Traverse a galaxy where iconic Jedi heroes utilize the familiar gameplay mechanisms of the Pandemic series in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Planets under siege populate the game board as players take on the role of legendary Jedi traveling from battle to battle, teaming up and fighting off the Separatist threat. Battle droids attack on sight, and a planet invaded by too many will fall under a blockade, hindering Jedi from liberating it from the enemy or accomplishing missions.
Players must work together to confront the onslaught of droids by moving into their spaces and engaging them in combat, utilizing dice and squad cards to deal damage and push back the threat. In between battles, players move from planet to planet, battling more droids, crushing blockades, completing missions to turn the tide of war, and facing off against iconic villains.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - How To Play
TDG Live: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
- Really do enjoy the way this game works.
- Love the pandemic system.
- It's a fun system.
- Jedi leading clone troopers against bad guys
- Star Wars universe
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- cooperative play — Implied by the nature of leading troopers against bad guys and handling goals together.
- Pandemic System — Utilizes the core mechanics of the Pandemic game system for gameplay.
- Set Collection — Players likely collect sets of cards or components to achieve goals.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
- I really do enjoy the way this game works.
- I love the pandemic system that's used.
- It's it's almost become like a a household uh name at this point, right? As far as board games are concerned, it's that good of a system.
- Vindication is a great game where you're whatever your whatever your starting story is. You're thrown off of a ship, you're kicked overboard, you're thrown out of a plane, it doesn't matter. You end up on this island and you're there to vindic vindicate yourself by collecting cubes, turning them into other cubes, exploring this island, buying pets, um you know, getting new modes of transportation.
- I don't know how to explain vindication. It is such a cool little game. Not a cool little game, it's a cool big game.
- Vindication's a fantastic game. It really is.
- Um, I just don't want to play it anymore until I get to play Vestage. though.
- And then you're like, "Oh, I'm just pushing cubes around the board. OH, THAT'S NOT FUN AT ALL."
- having Scythe in this list and Vindication in this list, dungeon pets in this list,
References (from this video)
- Fun cooperative game
- Pandemic feel
- One of the better pandemic games
- Fighting the droid army during the Clone Wars
- The Clone Wars era
- Pandemic
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card Play — you're moving around the galaxy and you're playing these cards and activating them
- Cooperative — Really fun cooperative game with that pandemic feel.
- Mission Completion — And then you're you're trying to roll them back and complete missions or different missions that you're putting out on the court.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- All right, ladies and gentlemen, going ahead to look at my numbers 90 through 81. Again, my top 100 games of all time.
- So, a lot of new games here and some older games that uh
- Really a lot of fun. So I really like Coober Libre.
- frankly is just a hoot. It is a lot of fun.
- But you cannot talk. You can't talk to each other. And so it's crazy trying to communicate just by placing these dice and hoping that the other guy understands what's going on.
- It is fantastic.
- This may be one of my absolute favorite Hex Encounter World War II games of all time.
- But this is the Barracks Emperors from GMT Games.
- Really fun cooperative game with that pandemic feel. One of the better of the pandemic games in my opinion.
- I really enjoy uh, Heat Pedal the Metal. fun racing game, fun system, very intense.
- Mystery of the Abbey is such a fun game.
- It is a very fun game. It's full of surprises and ups and downs, and you're trying to learn as much as you can without giving too much away yourself.
- Great deduction game.
- This is a game I really liked and wanted to see take off, but I just I never got never really saw too much happen.
- an absolutely fantastic game that really needs more love.
- It's just great fun and it's very inventive the way they're using the cards here.
- I really quite enjoyed it.
- I I I think Expeditions to me is just a much more fun game.
- I love the world building here and the artwork here, the components. They did a great job.
- really, really fun game.
- Do you like these games? Do you not like these games? Would you put them higher? Would you put them lower? not here at all. Let me know what you think.
References (from this video)
- familiar Pandemic mechanisms with Star Wars IP
- cooperative play fits thematic exploration
- IP-based Pandemic-style cooperative play
- Galaxy; Jedi Heroes; battles
- familiar Pandemic gameplay mechanisms
- Pandemic
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Cooperative Game — players work together to confront threats
- cooperative play — players work together to confront threats
- familiar Pandemic mechanisms (cooperative, dice and card-driven actions) — transcript indicates use of Pandemic-style mechanics in this IP-based adaptation
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I think a lot of people are going to be going back to the lands between fighting for their life sometime soon
- fighting ground battles in a dice free combat system which I'll be honest did pique my interest
- packed full of steam forged famous miniatures
- I love Nordic countries it might be my favorite in the series
- I'm excited to try this version out and if they come out with the Stargate and or a Star Wars version of pandemic I'm gonna lose my mind
References (from this video)
- familiar IP with solid cooperative framework
- solo mode is highly similar to multiplayer, making it approachable for solo
- cooperative mission-based play with familiar characters
- Star Wars Clone Wars era
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Cooperative Actions — players work together to complete missions against villains and droids
- Cooperative missions — players work together to complete missions against villains and droids
- Pandemic System — uses a classic pandemic-style action and event framework
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- you don't need a lot of games in your collection to be happy you just need the right ones
- this is board games for one today I'm going to take you through a collection
- it's a legacy game so if you're not familiar with what that means a legacy game means that you're following a story basically an adventure of sorts
- you make permanent changes to the game as you play
- it's not a competitive game this would be cooperative storytelling where you get to control The Narrative of Heroes in a story of your choice of five episodes
- I love you all
References (from this video)
- Thematic integration
- Accessible co-op
- Potentially longer playtime
- Cooperative survival against outbreaks
- Star Wars universe during Clone Wars
- Narrative-driven cooperative experience
- Pandemic
- The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Cooperative Game — Players work together to achieve objectives
- cooperative play — Players work together to achieve objectives
- pandemic-style mechanics — Global threats require coordination
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Originality is not something that we do.
- This isn't the Matrix.
- Hashtag BTBA 2023 this year was insanely huge.
- We completed 1,150 games this year.
- Ticket to Ride Legacy smashed it out the park.
References (from this video)
- Perfect mix of Pandemic system twist and Star Wars IP
- Love this twist on the Pandemic system
- Love the Star Wars IP
- Fighting in the Clone Wars
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars era
- Pandemic
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- cooperative play — Players work together to achieve victory conditions.
- Dice Rolling — Introduces a dice mechanism for combat or other actions.
- Mission-based objectives — Completing various missions on different planets.
- threat management — Dealing with battle droids appearing on the board.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- This is such a hilarious game we've been playing this for years with our daughters and I don't think we've ever played a game where there's not laughing happening
- the mechanisms are board gamey kind of mechanisms but the atmosphere of it is very much of a party
- This is one of those games that I think I am always in the mood for
- my whole thing with games I'm just going to let let you know this in this video in case you didn't already know is I don't really care if I win and lose as long as I'm able to accomplish something
- Season 2 was really interesting cuz you um you don't realize what had happened until about Midway through the game there's big plot twist
- I don't know how you play test things like this like how do you do it to make it so where when people play this game you know they're going to do these things so these things get revealed this way it's incredible
- one of the things I really liked about this game is how seamless the turns War it turns were it just happens
- it is crazy fun and crazy stressful but like that fun stressful cuz it's all in real time
References (from this video)
- Pandemic-engine expansion example
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Memories in the making.
- Gloomhaven. Dah! Nope.
- This is a delightful, story-focused, sticker-powered cooperative endeavor for one to six players who will use over 800 stickers to build a village that gradually shapes the countryside.
- Inis has long blended area control, card drafting, and tense negotiation with a very particular sense of mythos where timing and positioning matter just as much as brute force.
- It's fast, it's loud, it's easy to teach, and also a very good game at turning a roomful of otherwise sensible adults into reckless cackling gamblers.
- The base game already built a really nice reputation for packing sharp tableau-building decisions into a really compact package.
References (from this video)
- Strong thematic integration
- Challenging gameplay
- Cooperative experience
- Can be brutal and difficult
- Can be complex to track
- Players occasionally struggle to remember rules
- Galactic conflict and Jedi missions
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars era
- Pandemic
- Cthulhu
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card Exhaustion — Cards are exhausted for actions and only refresh at the start of a player's turn. Some effects allow discarding exhausted cards.
- character abilities — Each player character has a unique free action that influences gameplay.
- Dice rolling for combat — Dice are rolled to determine damage output in combat, with specific symbols indicating damage points.
- Hand Management — Players manage a hand of cards with a specific limit, needing to discard or play cards to avoid exceeding it.
- Mission Completion — Players must complete a series of missions, often requiring specific card types or damage output, to progress.
- Player actions — Players have a set number of actions per turn which include moving, attacking, reinforcing (drawing cards), or attempting missions.
- Threat Escalation — The game features mechanics that increase the threat level, such as placing more droids, blockades, or advancing invasion markers.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- This game is brutal.
- We were so close.
- I need you guys to remember this for me.
- We have to fight the bad guy.
References (from this video)
- Too long at higher player counts
- Too difficult for family play
- Doesn't work as well at two players
- Lack of strong IP connection for the players
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars
- Pandemic
- Pandemic Legacy
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card Play — Your cards have different powers and abilities. So, you're going around playing these cards to attack or to move further or things like that.
- Infection mechanism — The infection instead of that you're placing droids on planets.
- Mission objectives — You have these extra missions that you have to accomplish before you can attack the boss.
- Set Collection — It's not really a set collection like regular pandemic is.
- Tapping Cards — You tap the cards as you use them and can reuse them the next, uh, your next turn and stuff like that.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- So, no more keeping games that are okay. No more keeping games cuz we feel bad that we bought them. No more keeping games because they're not just exactly what we want, but they're close.
- We are being super brutal and making sure that we have the best collection for us that is possible.
- This just it's it's like our version of Comfort Food or that book that you're going to pick up every year or two and just keep rereading.
- The production is amazing. This the gameplay's not there.
- Um, and again, it's that optimization of how to build this as quickly as you can yet in such a way that you can keep everything to the end and use it the best.
- We have played 45 games from our collection and that's probably an eighth about an eighth of our collection.
- And we are at right around 30% of the games have been cold and so I'm happy with that.
References (from this video)
- Strong thematic integration of Star Wars within a Pandemic-style framework
- Diverse villain decks and mission variety add replayability
- Solid hand-management design with engaging dice mechanics
- Accessible bridge between Star Wars fans and Pandemic players
- Not the most Star Wars-centric experience for die-hard lore fans
- Some players may be put off by the Pandemic-style cadence or the learning curve
- cooperative struggle of Jedi and clone forces against the Droid separatist threat
- Clone Wars era in the Star Wars universe, set during Episode II–III timeframe
- Array
- episodic, scenario-driven progression with distinct villains and missions; theme weaves Star Wars lore into a Pandemic-style engine
- Pandemic
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- asymmetric_abilities — Different Jedi characters provide unique abilities that shape the turn order and combat outcomes.
- asymmetric_units_and_resources — Two colors of clones and various allied assets affect strategy and pacing.
- Combat: Deck/Hand — Each villain (e.g., Darth Maul, Count Dooku, General Grievous, Ventress) has a unique deck driving their special effects each turn.
- Cooperative Game — Players work together to complete missions and defeat the enemy, sharing information and resources.
- cooperative gameplay — Players work together to complete missions and defeat the enemy, sharing information and resources.
- dice resolution — A combat die is rolled to determine additional successes and potential damage in attacks.
- Hand Management — Players manage a hand of cards representing clones; Anakin’s ability allows treating all cards as red clones for a turn.
- mission-based_progression — Missions are assigned to planets; progress requires card usage, vehicle requirements, and dice results to advance and complete objectives.
- threat_and_invasion_tracks — A threat tracker and invasion deck push the game toward victory or loss as the board escalates.
- Track Advancement — Missions are assigned to planets; progress requires card usage, vehicle requirements, and dice results to advance and complete objectives.
- variable_villain_decks — Each villain (e.g., Darth Maul, Count Dooku, General Grievous, Ventress) has a unique deck driving their special effects each turn.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Limitless play in this box
- hand management... I really liked how hand management worked
- you can still get behind the mechanics in the game and still try to play that way
- four different villains in this game
- four different scenarios essentially that you can play
- Star Wars is great
- the more cards you have in your mission deck the more challenging the game is
- it's a pandemic style game taking place in that specific time period
References (from this video)
- cooperative mission-based play in a war context
- Star Wars Clone Wars setting with Jedi vs Separatist Droids
- Pandemic
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Actions system — On a turn, players may perform up to four actions in any order, repeating actions is allowed.
- Ally cards — Allies can be played in front of you; they discard to use effects and can be used by others if needed; they don't cost actions.
- Armor cards — Armor cards prevent damage; can be exhausted.
- Attack and damage resolution — Roll attack die; symbols deal damage to enemies; multiple damage types; can boost with Assault/Stealth cards and exhaust them.
- Blockade — Blockade blocks Jedi from affecting missions or attackers until removed.
- Boosting and exhaust mechanics — Squad cards (assault/stealth) add damage to attacks; to use them you exhaust the cards.
- deck management — Shuffle and manage multiple decks (invasion, mission, squad, villain) with discards and reshuffles as needed.
- Engine Building: Efficiency — Squad cards (assault/stealth) add damage to attacks; to use them you exhaust the cards.
- Fly movement — Move your Jedi between planets through connected lines; can use Transport cards to move twice.
- Invasion/Threat/Blockade mechanics — Invasion cards spawn droids and blockades; occupy planets; threat and invasion tracks drive the game; blockades prevent certain actions until removed.
- Mission action — Attempt missions on planets; missions require successes rolled plus contributed cards; when successful, complete and resolve effects; when failed, suffer damage.
- Ready and Exhaust Phase — At start of turn, prepare cards; exhausted cards are rotated sideways to show they can't be used until ready next turn.
- Reinforce action / Squad deck — Draw a card from the squad deck; squad cards go face up; cards are in play when drawn.
- Villain phase and finale — Villains are activated; their decks and exclamation marks cause effects; finale mission triggers at end; if threat reaches end, players lose.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Star Wars the Clone Wars designed by Alexander Ortloff and published by Z-Man Games
- you and the other players will be working together to complete all of the missions that were placed beside the board during the setup
- The game is played over a series of turns starting with the first player and going clockwise around and around the table
- on your turn you'll perform four steps starting with readying cards
- there are a variety of them but just know that you can do these actions in any order and even perform the same action more than once
- the fly action move your Jedi from the planet it's currently on to any Planet connected to it
- attack roll this die and for each of these symbols showing on the side rolled deal one damage to an enemy on your planet
- anytime you use Squad cards for their effects you must exhaust them by rotating them sideways
- the mission action you can take when on a planet showing either of these Mission markers
- the finale and win in this case we must satisfy the conditions of this Mission located on Celeste
- you can play facing different villains for new challenges
- solo you'll find those rules here
- if you'd like to support us directly you can join our patreon team
References (from this video)
- Speed painting speeds up the process and delivers quick results.
- Beginners can get into painting with accessible techniques.
- Live demonstration with clear step-by-step guidance.
- Speed paints can be tricky to control and harder to fix mistakes.
- Potential for splotchy results on flat surfaces; color bleeding if not careful.
- Requires careful dilution and brush technique; not all paints behave the same.
- miniature painting of Star Wars characters
- Star Wars Clone Wars era
- tutorial/demo with live painting and commentary
- Cthulhu Wars
- Blood Rage
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- "This is speed painting and it will shorten the time between you painting and getting your minis to the table"
- "everyone's very accessible"
- "Slap Chop"
- "if you want me to start painting Minis on there let me know"
References (from this video)
- Star Wars theme for fans
- not designed by Matt Leacock; uses a Pandemic-like system but falls short
- one of the reviewer’s least favorite Pandemic-style games
- Cooperative/system-driven conflict
- Star Wars universe with Pandemic-style gameplay
- IP-driven, midweight cooperative
- Pandemic
- Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Cooperative Game — Crisis management and cooperative actions driven by a shared game board.
- Pandemic-style system — Crisis management and cooperative actions driven by a shared game board.
- Scenario / Mission / Campaign Game — Missions influence board state and player choices.
- Scenario-driven objectives — Missions influence board state and player choices.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I don't love the game, but it is it's one of those things where if the game looked different, had a different theme, (or) presentation, it may well have made it into my collection.
- It looks flat. It looks almost like bad clip art.
- It's basically a video game adaptation that should have been adapted and wasn't.
- I bounced hard off Anachrony.
- I would rather just play Small World.
References (from this video)
- Strong Star Wars theme and character synergy
- Engaging cooperative play and solo parity with two Jedi
- Good replay potential from multiple Jedi, map placements, and mission variety
- Accessible, approachable rule set for a family/gateway audience
- Board and map artwork/graphic design feel underwhelming for a Star Wars theme
- Limited difficulty options beyond adding missions; no simultaneous multi-villain campaigns
- Price point $60 may be high for casual gamers, and it’s heavily driven by minis/IP
- Jedi versus villains in cinematic Clone Wars missions
- Star Wars Clone Wars era, crossover across planets in a war-torn galaxy
- cinematic, mission-driven, cooperative
- Imperial Assault
- Star Wars: Rebellion
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Cooperative Game — players work together to complete missions and manage threats
- cooperative play — players work together to complete missions and manage threats
- dice combat with card-based mitigation — combat uses dice rolls enhanced by card abilities to attack or defend
- Hand Management — seven-card hand limit; cards can be exhausted and refreshed to reuse abilities
- hand management and card exhaustion/refresh — seven-card hand limit; cards can be exhausted and refreshed to reuse abilities
- mission system with randomized draws and escalating difficulty — missions are drawn from a stack; difficulty can scale by adding more missions
- Pandemic-style threat management — threat meter increases as fires and droids appear; depleting the threat meter leads to loss
- reinforced draw and hand limit — draw-to-hand mechanic with a seven-card cap; excess cards must be discarded
- solo vs multiplayer parity — solo mode uses two Jedi with a marker; multiplayer scales with number of players
- two attack types: stealth and assault — attacks come in stealth or assault variants; you must choose one type per attack
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- does it live up to expectations is this a fun playable solo game that truly channels the power of the Jedi
- I'm playing Star Wars when I play this game
- this is a pandemic system game which means it runs largely the same as pandemic
- the board doesn't scream Star Wars to me
- it's a casual game
References (from this video)
- Strong Star Wars theming
- Cooperative play with accessible entry point
- Rule complexity and reading may be required
- cooperative missions vs droids and Sith
- Star Wars universe; Clone Wars era
- cinematic, action-oriented
- Pandemic
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Cooperative Game — Team-based missions with shared objectives and escalating challenges.
- pandemic system (cooperative) — Team-based missions with shared objectives and escalating challenges.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Fathers and Sons should play games together so don't panic
- it's a simple idea, super fun
- Twisted chess
- it's not for your Cooperative playing Son this will stress him out don't do it to him
- Small Islands beautiful artwork lots of strategy
- I adore this game I think this is a family game and this is a father-son game
- this is a great father-son night
References (from this video)
- Thematic Star Wars integration
- cooperative feel
- Can be heavy for new players
- galactic conflict, clone wars
- Star Wars universe
- pandemic-style territory control
- Pandemic
- Descent
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- pandemic-system — Card-driven, resource and territory management akin to Pandemic.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's time to rate your shelfies
- I'm good with numbers
- this collection is crazy gamer like
- Dune Imperium good choice, my preferred mechanic is deck building
- Star Wars Clone Wars uses the Pandemic system
- the bigger the Box the better with this guy
- I'm not into board games at all
References (from this video)
- High interest game
- Licensed IP
- Military tactics
- Star Wars universe
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I used to call this a shelf of shame that was a pretty common thing to call it back in the day and I don't never really liked that term because I don't feel shame that I haven't got to these games
- this is mostly work like this is just a backload of things I probably should get to
- people will still be looking for it
- it doesn't matter if the game is like 20 years old people will still be looking for it
- I've painted this one and I spent a lot of time doing it
- there's no point putting them on the channel I think both of them have been out of print for like a decade
- one of the worst kickstarters by one of the worst studios in board gaming history
- Golden Bell Studios did everything wrong you could possibly think of
- purely toxic company run by incredibly terrible people
- it would be kind of a joke that I'd be able to do a three minute video of feudum
- this game has a tutorial video online that's like 40 minutes long
- The Rose explanation video feels like a parody but it's actually how the game is played
- nothing personally to me puts me off playing a game that then sitting down unboxing it and having a craft assignment
- stop making me spend hours assembling your damn games
- this is an uncontrollable mess right now
- I'm a full-time dad and I'm really doing this in the evenings
- I have a finite space and also it just puts pressure and stress on me having a whole bunch of crap there that I know I'm not going to get to
- I'm going to do a big cull
- I will be published by this company but that doesn't mean I'm going to be slavishly devoted to every single game they put out
- I am a sucker for cute animal games like I really am
References (from this video)
- loved Clone Wars theme
- engaging crew interactions
- as a co-op, can be too forgiving for some players
- cooperative/competitive star saga
- Star Wars universe; Clone Wars era
- episodic mission-based
- Pandemic
- The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- card management — play cards to trigger actions and events
- Team coordination — players coordinate to handle threats
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- we are raiding our last 16 games yes from 2022
- we slept on that one too
- it's a gateway game
- I love the little wagons
- I love the Terracotta soldiers