Club Jade

Looking for some new Mara Jade artwork? Fantasy Flight Games slid a few image of Mara Jade into the base set of Star Wars: The Card Game, which came out in December. The game features artwork on all of the cards, ranging from concept art from Ralph McQuarrie to new artwork done for Fantasy Flight. While not directly named on any cards, Mara Jade makes her appearance as the Emperor’s Hand on two cards in the Sith deck sets for the Dark Side player.

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After more than a year of tweaking, Fantasy Flight Games has finally released Star Wars: The Card Game. First announced and demoed at Gencon 2011 as a cooperative game, it has apparently been revamped to be a competitive two-player game, where players use strategy to battle for galactic supremacy in the original trilogy era.

Unlike the previous constructed deck Star Wars card games (such as from Decipher, Wizards of the Coast, and WizKids) that were sold in packs, this game comes as a single box set, and from the box contents, it seems that there’s a lot of tokens for this Living Card Game.

But is it any good? Designer Nate French does have a good track record – three of his other Living Card Games are in the top 20 in the Customizable category on BoardGameGeek, while Fantasy Flight has a few other titles in the top twenty (including their Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game).

While the main set (retails for $40) may be coming out a little late for the holiday season, Fantasy Flight does have its eye on future expansion, with two Hoth-themed supplemental sets due in early 2013. Meanwhile, check out the rules of the game online or listen to a fan-produced podcast.

Does this seem awfully quick to you? In any case, upgrade your installation of Angry Birds Star Wars today to get the 20 free Hoth levels, which finally introduce the Princess Leia bird.

Remember when we thought this was going to be the big news for the rest of the year? We were so innocent then.

Angry Birds Star Wars is free (with ads) for Android phones, $0.99 for i0S devices, $2.99 for the iPad and Android tablets, and $4.99 for the Mac. (Another device? Try this.)

If you can’t spare a moment now, go check out what the game’s art director, Toni Kysenius, had to say about the game’s design on the official blog. There’s more art – both pro and fan – at their Tumblr.

UPDATE: And here’s one of the first reviews of that game that I’ve seen, from Kotaku’s Mike Fahey. Spoiler: He likes it.

Played it? Let us know what you think!

With the big news this week, we’ve been neglecting what we thought would be the big event for the next few weeks: the release of Angry Birds Star Wars on November 8, as Rovio has quietly released a few more gameplay videos. Artoo and Threepio you can see above, with a few more under the cut. (more…)

(Skip to .25 to see actual gameplay.) Well… That’s not what I was expecting? At least, the Leia bird looks like it has a much more useful ability than the original pink bird in Seasons.

Looks like the push is on. StarWars.com has the details, including a look at all the revamped birds. And don’t fear – it looks like the game is hitting all the major platforms: iOS, Android, Amazon Kindle Fire, Mac, PC, Windows Phone, and Windows 8

We get our first real peek at the Star Wars Angry Birds via merchandise, naturally, thanks to Idol Hands. Of course Leia is the pink one. Sigh. (via)

Finally, a Star Wars game I will actually play! It seems like there have been fan versions of this almost as long as we’ve had Angry Birds themselves…

Anyway, your confirmation: Their just-launched Tumblr posted the above GIF today, along with the following text:

Times Square, New York, October 8th, 10am EST.

HINT: Head to Toys R Us at 8am EST!

Seeing as they have done film tie-ins and their latest game is space-themed, this isn’t unprecedented. Stay tuned…

UPDATE: Fast Company has a few more details… For instance, Luke Skywalker will be replacing the game’s default Red Bird. Lucasfilm and Rovio will be releasing more tie ins – the article mentions toys, apparel, bedding and a Jenga-inspired board game – so don’t expect to get off easy, collectors. (via)

Fantasy Flight Games, which picked up the license for Star Wars role-playing, card, and miniatures games last year has introduced a beta version of their upcoming Star Wars Role Playing Game at this weekend’s Gen Con in Indianapolis. They’ve also finally released their X-Wing Miniatures Game.

The role-playing game will be beta tested in three installments, and the first, entitled Edge of the Empire, is available (the 224 page rulebook is $30) at GenCon, online, and some select retailers. The game introduces the use of unique, custom dice as part of the gameplay, and includes sticker sheets to customize your own dice. Edge of the Empire focuses on characters at the fringes of society: those in the Outer Rim, and assorted scum and villainy. An Obligation game mechanic will help provide narrative for why the characters are out on the Rim, and what are they running from.

The upcoming beta installments, Age of Rebellion, will focus on being part of the Rebel Alliance, and bringing the fight to the Empire, while Force and Destiny introduces the powers of the Jedi… and being wanted by the Empire. Ben at Word of the Nerd has been gathering some of the buzz at Gen Con about the game, and wonders if it can top the popularity of the last RPG. 30 bucks to beta test a role playing game? I can understand the printing costs…. but… if you end up testing all 3 installments, you might be out close to a Benjamin, for something that is not the final version of the game. (Who they will make their money on: Wookiepedians!)

At Gen Con 2011, Fantasy Flight Games demoed versions of their co-op card game and X-Wing minis game. This year, the X-Wing Miniatures Game has launched, and is available at Gen Con (until it sells out), and Fantasy Flight has put the core rules up online and held a tournament for the game on Friday.

FFG will be at Celebration VI (booth 739) and has announced they will be selling (and demoing) X-Wing. I’m sure that they will also be pushing the Edge of the Empire RPG installment.

Will we also see the card game at some point? It was supposed to come out in the spring, but it was pushed back as they kept tweaking it to make it more epic (and perhaps less akin to their existing Living Card Games).