Sunday, April 07, 2013

Game Review: Star Wars X-Wing


with penknife in hand... time to surgically remove the shrinkwrap

There was quite a bit of buzz with the X-Wing miniatures game and I've heard plenty of good things about it. Once, I saw this guy buy a whole truck load of X-Wing models at the recent PI warehouse sale... can't go very far wrong with such avid displays of fanatism, right?

So thinking it was a good miniatures game to start getting my boys involved in gaming, I got a copy... Of course.... I would like to try out the game too...

Fast forward and with the game in hand, and with perhaps more enthusiasm than my kids, I opened the shrinkwrap... And thus I begin my review.

The game is a compact miniatures game boasting an introductory set of rules along with the full set of rules. It's pretty self contained with very little fixing up to do, which is nice to get started quickly whilst the kids are clamoring all over me to get their grimy hands on my new toys. Components are printed on sturdy thick cardboard which seems to be the trend nowadays. But it's a nice touch as it is definitely more durable and easier to hold.

Components, with the lid just lifted. Note the hardboard counter components..

Let me be clear, this review is based on the introductory 'quick start' rules. As the main game is definitely more complex and would require the adult to break up the game into bite sized chunks to allow kids to understand the game. However, the intro game is simple and elegant. Allowing my 6 and 9 year olds to get into the cockpits of their fighters and get stuck in. It is good that each player only controls one to two models which slowly prepares them to control bigger scale games in the future.

The intro game focuses on basic movement and attacking concepts. This is nice because the game play moves smoothly and there is enough action to engage the kids, with enough expansion options to make the game more exciting. The main game has large strategic potential, focusing on elaborate space flight maneuvers, different damage levels and stress levels on pilots, not to mention different skill levels of the pilots. I believe this game will be quite fun for both adults and kids. I will probably write another review when my kids can ascend into the next level, and we have several games under our belt.

Now, it didn't take long for the kids to zoom around with their X-wings and TIE fighters but I soon realized that they lacked a sense of engagement. Then I realized that these kids of the new generation wouldn't know what an X-wing was. They've not watched Star Wars before! Even if they did, they only watched snippets of the newer episodes whilst their dad was watching; nonetheless, the X-wings never appeared.

A quick search on YouTube soon resulted in wide eyed kids staring at the screen whilst the X-wings swooped around blasting their cannons during the space battle sequences. It was cool when the X-wings opened their S-foils into attack position. I must admit that, despite the 20-30 years on, the space battles still looked good. There was something real that the new age digital graphics cannot bring to bear. But I digress...

So, a box of models, and 15 minutes on YouTube and you'll get yourself a whole series of entertaining game sessions that will bring people into the world of miniature games.

Young Rebel Alliance Pilots wannabes!

1 comment:

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