Star Wars Villainous – Scum and Villainy Expandalone Experience Review

Disney Villainous is one of my family’s favourite games, and thanks to Ravensburger we’ve had the opportunity to not only review many of them, but own almost all of them! Recently we were sent Star Wars Villainous: Scum and Villainy to review, and after a few times at the table, I think it’s one of the more balanced Villainous boxes that has been released yet. Still, are each of the experiences on their own worth playing, or are fun to play? Let’s take a look!

What is Villainous

If you are unfamiliar, Villainous is a long-running franchise from Ravensburger based on Disney, Star Wars, and Marvel villains. Each franchise has it’s own Villainous line of games (Disney Villainous, Star Wars Villainous, and Marvel Villainous). Each villain plays a bit differently – every character has a specific goal you will need to accomplish to win the game, but no two villains are the same. In that way, it’s a very asymmetrical experience, but once you understand the core concepts that apply to all players, then you can really play any villain.

Some Villainous characters are definitely harder to play than others, and there is some variability in gameplay based on how much others pick on you. Generally, with a few exceptions, Ravensburger has been really good at balancing all the characters they have released so far.

Players will take turns drawing cards and playing cards from their hands, paying power/credits to place cards that might be effects, conditions, allies, and more. Ultimately, all cards played need to help players achieve their goal.

Included in the Box

Scum and Villainy is an expandalone experience, which means you can mix it into standard Star Wars Villainous, but it can also be played on it’s own as a three player experience. Everything you need for up to three players is included in the box, so even Star Wars fans who don’t want to make huge investments are able to play this game for a reasonable price.

I’ve really appreciated that Ravesnburger has gone this route with the Villainous franchise – I love that, if you don’t want them all, or you just want to try it out, you can generally purchase on of the less expensive 3-character  versions of the game and still enjoy all the same gameplay, just at a lower player count.

While the main Star Wars Villainous experience included many of the more mainstream villains in the game, the thing about Star Wars is that there are MANY famous and popular villains. Included in Scum and Villainy is the box art character Boba Fett, Cade Bane, and Seventh Sister.

How it Plays

When playing various versions of Disney Villainous, the number one thing I always want to see is a form of equal balancing. That always cannot be achieved as many of these decks are dependent on what cards you get into your hands, but more times than not, a balanced experience makes the game the most fun.

I’ve talked at length before how I hate playing as Thanos in the Marvel Villainous box as winning with him seems impossible. In some ways, I do think that winning with Boba Fett in this game is fairly difficult, especially if you get fated early and often.

What I do like, however, is that outside of a few tedious things to remember for Boba Fett around bounties and contracts, all of these characters are fairly easy to play. Sometimes, I find the Villainous characters a bit over complicated for no real reason, but all of these are straightforward, and I really enjoyed that.

Overall Impressions

I think Disney Villainous is one of the better game franchises currently available – if I was picking a franchise to keep on my shelf, I’d be picking this one over Ticket to Ride, Dominion, Catan, and others. We get a lot of play out of each Villainous box, and this expansions is no exception. It is a well balanced box, and the character selection for this was fantastic.

If you are a Star Wars fan and perhaps on the fence about Disney Villainous, this is a great box to get you started. If you are a long time Villainous fan, you’ll understand my gripes about balancing, and will enjoy how equal this box feels!