Villainous: Cold Tactics review

Villainous: Cold Tactics is a standalone expansion for the Star Wars Villainous line of the popular Villainous series of games. That’s a lot of Villainous. Cold Tactics introduces Grand Admiral Thrawn and Count Dooku to the game in what is sure to be a duel for the ages. Grand strategist vs master duelist. Sounds epic. In reality, not so much.

To start, I should note that I am a big fan of the regular Villainous game and its many expansions. Hit the Villainous link at the bottom of the page, and you can see all of the reviews we have done across the product line. I did not, however, review or play the core box for the Star Wars version. When I read my coworker Dan’s review of that box and saw that he gave it a 70 (which is a “Good” score), I was interested to see how it compared to the original game and where it may fall short, since I have consistently rated the original version higher. While Dan’s lower score largely comes down to him just not enjoying the core gameplay of Villainous as much as I do, unfortunately, I do think Cold Tactics falls short. 

Star Wars Villainous adds two new concepts to the game. A new currency in the form of Ambition and a new gameplay mechanic with ships that add in-game effects and function as temporary locations. Ambition trickles in automatically each turn with 1 free income, and then each character will have cards that allow you to gather more in various ways. The Power in the original Villainous has been replaced with Credits here, but functionally, it’s just money to pay for cards. The Ambition idea is interesting, but in execution, it turns the game into a slog. Every time I played this game, I was absolutely drowning in Credits, while spending numerous turns doing absolutely nothing to progress the game, while trying to get more Ambition. Then you toss in each player having cards or Fate effects that remove your Ambition, and it can be extremely frustrating. Rather than an interesting dual economy, Ambition is just a worse Credit, but everything you want to do needs it. 

The ships are also a let-down. Admittedly, they do some cool things, but they are bad for gameplay. Like Dan, I also found that you could play whole games without ever using them. When you do use them, though, it hurts. One key mechanic with ships is that if they are not countered, they reduce your opponent's hand size. In a game where you only get four cards, that is devastating. Combine that with the painful pace of Ambition, and you might as well quit if you get crippled by a ship and don’t have one of your own ready to counter it. Ships are either irrelevant or game-breaking. Whichever way they go, they are not adding to the fun. 

Setting the mechanics aside, I’m just not sure Star Wars is a good fit for Villainous. The original works so well because the classic Disney Villains have very clear and simple aims. Prince John just wants a pile of money. Ursula is jealous of Ariel. Scar wants to be King. These are kids' movies, and the simplistic plots and characters translate into clear game ideas. Star Wars features much more complex characters with complex motivations. Thrawn is a brilliant strategist dealing with xenophobia within the Empire, jealousy from inferior officers, and a quest to understand other cultures and peoples, if only to better destroy them. How do you put that in Villainous? In Cold Tactics, Thrawn has to get the Chimera over a location, then he has to spend a pile of slowly earned Ambition to learn about the culture, simplified by claiming a token, then spend another pile of Ambition to subjugate the people with the Chimera. Then do that three more times. It’s not tactical, it’s tedious. It’s abstracted so much to fit within the Villainous format that it has become lifeless, and if you removed Thrawn’s name from the box and filled in any random bag guy, it could be mechanically the same.

Dooku is slightly more interesting. He has plots spread across the galaxy that he needs to implement. These take, you guessed it, a big pile of Ambition to execute. Once you get them set up, though, they unlock additional effects that improve your game. I would like these a lot if it weren’t for the already mentioned slow buildup of Ambition. The problem with Dooku, though, is that he is a master duelist. I know this box is intended to play into the Tactics and Strategy aspect of two great leaders, but a Dooku box where he gets to take out Jedi himself would have been much more fun, and having the character take a more active role in the gameplay would have been more innovative for a game that already features many characters. 

The sad thing is that this game is made with me in mind. I love Villainous, and I love Star Wars. Despite their best efforts, it just doesn’t come together in a way that I find fun or want to return to. It’s never fun to give a game a bad review. A lot of people worked very hard on this product, so I don’t take it lightly. Unfortunately, this one just wasn’t for me.