When Star Wars: Unlimited launched in March – shortly after its competitor Disney Lorcanaand among some of them Magic: The Gatheringthe most influential modern designs – he easily stood out from the crowd. Critics and fans admired it for its aggressive build-up and complexity, as well as its commitment to launching into the story of the original trilogy. His third card game, titled Twilight of the Republiclooks at what makes the game unique. It also takes the theme and narrative up several notches.

Twilight of the Republic introduces token cards to the game, which are double-sided with a Clone Trooper on one side and a Battle Droid on the other. They do not go into the deck, but are brought to the table by the abilities of certain cards. Two other new mechanics complement the increase in the number of fighters on the table, called Coordinate and Exploit.

The Grievous deck makes maximum use of Feat, which allows players to remove units, including tokens, from the battlefield and exchange them for higher value cards. For example, a player could play a four-resource On the Doorstep event card to bring out three Battle Droid tokens. On the same turn, they can remove these droids and gain a two resource credit for each, making the Separatist Super Tank only cost three resources instead of nine.

On the other side of the table, Ahsoka’s deck uses Coordinates, which requires players to have at least three units on the battlefield. Once this is done, players can use a number of interesting abilities. For example, Republic commandos, once coordinated, can commit acts of sabotage; Coruscant Guards gain Ambush, which gives them the opportunity to attack on the first turn they enter play; and Clone Heavy Gunners can add two more to their attack scores.

In motion, the new keyword abilities blend well with the recognizable characters to recall scenes from the Clone Wars cartoons and the Disney Plus streaming series. You can imagine a line of battle droids marching across the horizon, only to give way to heavier siege weapons in the rear. You can feel Ahsoka’s anxiety as she barks orders at a new group of soldiers, only to find that they work exceptionally well as a team.

But more importantly, the entire package – which also includes two poster playmats – is clearly designed with new players in mind. If you had waited earlier this year to see if Star Wars: Unlimited It was worth it, I’m here to tell you it was. And if the Clone Wars era is your favorite part of the Star Wars canon, it’s time to gather your forces and join the fight.