For years the forces of Good and Evil have waged war across every battlefield known to man. In Star Wars specifically, it's been fought in space and across planets, from the forest moons of Endor to the dark corridors of Cloud City all the way to the internet forums of The Last Jedi. 

Yet, Monopoly Star Wars: Heroes v Villains takes it a step further: now, the battle of good vs evil shores up on a Monopoly board, for a pretty novel twist on one of the greatest sources of family arguments, painted up in a coat of paint for one of the greatest source of internet arguments. 

Not Your Grandma's Monopoly

I'm genuinely impressed by how Monopoly Star Wars isn't just a reskin of Monopoly. The game makes some pretty big changes to the Landlord's game, all centered around its core conceit: This is a team game, with a finite number of turns instead of running your opponents out of cash. 

Properties generate Influence, and ultimately that's your end goal: Finish the game with more influence than your opponents. From here, all manner of skullduggery is available- well, except trading. Apparently while the Sith deal in absolutes, no one in a Galaxy Far Far Away deals in property. That's not to say property is yours forever, though. Monopoly Star Wars feels like a bizarre mix of house rules, such as being able to just buy out property if you land on it (instead of being milked for rent money) and even having combat. 

While some might not like it, it creates an interesting twist to the Monopoly dynamic. I'm a fairly passive Monopoly Man- I just maintain a good, healthy property portfolio and hope to earn an honest income, as landlords do. In Monopoly Star Wars, you're fighting the fight whether you like it or not. You need to be thinking about people's plans one way or another, and actively intervening by either cutting off their influence supply or even mugging them in the game's combat phase. 

Admittedly, combat is a little rudimentary. Players throw dice, with the defender going first. Hitting the defender's dice can change the score, so if your opponent rolled miserably low it might be in your best interest to shoot for a corner with minimal ricochet. Combined with individual character skills that can also target other players and you've got the potential for actual builds that focus less on property values and more on just turning that damn Wookie into a pair of slippers. 

Combine it with the Go Event challenges for every time someone passes Go, and you've got an interesting smattering of ways to look at Monopoly. These aren't just minigames for the sake of minigames either- one turn, Yoda and Chewbacca somehow forced both me and my teammate to walk backwards, dramatically altering our ability to get to Go or even purchase some property. Worse still, that horrible duo even stole my property, turning what should have been windfall for me into a violation of the Geneva Convention.

Lots Of Fun Star Wars Moments

Of course, if you're a kid who really likes Star Wars, there's lots to love here too. I'm a big fan of the game's roster of playable characters, all sporting their own skills. Rather than be strictly original or Sequel Trilogy it sports a pretty broad gamut, including characters like General Grievous from the prequels and Captain Phasma from the promotional materials for the Sequel trilogy. Even Cad Bane is there, meaning that if your favorite character looks cool there's a good chance they're in the game's roster. 

The game constantly looks for chances to pepper you with cool Star Wars-isms. I'm especially a fan of the customizable dice, featuring patterns like C3PO's eyes or First Order-themes. Each battle is also accompanied with mini CG fight scenes, involving all array of ships like Naboo Starfighters and TIE Fighters. Even the GO Events aren't entirely random- they're tied to recreating cool moments from the Star Wars mega franchise. 

Monopoly Star Wars Heroes vs Villains Verdict

If you want a spicy little game of Monopoly, it's hard to not recommend Monopoly Star Wars: Heroes Vs Villains. It's a great family game especially, since it supports using one controller for all players or having each person hold their own. Even the ability to customize the number of turns feels heaven-sent, since that means it's up to you if you want an hour-long endurance game or a quick thirty-minute romp. 

Funnily enough it's biggest flaws have nothing to do with Star Wars at all- it just comes down to how much you're willing to accept Monopoly With A Combat Twist. Having lightsabers certainly made it more bearable on my part, and seeing how it pushes a certain style of game definitely makes it unique in its own way. 

With that in mind, while it's obviously targeted at Star Wars fans, it's a great game for even if you're just having company over and looking for an inoffensive way to keep everyone entertained. Well, it's inoffensive until you buy off someone's Endor and put them in jail, anyways. 

Final Score: 7/10