I've Seen the New Star Wars Villainous Expansion and Ashoka Fans Are Going to Love It

CNET

28-05-2025

Disney Villainous and its many iterations have been with us since 2018 and are consistently some of the best board games to give as a gift. The way the constantly evolves and reinvents itself is part of that allure, as well as the branding opportunities that Disney has at its disposal. Star Wars Villainous has been a favorite of mine for a long time -- I'm a huge Star Wars nerd, born on Star Wars Day -- and playing as the villains of the Star Wars universe is always fun.
The latest expandalone to the base Star Wars Villainous game is on its way this summer, July 21 to be exact. It's called Star Wars Villainous: Cold Tactics, and it brings two new baddies for you to play: Count Dooku and Grand Admiral Thrawn, who gets the honor of being the box art.
Before we get into more specifics, the word expandalone needs some explaining. Each of the Villainous expansions can be added to the full game, allowing you to pick and choose which villains you want to play in the larger format. They can also be played as two-player standalone games straight out of the box without ever having to own the original game. This gives you some freedom to only buy the villains you want and keep it a two-player game as well.
Disney / Ravensburger
Cold Tactics adds new win objectives for each of the two villains you can play. Count Dooku needs an active organization at each location in his sector. To do that, you'll need to defeat Jedi and convince those organizations to go from neutral to active. The images show three Jedi: Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ashoka Tano -- technically she's "no Jedi" but you get the idea -- as well as Ventress and Cade Bane as your allies. Having Ashoka makes sense since the other villain, Grand Admiral Thrawn, is expected to make an appearance in the new season of the Disney Plus show, Ashoka.
Disney / Ravensburger
Admiral Thrawn, in all his blue glory, is the main villain of Cold Tactics and has a unique sector board. His objective is to occupy the four main locations on the board by deploying the seventh fleet and by collecting artifacts. Once you've occupied those locations, you can flip their tile to the "(occupied)" state. Sabine Wren and Ezra Bridger are the heroes here to thwart you. Your allies include Morgan Elsbeth and Baylan Skoll, both of whom have appeared in the Ashoka TV show.
Cold Tactics feels like a more, well, tactical game than other iterations of Star Wars Villainous. This shouldn't be a shock if you're familiar with Admiral Thrawn. Whether you've read his books, enjoyed Star Wars: Rebels, or your only experience with him is from the Ahsoka TV show, you know tactics and strategy are his thing. The need to occupy or control locations is a fun mechanic, and I'm sure some of those pesky heroes will have ways to flip your board back again as you play. Villains' goals are often more localized -- collect eight lightsabers and defeat Luke Skywalker are two from the original game -- but both Dooku and Thrawn have much larger ambitions in this new expansion.
Star Wars Villainous: Cold Tactics will be available to purchase from Target on July 21, 2025, followed by Amazon on Aug. 1. The Target box has some exclusive parts, including a pearlescent shine to the Thrawn figure, so if you love exclusive stuff, be on the lookout for that on July 21.