Remembering the Star Wars: Attacktix Game

First released in 2005, Star Wars: Attacktix (BoardGameGeek entry, Amazon.com search*) was one of Hasbro’s attempts at combining action figures with games in order to break into the collectible miniatures market. This idea continues to jump up at Hasbro every few years, but today I’d like to look back at Star Wars: Attacktix and my own touches on the game when it was first published.

An Early Look

In 2005 I was an infrequent contributor to the now-dead Scrye magazine. Devoted to collectibles games — mostly trading card games and miniatures games — my contributions to Scrye were usually limited to short scenarios for use with different collectible miniatures games. But in early 2005 I was asked if I would like to review a new Star Wars game Hasbro was planning to release as part of their Revenge of the Sith launch. I of course said yes, and a few weeks later a case of sealed figures arrived and it was time for me to jump into the game.

My review ran in Scrye #84, their June, 2005 issue that was in stores in April/May of 2005. Looking back at that review these days I can see where I gave a bit of an overview of the game, but the limited space I had to work with left me unable to really get deep into what made the game such a perfect release for the six to ten crowd: those action figures with spring-loaded weapons — powerful weapons with some range to them! — were great designs and the simple approach to the game made it something I wish would have performed better than it did.

A Published Scenario

Immediately after I turned in my Star Wars: Attacktix review, and before the review was even published, I pitched the idea of a scenario for the game to the Scrye editors. I figured that if the game was new in stores and Star Wars still had any popularity at all then a scenario in the issue after the review would go over well with readers. I never did get a lot of reader feedback on the scenario, but “Last Stand at Junction,” a full-page Star Wars: Attacktix scenario, appeared in Scrye #85 and gave me a chance to construct a scenario in which Clone Troopers hunt down Jedi.

In addition to the fun of crafting and testing the scenario I even had a chance to dive into my childhood and pluck an obscure Star Wars comic reference from issue #27 of that series. Junction, a throw-away world in the Marvel series, just had to be the setting for my scenario and, I reasoned at the time, maybe a few people would get a kick out of seeing something that old referenced and brought into the prequel era of the Star Wars series. I still don’t know how many people had fun with my work, but I know I had fun writing it and in re-reading the scenario I think it holds up well.

“Last Stand at Junction” may be the only Star Wars: Attacktix scenario published in a professional magazine; if there were any others then I missed them.

I Was Ready for More

Once “Last Stand at Junction” was completed and accepted by Scrye I started roughing out ideas for more Star Wars: Attacktix scenarios. I figured that if the game continued to have a strong spot in stores then the Scrye editors would be open to more scenarios for the game. Notes prepared, all I had to do was wait for the right moment to pitch another scenario — or maybe even a series of scenarios to form a campaign — to the editors at Scrye magazine.

The Game Didn’t Have Legs

Even with the Star Wars brand and Hasbro’s muscle the Star Wars: Attacktix game (BoardGameGeek entry, Amazon.com search*) suffered at retail and never really found a large enough following to succeed. Hasbro released wave after wave throughout 2005 and 2006, but in the end the line died out and was soon forgotten.

And that’s unfortunate, since the combination of a simple movement system — the bases had clicking wheels that were used to measure distance — and a dexterity-based combat system struck me as a great idea for kids. The entire game was quick to learn and playable by a wide range of younger kids and if it had succeeded I could have seen where Hasbro could add advanced rules and units that brought in cards and dice.

Worth a Try

If you’re at all a fan of action figures and simple games then the Star Wars: Attacktix game (BoardGameGeek entry, Amazon.com search*) is worth tracking down and giving a shot. Despite being over seven years old the figures can still be found relatively cheap — some of the later releases cost a bit more than I would like, but it’s easy to collect enough figures to play the game — and while the sculpts and paint apps of the figures are a little weak they still make decent toys for young kids.

And though it is dead I continue to hope Hasbro will give the basic ideas another shot in the future. With a whole new round of Star Wars movies coming in a few years maybe Attacktix — likely under a new name — with get a second chance at retail. If it does then I’ll be ready to try it again.

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