Fantasy Flight Games is getting another shot at the Star Wars IP within the TCG space through Star Wars: Unlimited, a tabletop set that focuses on traditional trading card gameplay without the fancy add-ons.
A TCG boom is underway, with digital and tabletop games like Magic: The Gathering hitting record yearly sales, in addition to tabletop-specific card games like the upcoming Disney Lorcana set that is slated to release on Aug. 18 through local game stores. Featuring over 200 cards, the first Star Wars: Unlimited set will focus on the original trilogy while featuring traditional TCG gameplay mechanics and interactions, according to co-designer Jim Cartwright.
“We’re not trying to get into anything crazy or fancy,” Cartwright told Polygon. “We wanted to focus all of our design on how do we make the best card game, specifically, and the focus on cards, and the focus on the interaction of those cards and the kind of unlimited possibilities you get from being able to play with all of the Star Wars toys. So it is a non-gimmicky TCG.”
The Star Wars: Unlimited design team is building the TCG with a focus on multiplayer gameplay, for casual and competitive. The team wants players to get a full “Star Wars experience,” according to Cartwright.
Fantasy Flight Games admits that past TCG projects have fallen short of expectations and that the company’s previous track record won’t define Star Wars: Unlimited. Veteran designers at the studio like Daniel Schaefer, Jeremy Zwirn, and Tyler Parrot are leading teams and game design, with Fantasy Flight Games reportedly dumping more resources into Star Wars: Unlimited than any other TCG the company has produced.
No official release date has been announced at time of writing, other than a 2024 launch date for the Star Wars: Unlimited TCG. More details about the upcoming TCG are expected to drop later this summer.
