Title - Star Wars: Escape from the Death Star
Age Range – 12 and up
Players – 1 -4
Maker/Publisher – West End Games
Designer – Stephen Hand

The Components:
Game Map (abstract schematic of the interior of the Death Star)
4 stand-up playing pieces
4 bases for the stand-up pieces
4 player aid pads
3 standard six-sided dice
117 cards
1 cardstock chart sheet
3 plastic game markers (red, round, transparent, plastic, chips)

The Concept:
Right out of “Star Wars IV: A New Hope”, you play the heroes (Luke, Han, Leia and Chewie) trying to escape from the infamous Cell Block AA23 and make their way to the Millennium Falcon and freedom. Along the way the forces of the Empire are trying to stop you. The obstacles range from angry droids, security troopers, locked doors, Darth Vader himself and a seemingly endless supply of Stormtroopers. The basic concept is pretty simple but execution is a tad different.

The Good:
Much like West End’s Game “Star Wars: The Battle for Endor” this game is also a solitaire adventure. However, this can also be played by up to four people. In that case each person plays one hero, or two or all four respectively. In my opinion that is a bonus. I enjoy a solo game to keep me busy when the gaming group can’t get together.

The use of the Stormtrooper mechanic is a neat idea. As you explore the Death Star, you draw cards as obstacles. On most of them a number of stormtroopers is listed. This number of troopers is added to the amount you already have and they all are now considered “following you”. On the appropriate phase they fire at you, and vice versa, so the number is always in flux up and down. It does a good job of setting a cinematic “hurry up or they will eventually kill you pace”.

The decks of cards (all 8 of them) are pretty neat too. Although of pretty low quality (see nitpick below) they really expand the “experience” of the Death Star, making it feel like a real military base. Sample cards are obvious things like: Communications center, guard post, storage, corridors and hallways, to the more obscure and amusing: guest quarters, recycling plant, officer’s recreation room, research tower and planetside ops control.

The Nitpicky:
Just like I said for “The Battle for Endor”, this is a star wars game so, I give it a lot just because of the theme. However, it is almost 20 years old, so its components and game play won’t be on par with today’s standard. The cards are of the punch-out variety and are rather flimsy. The stand up characters are pretty hokey and flimsy also. But that’s typical of the era.

The game play itself is really tough! So much so, the designers even state that fact in the rules. There is only one way to win but there are 3 ways to lose! The heroes win when they A) turn the tractor beam off, B) ALL of them make to the Falcon alive and C) kill all the stormtroopers following them. The heroes lose if A) any one of the four main heroes die B) You draw the “Vader himself attacks” card AND you have already “called upon Obi-wan” in the game or C) if various events transpire to move “Darth Vader’s Point Track” to 20. All in all this difficulty would be tolerable if movement was “roll and move”……but it isn’t. You can only move in the direction and number of spaces on the card that you draw for that round tells you. All of these factors combined with a huge number of random card drawing makes any kind of strategy impossible. Therefore for this type of game you feel completely out of control and that can be very frustrating.

The heroes have to move in a certain order and have several things to do each turn. As a result remembering the turn order, who has gone and who is next gets a little confusing sometimes.

Also frustrating in the game is the undercurrent in the cards that “x event happens” and you have no say in the matter. Normally this is not a big deal. In fact most games have that. However, in “Escape” if you have used your get-out-of-jail-free call to Obi-Wan in the game and you draw the “Vader himself attacks” card you die and the game ends. How much fun is that? Pull a card and the game ends. So, as a result in future games you never use your Obi-Wan power, what’s the use of having it then? I think that this was a really poor mechanic designed into the game.

This last nitpick is really small but it did cross my mind so here it is. Between the stormtroopers firing, heroes firing and skill rolls, you can roll the dice as much as 20 times in one turn of all the heroes That’s a lot of rolling in a game. I think that that could have been streamlined.

Overall:
Of the West End “Adventure Boardgame” series games, I play this one the least. It is tough, and a bit unwieldy to play. Yes it is Star Wars, yes it is fairly cinematic, but I find myself always saying I’d rather play this or that and eventually I pack this up and go do that.

That’s My .02
Gantrell
“KMG365”