I’m a huge Star Wars fan, let’s just get that out of the way now. I grew up playing “X-Wing” on the PC. In those days, you installed games via 3 1/2 disks and created a boot disk so you could boot the PC to DOS in order to have enough memory to run your games. This was “before the dark times, before the Empire.” Still, it was light-years ahead of DOS Text Adventures. Anywho, fast-forward through about two-dozen “Star Wars” games later and we come to “Star Wars: Outer Rim” and later its expansion, “Unfinished Business”. This game focuses more on the scum and villainy as opposed to plight of the Rebel Alliance against the Empire. Kind of like Mos Eisley Spaceport, because you’ll never find a more wretched hive…I’ll stop now.
1-4 Players, Ages 14+, Average Playtime = 2.5-3 hours
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Setup Overview
Players choose a character and select one of two starting ships (with slightly different move/attack/hull stats). Characters range from smuggler days Han Solo to bounty hunter Boba Fett to job-hunting Doctor Aphra (she’s from the comic books). You get more characters with the expansion, among other things. The board itself is actually shaped like a giant horseshoe lined with familiar planets from one end to the other. Patrol tokens from the four NPC factions are set up (Imperials, Rebels, Hutts, and Syndicate) and the six deck market is formed. Players get some starting credits along with a starting job or cargo card that also defines their starting position.
There’s a lot more. For a complete components listing and more in-depth setup rules, check out the rulebook linked below:
Core Rulebook: https://cdn.1j1ju.com/medias/de/3e/2b-star-wars-outer-rim-learn-to-play.pdf
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Gameplay Overview
The purpose of the game is to reach ten fame, though you can adjust that number for a shorter or longer game. To get fame, players will primarily be delivering illegal cargo, completing jobs by performing a variety of skill checks, fighting NPC patrols in combat, and completing bounties on the NPC token characters (called contacts) randomly scattered (and hidden) across the planets.
On a player’s turn, they’ll resolve three steps, in order:
1. Planning Step – Move a distance up to your ship’s speed value OR gain 2,000 credits OR recover all damage to character & ship.
2. Action Step – Trade with another player on your space AND/OR buy a market card if on a planet AND/OR deliver cargo / bounty cards AND/OR resolve certain abilities…in any order.
3. Encounter Step – Engage a patrol (forced if negative rep with that faction) OR draw an encounter card matching your space OR reveal / encounter a contact at a planet OR resolve certain abilities.
The above is as simple as I can make it. I have not covered skill tags / tests, space & ground combat rules, personal and ship goals, purchasing new ships and attaching gear / mods / crew / cargo to your character / ship, attempting jobs, patrols, the special Maelstrom space, and more. To keep the review at a respectable length, I’ll opt to direct your attention to the many videos we’ve posted over time, conveniently linked below for your viewing pleasure.
Expansion Differences / Additional Content
*You can opt to include Ambitions which are hidden objectives players attempt to complete to win the game, as opposed to relying solely on fame.
*New market cards, character cards, encounter cards, databank cards, orange contact tokens, debt tokens, ship sheets, and more.
*2 core world endcaps that fit on the ends of the horseshoe shaped board with the ability to fly from one end to the other.
*Debt tokens allow players to promise favors. When Player A has Player B’s debt token for example, Player A can hand it back in to force a trade, typically along the lines of borrowing a skill tag like “piloting” or “tech” for a skill roll.
*Some cards have a new rotate effect…when you do the primary thing you rotate it 180 degrees and observe the new thing.
You can learn more about the above and other things I haven’t mentioned by checking out the rulebook below.
Expansion Rulebook: https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/b8/a9/b8a953a5-26da-4f15-88a8-5eecc3eaa4df/sw07_outerrim_rulebook_v2-compressed.pdf
The Review
I’ve played this game off and on for the past year or two and yes, it really is better with the expansion. I still recommend playing without ambitions your first couple times out as you’ll have enough trouble trying to look up rule questions, like if you can fight your own crew members and turn them in to complete bounties (yes, you can!). There’s a learning curve, no doubt about it. Find someone who knows how to play and teach for the best experience. The rulebook is okay, but there’s a lot to sift through including the separate rules reference glossary that Fantasy Flight typically includes.
I avoided getting into the rules too deeply as some rules changed via errata and because of the expansion. For example, before buying a market card, you could cycle a card (place the top visible card onto the bottom of the deck and draw a new one). I believe it was the expansion (not certain) that introduced the possibility of two cycles rather than one. AI rules changed a bit too, as the expansion included new bounty hunter AI cards that actively sought targets / contacts around the board. The old cards were focused more on cargo delivery and completing jobs. If you buy both the core game and the expansion, take your time with it and don’t stress too much about getting it all right all at once.
I love the characters and how they each have a unique ability along with a personal goal. By completing your personal goal, you can flip your character to the other side for some kind of permanent benefit. Han Solo wants a better ship, Jyn Erso wants to pass skill checks on Imperial planets, Boba Fett, to no one’s surprise, wants to gain rewards from bounties. Your strategies for earning fame will change based on character selection. In the last game where I played as Ketsu Onyo, I had to win combat encounters. I eventually bought the Aggressor-Class Assault Fighter for its ship goal: win two combats against patrols to gain a fame and flip the ship sheet. I would never voluntarily go after patrols as you take reputation losses affecting other events, but there I was picking fights with everybody. As you may have surmised by now, each ship you can buy has different stats and goals as well.
That said, the game can be unfair and some characters feel stronger than others. Jyn Erso and Doctor Aphra can both pretty much insta-win any skill check. The former lets you turn a focus die into a crit (instant success) and the latter lets you pick ANY skill you want and you get it for that check. More matching skills for the dice / skill checks means rolling a success is easier. No matching skills = crit needed, 1 matching skill = hit or crit needed, and 2+matching skills = focus, hit, or crit needed. The eight-sided die mirrors that of Fantasy Flight’s “X-Wing Miniatures” in that there are 2 blanks, 2 focus, 3 hits, and 1 crit symbol. We played “Outer Rim” last week with a friend who was Jyn for his first ever game and he destroyed us. Last night, we agreed to avoid certain characters and the score was much closer.
The market deck is very diverse, consisting of gear cards for character and ship buffs, bounties for finding / fighting contacts and earning credits & fame, jobs for doing a gauntlet of skill tests for credits & fame, regular & illegal cargo for credits & fame, luxuries for ultra-expensive jobs & gear, and ships for sale to replace your starter ship. You’ll sometimes find other cards in these decks. Each planet on the board has an event card deck tied to it.. If you don’t feel like resolving contact tokens you can draw a card for the planet you’re on (navpoint cards in space) and take your chances. Keep that reputation up across the four factions to avoid misfortunes! You’ll want all the things, but your ship and character only have so many slots of each type. Tough decisions abound!
Databank cards are numbered cards you draw when the game tells you to, kind of like a choose your own adventure book. If you flip a contact token and meet Greedo, you’ll pull card “12” and read it. Some databank cards have multiple of that number so you don’t know which event you’ll get when you encounter the thing. Delivering illegal cargo, for example, will have you draw one of four “1” cards should you fail the check. I love these, but after ten plus plays you start to know what each contact / event typically wants. I would love more variety and more databank cards to keep my ever-weaving story from becoming predictable.
As I eluded to above, “Star Wars: Outer Rim” can be an unfair game. It’s quite swingy and runaway leaders happen often, at least in the games I play. Dice will screw you over and cause you to fail jobs and lose in combat. I had to rethink my approach to this game and come at it thinking, “I’m going to lose, let’s just have fun with it.” I’ve loved the game more ever since. “Star Wars: Outer Rim” is a game where the journey is more important than the end result. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll make uneasy alliances (sometimes forced with the debt token). You’ll make enemies. In our post-games, we tend to discuss how our characters got to where we were rather than mull over how we could have played better. Honestly, that’s how every game should be.
As long as you come at “Star Wars: Outer Rim” with the expectation that things will not always go your way, you’ll be fine. We have a friend who got really upset because he had rolled 7 dice against 3 in a ground combat bounty roll and lost. I mention this not to call him out, but to warn you of the obstacles in playing with people who love to win a little too much. There is PVP in this game. Some characters and events will task you with seeking out other players and fighting or stealing from them. You can take a bounty for a contact that someone else has as crew on their ship and go after them. In our play sessions, we’ve mutually agreed to avoid PVP bounties and characters to keep things casual. You can do the same, if you wish.
I was skeptical of this game at first as I was more of an “X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter” kind of Star Wars fan…I didn’t care much for the lore behind the scum and villainy. I’m glad I wormed out of the Sarlacc Pit (metaphorical comfort zone) and gave this a try. I love this game and I want more, plain and simple. A co-op mode would have been cool, perhaps I’ll invent one some day. I highly recommend trying the Tabletop Simulator mod in case you’re on the fence. It’s scripted and very well done. There are a few, but I linked the one we use below:
TTS: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2951331573&searchtext=outer+rim+complete
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Final Verdict: 9/10 (Outstanding)
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