Star Wars Unlimited – Secrets of Power Review
Star Wars Unlimited is breaking my heart – not because Secrets of Power is a bad wave of content, but because there seems to be a miasma online around the current state and future of the game. November of 2025 was absolutely huge as a card gamer, with major releases from the titans of the scene and newcomer Riftbound bursting onto it. Facing stiff competition, Secrets of Power is the sixth overall wave of content for Star Wars Unlimited, following on from Legends of the Force which was stuffed the to the gills with Jedis, Lightsabers and super Star Wars-y things that aim to please the crowd. If you couldn’t tell based on the characters featured on these Spotlight Decks, Secrets of Power follows the political machinations of the Senate and control being wrested away by Senator Palpatine, with Queen Amidala and Mon Mothma dissenting. This is a set for Rogue One, Andor and even Prequel Trilogy fans, with intrigue built into the very mechanics of the game via new keywords and actions like Plot and Disclose.
It wouldn’t be a Star Wars Unlimited set without some inconsistent art, and Secrets of Power is no different – none of the art is bad, mind you – but it can be occasionally bland by comparison or a little mismatched stylistically given the breadth of artists on deck, especially for characters who have both a Leader and Unit representation. Player2 was lucky enough to receive both Spotlight Decks as well as a number of Boosters, Sleeves and one of the newer design playmats featuring the Play Zones, my favourite kind of mat – give me function over form on my neoprene every day of the week. As usual, the Gamegenic art sleeves are high quality with a nice matte texture to prevent slippage when stacked horizontally, although extracting them from a deckbox vertically can require a bit of pressure to keep them together. The art is matched to each Spotlight deck and contains enough sleeves for Leader, Location and the deck itself, although those wanting to sleeve their token cards as well might want some spare sleeves on hand – personally I’ve been using the bulk 200 packs of Gamegenic matte for anythign requiring a decent amount of shuffling. As someone who doesn’t dip into deck construction too often, I’ve also found the Gamegenic Fourtress a great option for both short and long-term storage as they stack quite handily and can cover two waves worth of pre-cons for most games.
Boots on the ground, Secrets of Power leans into its theme heavily with the new Plot and Disclose mechanics. Plot allows cards played as Resources to later be revealed and played (at cost!) once a Leader has been deployed, with the played cards being replaced by the top card of the deck to maintain the Resources available. In the case of the Chancellor Palpatine Leader Unit, there’s even a three-resource discount to the first Plot played, encouraging players to play the long game and ensure they make the most of this benefit. Disclose allows players to reveal cards of a designated aspect to the opponent to gain a benefit, such as capturing an opposing unit, healing or drawing a card. Playing a few games using the Spotlight Decks, I feel this set trying to do something more interesting than just push the power curve, even if some will find a focus on ‘also-ran’ and lower-key characters grating. Personally, I’m just pissed I didn’t manage to pull a Cassian Andor Leader card despite picking up a Prerelase box as well. As always, casual SWU fans will have plenty to enjoy even if only picking up the Spotlight Decks and swapping between Palpatine and Amidala a number of times to see how Plot and Disclose compete against one another. I’ve also personally picked up the Gamegenic deluxe acrylic tokens and Damage Pads to push the tactile experience to the next level, something I’ve wanted to get my hands on since demoing the game at PAX Aus a number of years ago.
Star Wars Unlimited continues to prove itself eminently playable, throwing curve balls at players with each wave and remaining accessible to a large degree – the speculative market is nowhere what it is with some competitors and thus benefits the players looking to build decks and play, not flip cards. I have to admit this set especially has crossed over with a renewed interest in the IP for myself following Andor Season 2, so those involved in getting Secrets of Power to market couldn’t have picked a better time. With the seventh wave, A Lawless Time, two months away, Secrets of Power can still command attention and maybe even maintained interest once the very first rotation occurs, which will see the first three waves – Sparks of Rebellion, Shadows of the Galaxy and Twilight of the Republic – removed from a number of official tournament formats until the introduction of the Eternal format, which keeps everything available for SWU nice and legal. In the meantime, I’ll keep scouring the galaxy for signs of a Cassian Andor Leader card.
