Star Wars: Rebellion

Three hours in which one player hides a moon base and the other slowly takes the galaxy apart looking for it.

Corey Konieczka's 2016 design remains the best thing anyone has made out of the original trilogy. The Empire has the fleet, the Death Star and overwhelming force; the Rebellion has a hidden base and the clock. More than 150 plastic miniatures and two boards covering thirty-two systems, with Leia, Mon Mothma, Tarkin and Palpatine running missions that recreate scenes from the films without ever scripting them.

The asymmetry is total and it is what makes the game. The Empire wins by finding the Rebel base and crushing it; the Rebellion wins simply by surviving long enough. So the Imperial player spends the game spread thin, probing systems, while the Rebel player commits to bluffs they have to hold for hours. Best at two — four splits each side into a team and dilutes the tension that makes it work. Long, heavy, and worth clearing an evening for.

Perfect for: two people who have been meaning to play something properly enormous and keep defaulting to a forty-minute filler instead.

2–4 players | 180–240 minutes | Age 14+ | 150+ miniatures