he has a majority in the Theed Palace throne room.
And that's the basics of the game play. It's a very fun game that, while it will definitely seem complex at first, you can pick up very quickly after playing just one round. All of the information you need to play is either written on the cards themselves, or on the handy cardboard information sheets that go with each of the game's boards. Despite the elements of randomness (the order of the cards; dice throws), there's still a lot of strategy involved in deciding which cards to play, in what order, and which battles to focus on. And the four player game adds another level of complexity and interest, as it involves deciding, as a team, what you should do next.
The game does, however, have some drawbacks:
1) The number of players necessary. You can only play the game with two or four players.
2) The length of time it takes to play. It takes four hours, minimum, to finish a game. That's a lot of time to devote to a game, even a great game like this one.
3) The setup procedure. There are three boards that have to be positioned correctly in relation to each other. One of the boards (the Theed Palace board) has to be assembled every time you play. Then there are 150 plastic figures that have to be placed on the various boards in the correct places.
4) The Theed Palace board. The idea of a 3-D board with various floors is quite cool. However, the Theed Palace board is made of three cardboard sheets that have to be inserted into four plastic columns. Putting it together is a little tricky, and it doesn't always hold together very well. It's also hard to avoid jarring the board when moving pieces around on it, thus knocking over a bunch of pieces.
5) The game is biased toward the Trade Federation player. This is the final and most important flaw in the game. I've played the game a number of times, but I have only seen the Naboo player win once, and that was during the first game that I played, when neither player knew the rules and strategies very well. The problem is that in order for the Naboo player to win the game, regardless of what he does in any of the other battles, he must get Anakin to the Droid Control ship, and getting him there is almost impossible. To do it, the Naboo player has to get a lot of Anakin cards, and a lot of good dice rolls, and the Trade Federation player has to not get a lot of Starship cards (which help to slow down Anakin), and he has to get a lot of bad dice rolls. So basically, as the Naboo player, even if you have excellent strategical skills and use them to the utmost of your ability, winning is still ultimately dependent on how lucky you are.
To sum up, this is a very entertaining game; even with its flaws, it's probably one of the best games I've ever played, and I've played a LOT of games. But you won't get to play it very often, because in order to do so you have to find one OR three friends (not just two!) who are willing to give up four hours of their lives to play a strategy game based on the movie that had Jar Jar in it. And if and when you do get to play, you'll be pretty sure from the outset who's going to win, which may decrease your involvement in and enjoyment of the game. Personally, I still like to play as the Naboo, as I'm convinced that one of these days I will discover the secret strategy that will allow me to win. (The trick is probably to have the Force on your side.)
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
An Outstanding game!
By A Customer
I've played the game and watched it played about 20 times. The battles have involved about 14 different people over these games.
The game balance is incredible, partly due to the random nature of the cards. Out of the 20 games I've played/seen, only 1 was a blowout. The others all went down to the wire. The excitment level in this game is excellent.
One thing the previous reviewer wrote that does differ from my experience is the time involved. The games normally take between 45 minutes to 2 hours. 4 hours may have been for the very first game when everyone was learning the rules.
I am very impressed by this release by AH/Hasbro. If this says anything about future titles, I will be a loyal customer for years to come.
I cannot recommend this game enough.
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
The best boardgame I've played yet
By GoldElite
I have played this game numerous times. It is a very fun game. It is mostly a startegy game, so I don't reccomend it to people who won't enjoy sitting down and really thinking hard before each move. You play as either the Trade Federation or the Naboo. Neither side is overall better than the other one in my opinion, but they are better than eachother in certain battles.
1- Theed Palace- Either side could win
2- Nabbo Plains- Sorry Naboo player, but the Trade Federation has ya on this one
3. Anikin to the control ship- Well, the Trade Federation really can't win because Anakin can only be slowed down, not destroyed. It might take a while, but eventually Anakin will get to the Control Ship and the Nabbo player will win that particular battle
4. Dual of the Fates- I think the Nabbo player has a slight advantage, but there is no guarentee on how this will go
All in all, it's a great game, it's fun, not very educational, (but hey, how educational can a boardgame based on a Starwars movie be right?) but their is a slight durability problem. The figures are fairly durable, but the Theed Palace board is not. It is not very secure and falls easily if bumped into. I think it should have been made a little better, and you have to be careful when moving the pices on this board. I definetly recommend it to others though and I hope anyone who buys it has as much fun with it as I do.
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