Summary
- Scum & Villainy is the first expansion for the Star Wars Villainous board game, featuring Boba Fett, Cad Bane, and the Seventh Sister as playable characters.
- The expansion is compatible with the base game, Power of the Dark Side, allowing players to combine characters from both boxes.
- The artwork in Scum & Villainy is visually impressive, with each villain deck and character figure reflecting the accuracy of the Star Wars canon. Boba Fett, Cad Bane, and the Seventh Sister each have unique goals and mechanics that align with their characters.
The first expansion for the popular Star Wars Villainous board game has arrived, featuring Boba Fett and more in the new Scum & Villainy. Featuring three new playable characters and new mechanics to learn, Scum and Villainy allows players eager for a new challenge to enter the seedier side of the galaxy where friends and foes can change at the drop of Cad Bane’s signature big hat. Starring Boba Fett, Cad Bane, and the Empire’s Seventh Sister, the central theme of Scum & Villainy is all about hunting down targets before moving on to the next big score.
Coming from Ravensburger, Scum & Villainy is currently on sale as the latest iteration of the classic Villainous board games where players take on the roles of iconic Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars villains. The award-winning base game Power of the Dark Side is very popular, and now Scum & Villainy adds to the fun while also offering new challenges and complexities. With Screen Rant having received a copy of the new game, here’s our review of Scum & Villainy’s gameplay, compatibility, artwork, and individual character breakdowns with pros and cons.
Scum and Villainy’s Overall Gameplay (Is It Compatible With The Base Game?)
First and foremost, Scum & Villainy is indeed compatible with Power of the Dark Side, allowing players to combine characters from both boxes in the same game. This means that Boba Fett, Cad Bane, and Seventh Sister have now joined the roster of available Star Wars Villainous characters such as Darth Vader, General Grievous, Asajj Ventress, Moff Gideon, and Kylo Ren. However, it’s also worth reminding players that while both versions of Star Wars Villainous are compatible with each other, they’re not compatible with the Marvel or Disney versions as each franchise theme has its own unique rules and extra mechanics.
That being said, Scum & Villainy can also be played on its own. Power of the Dark Side is not required and is only needed if more players/available characters are desired. Beyond the new mechanics for individual characters, the rules are largely the same as seen with Power of the Dark Side where players are attempting to move their chosen villain across their individual boards, attempting to accomplish their character’s goals using a deck filled with allies and actions to be used via earned credits and Ambition tokens. Players can also make use of a special “Fate” deck to play heroes and obstacle cards to thwart their opponents’ efforts.
A unique feature for Star Wars Villainous, starships and space battles are featured in Scum & Villainy as well. However, it’s interesting to note that Scum & Villainy does not feature any villains who make use of the “Activation” symbol, a new ability referenced in the instructions that Power of the Dark Side didn’t have either. This hints that there may be an as-of-yet unannounced expansion in the works at some point in the near future with villains who finally make use of the “Activation” ability.
Scum and Villainy Features Some of the Best Villainous Artwork/Figures Yet
The overall design and artwork for each new villain deck and their character figures are quite good and visually impressive. As seen with all cards in Villainous overall, each villain deck has its own stylized artwork on the back with graphics identifying which villain the card belongs to. Likewise, the artwork featured on the front of the cards is very fun as well, featuring key moments from the Skywalker saga in the case of Boba Fett as well as the shows such as The Clone Wars and Bad Batch for Cad Bane and Star Wars Rebels for the Seventh Sister.
Each figure also follows the traditional Villainous style with each villain resembling a bust that also incorporates key elements of their character. For example, Boba Fett’s jetpack and rifle are merged to form his body while Cad Bane’s jacket makes up the majority of his figure. Seventh Sister’s figure is quite creative as well with her circular Inquisitor’s hilt being used as a base as seen with previous lightsaber-wielding villains featured in Power of the Dark Side.
The dedication to lore is quite good. Each villain has goals that align very well with their motivations and abilities in the established Star Wars canon. The same is true for their allies and the heroes used to ruin their schemes. To that end, the artwork reflects the accuracy of the canon to a very high degree.
For example, Boba Fett has a goal card entitled War of the Bounty Hunters, featuring artwork from Marvel Comics’ Star Wars crossover event of the same name. As such, Star Wars fans should be pleasantly surprised by the level of detail and accuracy Ravensburger has put into this expansion as a whole, just as they did with Power of the Dark Side. The decks have been creatively constructed so that a player is rewarded for behaving as their villain actually would in the Star Wars galaxy itself.
The clear star of Scum & Villainy is Boba Fett, the galaxy’s greatest bounty hunter during Star Wars’ original trilogy. As such, it tracks that his goal is to complete 4 bounties to win the game. However, this is easier said than done. First, players must find Fett a Contact card (Darth Vader, Jabba the Hutt, or Bib Fortuna). Then, bounties can be played on Contacts, requiring players to fulfill a list of tasks such as defeating heroes or fellow bounty hunters to complete the bounty while also receiving a payout of tokens based on the particular Contact the bounty was played to.
The true trick of Boba Fett and his villain deck is to make sure that more than one bounty is in play, allowing multiple to be worked toward at the same time. As such, Boba Fett caters to players who are strong multi-taskers. Additionally, Fett does not have allies like other villains. Instead, he has fellow bounty hunters who can serve as both friend or foe depending on circumstance, a challenging yet fun mechanic that makes all kinds of sense for Fett’s character.
Cad Bane: Building A Crew To Take Down Targets
Much like his debut in The Clone Wars animated series, the infamous Cad Bane needs to build a crew to help him take down potential targets, needing to collect 5 target tokens to win the game. Needing an ample supply of credits to pay his crew, Cad Bane requires ally cards that help him complete jobs, allowing him to defeat heroes by placing target tokens on them. Rather than defeating heroes outright via vanquish actions with allies like most villains, Cade Bane needs to finish the job himself and defeat targets personally.
Cad Bane does seem like his goal is the most straightforward in Scum & Villainy. However, the extra step to defeat heroes and gain his unique target tokens does make his progression more nuanced and somewhat slower. This gives his opponents time to complete their own goals while sending obstacles his way as he searches for the specific cards needed to take down said targets.
Seventh Sister: Hunting Down Jedi Survivors
Last but not least, the Inquisitor known as the Seventh Sister is on the hunt for Rebels, specifically needing to defeat and remove Force-sensitives Ahsoka Tano, Kanan Jarrus, and Ezra Bridger from the game to win the game. Although other Rebels are included such as Hera Syndulla and Sabine Wren, the focus for Seventh Sister is naturally hunting Jedi, needing as many Ambition tokens as possible to defeat and then remove them from the game by spending the required Ambition (Ahsoka costs 8, Kanan cost 6, and Ezra costs 5).
While allies such as Darth Vader, other Inquisitors, and even the Seventh Sister’s ship as an added location can help players gain the large number of Ambition tokens needed, Seventh Sister’s true advantage will come from getting as many tokens as possible first before facing the heroes she needs. This is because unneeded heroes can start gumming up the works and slowing down progress, making it even harder to emerge victorious in the new Star Wars Villainous: Scum & Villainy expansion.