Star Wars Outer Rim in about 3 minutes

[@JayBee10]

“If you want to turn Boba Fett into a bacta tank salesman, you can!” This comment aged very well.

[@3MBG]

I still haven't watched the new show, but if he sells bacta tanks, I will laugh

[@satyanpatel6403]

Love your reviews. Love how you immediately mention solo play, and other plays as well. Many times I have to play solo, but it hones my skills so when I have to teach others, I can do it rapidlyto not lose their interest.

[@3MBG]

Cheers. I do a lot of solo gaming, so it matters to me that its included.

[@ripwolfe]

My inner child and my nostalgia for Star Wars says Han is cooler. My love of the Firefly franchise says Malcom is cooler. My current adult self says, "Why the hell are you debating over the merits of fictional characters?" Thanks for taking me out of my work mode for a short time, at least. ;)

[@freeheeler00]

Yeah, in the end, I'm buying both games 🤷

[@3MBG]

This won't be one for the hardcore euro crowd, but if you just want to play a game thats a fun light adventure, consider looking at it. In some ways, it takes a lot of what worked in Fallout, but left behind all the things that didn't. It's like "fallout 2, but star wars". Now if you liked fallout, you'll probably dig this. The victory conditions and how encounters work just make way more sense, and the core gameplay is similar.

[@week-sauce]

Would a game like this be too complex to learn for people who aren't hardcore tabletop gamers, but love Star Wars? I hate investing in a game only to find my friends/family's eyes glaze over as I'm explaining the rules.

[@3MBG]

@@week-sauce The core game play is pretty simple. The tricky bit is explaining all the stats and stuff. If you can get them rolling with the game, you should be fine. Like, most turns you are just going "i want to go to x planet, to look at a contact, lets roll some dice"

[@unsure8824]

I played firefly the board game and found it rather boring. I know alot of people love firefly board game. It just had alot of downtime during turns and when It was my turn finally I didnt get excited about the game play. Is star wars outer rim similar or have more of an exciting feel or story then firefly?

[@cardboardconflicts]

My wife got me this for Xmas, I play a lot of computer RPG’s and love SW. this was my first board game and I love it it has me already looking at other games. It had enough story but enough sandbox to feel like playing an open game almost like the privateer wing commander game of the 90’s only in table top mode, lots of story bits if you read the cards too! Trying to figure out what the next game I want to go for!

[@cardboardconflicts]

It seemed complex at first mainly since it is a sandbox game so you have tons of options, but really once you figure out the three phases: planning, action, encounter it feels simple and play through can move pretty quick.

[@TheJimmy000]

I just finished my first game of this, it plays really well solo!

[@thelastmotel]

Been playing this for a couple weeks... My issues with it : 1. Jigsaw pieces are too tightly cut, as they did with Arkham Horror 3rd Edition, and will be prone to some damage on the connectors. 2. You can only choose 4 of the 8 characters to be the AI character in solo mode 3. Not enough dice... again, typical of FFG... for multiplayer. 4. Little to no player interaction. Not a deal breaker for me, but it will be for some. 5. If you play as a bounty hunter... and this goes for multiplayer mode to a degree, but goes much worse in solo mode... and you play thematically to the character, as opposed to playing pragmatically, you will get hosed, as bounty hunting is a very slow process. 6. The encounter decks are thin, and you will see repetition quickly. 7. In solo mode, the AI plays very efficiently, and you really have to stay on top of your game, or you will get swamped. As the AI cards cover a lot of ground each turn, and as AI characters only do jobs and cargo (which they auto-complete, whereas you have to make rolls), and don't mess around with bounties, and as they resolve crew contacts automatically (again, you have to make rolls or complete conditions) when told to flip contact tokens, it is very easy to lose to them in only around 14 turns or so. (14 turns might sound a lot, but it isn't in this game. Turns are very fast, especially in solo mode)

[@3MBG]

Fantastic comment Matt.

[@Kilerazn423]

Matt Sanders those are your issues but would you say the game is good and keep playing it?

[@thelastmotel]

@@Kilerazn423 Oh, it's a good game, on the whole, just seal your board edges (methods can be found online) and buy it if you are gonna play multiplayer a lot. If you do want it for solo play, expect to play the same game every time, pretty much. I can see them "fixing" some things with expansions. Hopefully a second AI deck... one that's designed to accommodate the bounty hunters... would be really great. Quite often, the first expansion from FFG will fix the gaps and issues from the core box, which isn't ideal, as having to pay more for what should have been in the main box isn't fair.

[@jonathanpickles2946]

@@thelastmotel I used to always refer to FF games as betas with the first expansion being v1.0. I think they are better than they used to be, in general. I heard this game has plenty of downtime but you say turns are fast - is that just because we AP prone might take slow turns? Also how does people pursuing bounties on your crew mesh with low interaction? Is it that the bounties are a bad choice so it doesn't come up enough in good play?

[@thelastmotel]

I said turns are fast in a solo game. The problems with bounties are these : Unless you get lucky with AI deck results in solo, or unless the other players are all into checking contacts, even locating the target can take ages. Even if you know where the target is, getting there can take ages. If the target is crew on another ship, catching up to them can be a mission in and of itself, then it boils down to if they wanna defend the target or not. Then, if you do defeat the target, do you take the low immediate reward, or do you trek all the way back to the bounty location to cash in the bigger reward, but taking much longer to get the pay off? If you bother with bounties when playing solo, you will get boned by the AI. If you bother with bounties in multiplayer, you better hope everyone else is doing things that take ages too, or you'll get boned there as well. Player Interactions : Someone trying to take a crew member is about it for player interaction, unless you have been tasked to blow up another ship. You wont do trading. You just wont ... there's no reason to ... at all. Player interaction comes down to one of two things ... 1) Are you gonna boost the defence of the crew member I am going to try and take from you? Yes or no, then roll the appropriate number of dice each. 2) I am gonna attack you for reasons. Roll the appropriate number of dice.

[@franciscoguerra5439]

I literally went to Might Ape and bought the game as soon as I finished this review. Good job.

[@3MBG]

You should tell Mighty Ape that :) Maybe they'll give me cheap shipping

[@franciscoguerra5439]

That's not a bad idea!

[@amusement420]

The funny thing is eventually players complained there weren't enough cards especially in the market. Now that the Unfinished Business expansion is out they realize this completes a solid base game with more cards, more characters and ships, new contacts, new bounty hunter AI, ambition goal cards to win the game and player interaction. and BGG FAQ lol and a Living Rules Reference on FFG. I got the U.B. with the exclusive rep token sliders by buying it from my FLGS and with a $15 rewards. I got Outer Rim a couple years ago for free sining up for an amazon card instant $60 rewards lol

[@3MBG]

I'm almost tempted to pick it back up, as I didnt mind it, but there wasn't enough to it and after a year or so it looked like it was an abandoned game

[@khristienpennanen1810]

FINALLY! been waiting for this :)

[@antoniovistcoatis1541]

looks ok, can tell it is fantasy flight as it has special dice.... The art work is top notch and the Star Wars stuff is cool. Like the idea of upgrades ect.

[@Mattamaza]

Another short and sweet review! As they should be. Love the recommendations for similar games at the end!

[@NinjaGeekGames]

Thats awesome! My first upload was the unboxing of this and after seeing this I can't wait to play it!!

[@justanerd1138]

First ten reasons I could think of that demonstrate Malcolm Reynolds is cooler than Han Solo: 1. He faces Reavers which are way scarier than Stormtroopers... they may not be any more accurate with a gun but they'll eat your face! 2. His first mate does not get hairballs from licking herself and I'd much rather be kissed by her than a Wookie (even if he could use a good kiss). 3. His girlfriend is just as feisty and does not kiss her brother. 4. The criminal masterminds he's double crossed are much more sinister than that giant desert worm Jaba. 5. The holy man that sometimes travels with him can actually kick butt instead of just turning into a ghost. 6. There's no doubt that Reynolds shot first. 7. You wouldn't understand Chewie's last words but if you could they would not beat: "I'm a leaf on the wind." 8. Malcolm's story stopped being told before he became so old and tired his angsty offspring had to put him out to pasture. 9. His ship's repair person is much nicer to look at than R2D2.... and it has crew quarters... seriously where do you sleep on the Falcon? 10. You can't take the sky from him.

[@3MBG]

Hahahahaha. You are entitled to your opinion. But the first two movies I ever remember seeing are Star Wars and Empire Strikes back, double feature, at age 5. Han's why i'm a gamer. Reynolds is just Han as written by Whedon in my mind.

[@justanerd1138]

Yeah, was just having fun. Solo was the first character of that type from my childhood too. Many hours were spent pretending to fly the Falcon.

[@3MBG]

@@justanerd1138 I loved your list by the way, very funny. I love how passionate people are about this. Makes me smile.

[@mrdelioncourt8226]

Yooooo Kia ora koto! Subbed., Haha love from NZ.

[@campbellpark6684]

Great explanation :)

[@kezzamachine]

Kia ora, e hoa! So pleased to hear a kiwi. Tino pai rawa!

[@갬성충]

if you have to hault on Patrol space is it choosable to fight or ignore ? or a must fight

[@3MBG]

Unsure, i've passed the game on sorry. Pop on the BGG forums and check.

[@ormhaxan]

Spotted one mistake in the video, the patrol movement is dictated by the new revealed card from the deck which you bought from. This is really unintuitive and we initially struggled to grasp it as well. Otherwise I like the game very much, but hope the expansions will flesh out the decks more as they are slimmer than my chances of finding Greedo. That sneaky devil.

[@3MBG]

Oh, yeah, that we didn't play correct then. I guess that makes sense though. Not sure it alters the game much, no one ever bought anything specifically to mess with movement

[@PlumpyThimble]

Only one player can be the most space famous!

[@RobertKonigsberg]

Hi! Did you try the solo AI opponent?

[@3MBG]

Not a full game, but I played a few turns. Mostly I just played two hand solo vs mode to try different things out. Solo AI seems pretty good.

[@CarlosRodriguez-ez3ls]

Great review Jarrod! I generally avoid Fantasy Flight games (the only one currently in my collection is Fallout Shelter - a small worker placement game), since I'm cheap and I don't want to pay for IP and I don't want to commit myself to a money pit. Thx!

[@3MBG]

This one would probably be better as a money pit game, as just the core box it feels quite thin

[@wfp9378]

3:44 Damn you auto-correct! Doesn't know its right from wrong :-p

[@3MBG]

I'll fight you on the moon over this :)

[@Antimatter-im1ip]

Is this game good for beginner who hasn’t played much board games before?

[@3MBG]

Yeah, should be good for that

[@LOTW1]

I was checking it out at Barnes & Noble. Good thing I decided to do some research. It's too complicated for me.

[@sandrosoler4275]

it's damn complicated. We bought it last night and it took a while to learn it. It helps to watch the gameplay video made by the makers of the game. After you learn it (which I admit it's not easy), you enjoy it

[@duke-ic2vj]

What was the other game he talked about? Jarh?

[@3MBG]

Xia: Legends of a drift system i assume.

[@Hunszi]

So the dice are the same as in X-Wing? Same layout?

[@3MBG]

Yep.

[@Hunszi]

@@3MBG great, thanks, so I don't need to buy extra die sets, fiiiinally.

[@3MBG]

Now, i'm a smidge paranoid about this. Will do an actual side by side comparison check when i get home from work to confirm, but i'm 99% sure.

[@3MBG]

Yep, checked manually. The same sides.

[@Hunszi]

@@3MBG nice, thank you very much :)

[@greginfla_1]

Sounds like a derivative of merchants of Venus?

[@3MBG]

Kinda, but not really. Theres some commonality for sure in terms of theme and what you do. But mechanically, not much. Merchants is more open as well. Outer rim has a bit of a "knife fight in a phonebooth" vibe going on. They are different enough. Like comparing architects of the west kingdom to pillars of the earth. Both are worker placement games with a cathedral. But they play very differently.

[@blueseqperl]

If you own Xia and all of its expansions, would you recommend getting this game or does it feel like a Star Wars reskin?

[@3MBG]

Its far more streamlined that XIA, and a lot less of a sandbox. While the concepts are similar, XIA is a far richer game, but also a far bigger table and time hog. I'm happy keeping both for now.

[@blueseqperl]

@@3MBG Thank you!

[@christianholmdall3109]

You brougt me here

[@hallking7441]

Can you play as a Jedi?

[@3MBG]

Nope, its a game about smugglers and bounty hunters.

[@joebeet2696]

Reminds me a lot of Firefly the game

[@CollectionTHX1138]

Good overview. I'm on the fence about this one but could get it for free (or something else) with a gift card. I solo a lot (not a pun on Han Solo lol) the one thing I don't like is the market card art is horrible. Doesn't look like Star Wars at all. Looks like cheesy fan made cards lol The type is easy to read though. The outer rim, planets and encounter tokens and cards look great as does the box top Bossk and his Houndstooth Party Bus may sway me. But all of Matt Sanders concerns I've heard elsewhere and I can be a discriminating gamer. It would be nice if they told you what all the patrol ships were but BGG figured them out. I have thoughts about getting Firefly but that's more time intensive and space (no pun intended) consuming.

[@3MBG]

My advice, it's fun but its not deep. If you just want a game to muck about with, its solid. But the decision space isn't amazing and wont leave your brain hurting, but if you want to drive bossk around hunting for chewbacca, its pretty cool

[@CollectionTHX1138]

@@3MBG Thanx for the insight. That's pretty much what it looks like maybe Firefly light without the table space and huge amount of cards or some say Merchants and Marauders is the original concept they follow. I houserule a lot of games so this should be relatively easy. It doesn't seem too difficult to make your own characters if they haven't already on BGG. I'd just as soon get Firefly with the free coupon. I could get more than just that base game for a good price but I'd have to buy it all. So this may fit the bill. I have to realize I'm running out of room and I have games like DOOM and all 6 D&D Board games which have large boxes with lot of pieces parts that take up table and shelf space. Firefly is a game you'd probably want to leave on the table for a while (I have done that with other games) but this you could set up and tear down. Although did you have problems with the outer rim puzzle pieces fitting like Matt Sanders below? That's the only review I've heard that issue.

[@CollectionTHX1138]

I bought the game and like it a lot. It does play quickly and isn't as complicated as it looks at first. I've been playing the solo AI but using game green's custom character AI decks on BGG. that makes it slower and a little more complicated than the standard/generic AI cards but does add more theme. I've been starting with thematic ships and second level patrols to speed it up and make it more thematic. I give Jyn the Moldy Crow since she doesn't have a canonical ship. Everyone else does. I also got Firefly, Blue Sun, Breakin Atmo and Pirates for a good price. I haven't played those yet to compare. I noticed @3:23 you only need one crit to pass an unskilled test.

[@3MBG]

@@CollectionTHX1138 You do, but you only get 2 dice to roll. To be perfectly clear i should have said "roll one critical hit symbol on two dice" instead of "roll the critical hit symbol on two dice", the visual didn't help either.

[@CollectionTHX1138]

@@3MBG oh yes I figured that's what happened. I was mentioning that for anyone who missed it. Explanatory videos aren't easy to do. You did a good job fro certain.

[@cammando2363]

I used to agree that Star Wars was better than firefly. Then TLJ happened… and I was really really sad.

[@3MBG]

Lol, wrong channel for that as i love The Last Jedi. Rise of skywalker on the other hand, yeesh.

[@Emsworth377]

Great review, but Malcolm Reynolds is so much better than Han Solo!

[@Sapwolf]

Who do I bribe for a ....rule change?

[@3MBG]

Which rule?

[@williamgarcia-medina9989]

I thought it had a solo mode?

[@3MBG]

It does, i mention it. I'm confused.

[@williamgarcia-medina9989]

3 Minute Board Games ohh I missed it!! My bad. Just ordered it :)

[@RodneyFranzoi]

Ummm Malcolm Reynolds IS cooler than Han Solo 🤣

[@3MBG]

False!

[@RodneyFranzoi]

@@3MBG 🤣🤣🤣

[@victorgonzalez2927]

It’s pronounced “Zia”

[@3MBG]

It's the mandarin word for rogue, and it's pronounced shia. Xia is a rogue star, hence the name. Feel free to google "xia pronunciation". In this games case, the designer is wrong about the pronunciation of his own game, which is quite awkward.

[@victorgonzalez2927]

@@3MBG do you k ow if that was the designers intent? Like the word Tomato may be pronounced two different ways but which one is correct? How about the word herbs? Lots of words are derived from others but it is only the user and their intent that we can look to.

[@bobdole8830]

what all the videos about the game fail to address, is that the game is a major asset flip. Most of the artwork and iconography and even the dice are 1:1 taken from X-Wing. Pretty pathetic for a 65$ game...

[@3MBG]

Interesting, that's an FFG trick from years ago so i guess no one really calls it out. Elder sign used arkham graphics, and all those arkham games recycle. Same with the android games. I don't think a game like that needs 100% new art personally, but i hear what you are saying.

[@bobdole8830]

@@3MBG I wouldn't be mad if the game was 40$ MSRP but 65$ for a game with no minis no actual game board (unless you pay 35$ for the "official playmat" aka the game board that should have been in the game to begin with ), and recycled artwork. This feels like just another "FFG-CASHGRAB"(copyright pending). FFG were never cheap but usually you got enough bang for your buck, but ever since the Asmodee takeover their pricing has gotten pretty hostile towards the consumer. Just look at how they tried to gouch the X-Wing players with the conversion kits for X-Wing 2 - I'm just glad it backfired and ruined the game. If only they had learned their lesson from it..