The most common question about this box is also the most reasonable one: is it just Pandemic with a Star Wars sticker on the lid?
Short answer, no. Longer answer, it keeps the skeleton of Pandemic and replaces enough organs that it plays like a different animal. Whether that is good news depends entirely on which of those two things you wanted.
This is also the only widely available board game where you can play as Ahsoka Tano, which is how most people end up here in the first place.
The Short Version
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Players | 1 to 5 |
| Time | About 60 minutes |
| Age | 14+ |
| Publisher | Z-Man Games |
| Release year | 2022 |
| Best for | Groups who like Pandemic and love the Clone Wars era |
| Skip if | You already bounced off Pandemic |
Check the current price on Amazon
What You Actually Do
Everyone plays a Jedi. The Separatists spread across the galaxy each turn, the same way disease spread in the original, and you fly around trying to stop them while completing missions and eventually confronting a villain.
Seven Jedi are playable: Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Mace Windu, Aayla Secura and Luminara Unduli. Each has a different special ability, so the character you take shapes how you contribute rather than just changing the colour of your piece.
There are four villains and 24 mission cards, which is where the replay value lives. You are not playing the same session five times with different art.
The Four Things That Make It Not Pandemic
This is the part most write ups skip, so here it is plainly.
1. There is combat, and it uses a die. You roll a twelve sided die and count the success symbols. Each success is a point of damage you can put into battle droids, blockades or the villain. Original Pandemic has no dice and no fighting at all, so this is not a small addition. It also means the game can go wrong in ways Pandemic never does: you can plan correctly and still roll badly.
2. Your hand of cards is your health. The number of cards you hold is your hit points. Take damage and you lose cards. That single rule rewires everything, because in Pandemic your hand is a resource you spend freely, and here spending it makes you fragile. It is the cleverest idea in the box.
3. Cards can be exhausted instead of discarded. Rather than dumping a card to use it, you can turn it sideways to use its ability and keep it. More decisions per turn, and it softens the tension created by rule number two.
4. The pressure comes from more directions. The Threat meter fills the role that escalating Outbreaks played in the original, while the Invasion rate replaces Pandemic’s Infection rate. The difference is that there are more ways to push Threat upward than there were ways to trigger an Outbreak, so you are watching the meter, the invasion rate, the missions and the villain all at once.
The Villains, and Why Ventress Matters Here
There are four: Asajj Ventress, Count Dooku, General Grievous and Darth Maul. Each has a villain sheet with its own health and abilities, and each ends the game differently. This is where the licence earns its keep rather than just decorating the box.
The game suggests starting with Ventress, which is a nice piece of design and a nice piece of luck for anyone who came here from the Ahsoka side of things. Ventress fought Ahsoka repeatedly in the show, so the recommended first campaign is also the one closest to the character most people are looking for.
General Grievous is the clearest example of the licence working. Beating him is not one confrontation, it is several, because he keeps slipping away at the last moment. Anyone who watched the show will recognise that immediately, and it is a rare case of a licensed game translating a character trait into an actual rule instead of a paragraph of flavour text.
Count Dooku is the other standout, because he uses the other villains as his minions. Facing him means facing them too, which makes him the natural final challenge once you have worked through the rest.
Who It Is For
Buy it if you like Pandemic and want more of it. This is a genuinely good expansion of that system, and the additions pull in the same direction rather than fighting each other.
Buy it if the Clone Wars era is your Star Wars. There is very little competition. This is the board game where Ahsoka is a playable character with her own miniature, and the Clone Wars setting is the whole game rather than a backdrop.
Buy it if you want a cooperative game for a mixed group. Nobody gets eliminated, nobody spends forty minutes losing slowly, and the person who knows the rules can help the person who does not without it feeling like cheating.
Who Should Skip It
If you tried Pandemic and disliked it, this will not convert you. The core loop is deliberately familiar. The theme is different, the skeleton is not.
If your group hates the alpha player problem, go in with a plan. Cooperative games with a visible board invite one confident person to run everyone else’s turn. That is a group dynamic rather than a design flaw, but it is real, and this game does nothing special to prevent it.
If you want the sprawling galactic Star Wars experience, this is the wrong box. It is one hour, one era and one conflict. Rebellion or Outer Rim are the ones that give you the whole galaxy.
If it is for a younger player, check the rating. The 14+ rating surprises people, because the box looks family friendly. The game is considerably heavier than its presentation suggests.
A Note on Finding It
This game launched quietly in 2022 as a Target exclusive before reaching wider release, which may help explain why it is less familiar than other Star Wars titles. One practical consequence is that availability can be less predictable, so it is worth comparing sellers rather than taking the first listing you see.
It is also the reason almost no list of Star Wars board games mentions it, which is a shame when it is the one with Ahsoka in the box.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to own Pandemic to play this?
No. It is a completely standalone game with its own board, cards and pieces. Knowing Pandemic helps you learn it faster, but it is not required and nothing from the original box is used.
Is Ahsoka Tano really in it?
Yes, as one of seven playable Jedi, with her own miniature and her own ability. It is the only widely available Star Wars board game that lets you play as Ahsoka.
Does it play well solo?
Yes. The game supports one player and its cooperative structure translates naturally to solo play. The thing to know before buying for that purpose is that you will be running more than one Jedi yourself, which is more bookkeeping than a game designed solo from the ground up.
How long does a game really take?
The box says about an hour. Expect longer for the first session, because the battle system and the exhaust rule both need one game to click.
Is it better than regular Pandemic?
Different rather than better. It has more going on and more ways to lose. If you want the clean, tense, almost mathematical feel of the original, Pandemic still does that better. If you found Pandemic a little dry, this is the livelier version.
Is it worth it if I do not care about Star Wars?
Probably not at its usual price. The mechanical additions are good, but a chunk of what you are paying for is the licence and the miniatures. Without the theme pulling you in, there are cheaper cooperative games that scratch the same itch.
The Verdict
Our Star Wars: The Clone Wars review comes down to one thing: it is a better game than its reputation, mostly because it has barely had a reputation at all. The hand as health rule alone is a smarter idea than most licensed games attempt, and the villain finales do something with the source material instead of just borrowing the logo.
It is not a revolution and it does not pretend to be. It is Pandemic taken somewhere specific, by people who watched the show.
If the Clone Wars is the part of Star Wars you care about, this is an easy yes.
Check the current price on Amazon
If you are shopping for Star Wars in general and the era does not matter to you, our guide to the best Star Wars board games covers the other four worth owning.
Have you got this one on the shelf? Tell us which Jedi you play and whether Grievous has escaped you yet.
For more cooperative games where the table works together, see our Christmas board game gift guide, which covers several boxes built on the same idea.
As an Amazon Associate, BoardGame Journey earns from qualifying purchases. This comes at no additional cost to you and helps support more in-depth board game reviews and guides.
