The designer behind Star Wars board games Imperial Assault and Rebellion is returning to the galaxy far, far away with a new co-op game based on spin-off series The Mandalorian.
The Mandalorian: Adventures marks the first time since 2019’s open-galaxy exploration game Star Wars: Outer Rim that Corey Konieczka has worked in the enduring sci-fi universe, having departed publisher Fantasy Flight Games after 14 years to open experimental studio Unexpected Games that same year. Unexpected will be the publisher of the new board game.
The upcoming board game will specifically adapt the first season of the Disney+ show, which follows Pedro Pascal’s helmeted bounty hunter Din Djarin as he protects ‘baby Yoda’ Grogu from falling into the grasp of Werner Herzog’s mysterious client and Giancarlo Esposito’s post-Empire villain Moff Gideon.
Eight characters from Mandalorian’s first season will be able to join forces, including the titular Mando and enemy-turned-ally tracker droid IG-11 (Taika Waititi impression optional). Each character has a unique deck of skill cards they can use during scenarios to battle and work towards a variety of objectives, which will vary depending on the mission - each based on “iconic moments” from the show.
Those missions will play out in a ringbound book that forms the game’s board and displays the different setup process, win conditions and map rules for each scenario. The maps themselves look to be hex-based, with the players’ character standees and tokens representing enemies moving around the top-down view of environments and buildings as they spar.
The combination of card-driven cooperative combat, different decks for each character and the use of hex-grid maps and unique scenarios in a book-board brought to mind dungeon-crawling Gloomhaven for me - in particular its beginner-friendly spin-off Jaws of the Lion.