Star Wars Unlimited – Accessory Round Up
For dedicated card gamers, sometimes accessorising is as much fun – and essential – as purchasing the latest wave or pre-con deck. When card collections can spiral into the hundreds and thousands of dollars, spending a little here and there on maintenance, protection and usability can go a long way to getting games off the shelf and on the table.
Fantasy Flight Games and fellow Asmodee Group company Gamegenic have collaborated to create a range of accessories for Star Wars Unlimited players in the form of premium deck boxes, card sleeves, acrylic token upgrades and neoprene playmats in a range of designs to fit a release waves particular theme or sate audience desires. Player2 was fortunate to receive a number of these accessories to put through their paces and see how they enhance the play experience of Star Wars Unlimited.
Gamegenic Star Wars Unlimited Art Sleeves
These premium Art sleeves come in a range of 22 designs, often coinciding with the featured characters of a particular waves’ Two Player Starter decks or newer Spotlight decks, while a simpler SWU logo design range is also available for those wanting something less distinct. With opaque backs and a slight matte finish, these sleeves ensure a smooth shuffle and are perfect for double sleeving using inner sleeves for those extremely valuable cards that play too well to leave out of a deck. Each pack now includes a pair of clear sleeves to use with a Leader and Location card, a ‘clear’ sign from FFG to not waste your time sleeving token cards at all. My only complaint about these sleeves is my feeling that the matte texture on the rear of the card could be more pronounced to reduce slippage, as a deck can occasionally spill across the table. Outside of that, the official Gamegenic SWU sleeves are a solid choice for protecting a prized deck and go perfectly hand-in-hand with our next accessory. Of note is the newer packaging style, which has the sleeves in cardboard boxes rather than the plastic packaging they came in before which might seem ridiculous given the product inside but it feels like a step in the right direction.
Gamegenic Star Wars Unlimited Soft Crate Deck Box
Fast becoming one of my favoruite deck box designs, the Gamegenic Soft Crate is a combination deck box and token storage solution perfect for taking to your local game store for a few matches. Emblazoned with the same thematic art the sleeves have received, the sturdy polypropylene material can take some wear without damaging its cargo. Unlike a regular deck box, each Soft Crate includes a small token box to store either your cardboard or acrylic Star Wars Unlimited tokens, meaning it really is an all-in-one solution to make playing SWU on-the-go as seamless as possible, provided you have enough table space available. Double sleevers can rejoice at the spacious interior that holds even the most plastic-encased tournament legal deck. With space to label each box and their inherent stackability, it’s easy to store a number of decks and keep them well organised. Also on the horizon is a new Twin Suns Soft Crate which will help fans of the format go even further down the deck storage Sarlacc pit.
Star Wars Unlimited Game Mats
While I don’t have access to this particularly drool-worthy table candy, the pair of 61x35cm playmats I was provided do an excellent job of keeping cards on a clean surface that is much easier than a raw table to pick them up from. These mats are 2mm thick and made from natural rubber with a non-slip backing to keep them steady on any surface. The artwork is clear and doesn’t suffer from the fuzziness of text I’ve seen on some playmats, and while I’m happy to have almost any mat to play on in favour of a table surface alone, I’m really a huge fan of playmats that provide card and play zones, especially for TCG’s, CCG’s and LCG’s. Because of this, I’ve absolutely favoured the Return of the Jedi Speeder Bike mat (sorry Yoda!) when playing and wish a certain other TCG would start making some official playmats with areas designated on them. Playmats do have a habit of getting dirty over time, which isn’t an issue as these mats can be handwashed in warm water when needed.
Honestly, the above items are what I would consider the bare essentials when diving into any lifestyle card game, with sleeves and then playmat taking precedence over deck boxes. Those wanting to take the next step might want to invest in some acrylic token sets or card binders, but for around $60 total the above items can help make the Star Wars Unlimited experience a much smoother one.
All Star Wars Unlimited Gamegenic accessories bar one Soft Crate were provided kindly by PR for review purposes.
