Never tell me the property odds
By Paul Hunter
Monopoly has been a game-night staple for generations, bringing family and friends together for property purchases, lucky dice rolls, and the occasional argument over rent. In the same vein, Star Wars has a long gaming history, with its heroes, villains, planets, and battles appearing across almost every genre.
The two brands have shared several physical board games, and Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains now brings that crossover to video games as a dedicated console experience. Developed by Behaviour Interactive and published by Ubisoft, it's a completely new take on Monopoly focused on the galatic rivalry between the light and dark side.
Which faction will claim the galaxy? Let’s find out!
Every match is either 2v2 or 3v3, with one faction controlling the Heroes, while the other chooses the Villains. The roster has 28 characters, including icons like Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, Darth Vader, Count Dooku, and Darth Maul.
Each character has an active ability with a cooldown or a passive skill that triggers under set conditions. For example, Yoda can upgrade locations twice in one turn, Obi-Wan Kenobi can reroll a failed GO Event attempt, and Han Solo can enter the Cantina from anywhere on the board. Although I initially built teams around characters I liked best, I quickly learned some powers are better than others and shaped my teams around those characters.
In order to win the game, your faction must collect the most Influence Points within a set amount of GO events, which are triggered when someone passes GO. You earn Influence by buying locations, completing every property connected to one planet, upgrading territory, capturing rival spaces, and succeeding during GO Events.
When a GO Events happens, your entire team faces a dice challenge based on classic Star Wars moment, like battling in the Clone Wars, becoming Darth Vader, the destruction of the Death Star, or the Battle of Hoth. Large Influence are rewarded to the winners and board-changing effects can occur, like protecting locations or destroying upgrades. The match ends after a certain number of GO Events have taken place.
Money is present in this version of Monoploy, or more accurately Credits, and these belong to your entire team and pay for purchases, upgrades, enemy property downgrades or takeovers. Bankruptcy doesn't end the game, and your shared balance can even drop below zero.
Buy properties is important as it addes to your team's Influence Points, and collection rent when an opponent stops on one you own will add Credits to your team's total. That said, rival properties can also be taken by paying a higher price, moving Influence Points from one team to the other. You can also upgrade properties from Standard to Outpost and then Base, with Stronger properties generating additional Influence and cost more to capture.
Battles begin when characters from opposing factions occupy the same tile. The defender rolls first, then the attacker throws into those dice and tries to lower their values. An attacking win captures the location, while a successful defence steals Credits.
Special tiles exist on the board and can quickly change the game. Hyperspace moves you toward the nearest Hyperspace space, the next neutral location, or an allied property. Landing on the Cantina lets you spend shared credits on special actions that supports your faction or disrupts the opposing side, like purchasing an option to send a player to jail. Canto Bight lets you bet credits on one dice roll, with larger wagers offering larger returns. Destiny spaces replace Chance cards and trigger effects that can help either faction.
All considered, the revised rules turn Monopoly into an exciting faction battle where character selection, shared spending, property control, and major event rolls all shape the final outcome.
Landing on one of the 22 Star Wars property locations causes a 3D diorama to rise from the centre of the table, which is awesome to see. Each property, be it Hoth, the Jedi Temple and others, will appear in short animated scenes, giving each space its own vibe that pays hommage to the Star Wars films.
The board also visually changes when a faction buys a property, changing either blue or red depending the light or dark side bought it. It's also neat to see Outposts and Bases getting built on upgraded locations, and I often would rotate the camera around the table just to see all bases each team had built.
The soundtrack uses familiar Star Wars orchestral music, while droid sounds, ship engines, explosions, and Cantina background noise also sounds like they came straight from the movies.
All considered, the animated board, holographic character, detailed location dioramas, and familar Star Wars music and effects all combine to really immerse you into the Star Wars universe.
Public rooms let you join available games others have made, while private rooms keep the table limited to invited friends. It's great to see the game features cross-play across all supported platforms, and cross-progression carries your progress between them.
The game also supports drop-in and drop-out in case people leave or join, plus host migration keeps the match running if the original host departs. Anyone who loses their connection can rejoin, which is a nice touch.
Final Score: 7.5/10 - Good
Developer: Behaviour Interactive
Publisher: Ubisoft
Genre: Board Game
Modes: Single-player, Multiplayer
By Paul Hunter
Monopoly has been a game-night staple for generations, bringing family and friends together for property purchases, lucky dice rolls, and the occasional argument over rent. In the same vein, Star Wars has a long gaming history, with its heroes, villains, planets, and battles appearing across almost every genre.
The two brands have shared several physical board games, and Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains now brings that crossover to video games as a dedicated console experience. Developed by Behaviour Interactive and published by Ubisoft, it's a completely new take on Monopoly focused on the galatic rivalry between the light and dark side.
Which faction will claim the galaxy? Let’s find out!
Gameplay and Mechanics
Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains is not a traditional game of Monopoly where you buy properties, complete colour sets, collect rent, and try to bankrupt everyone else. While all these elements are still present, this version of Monopoly is built around team competition rather than individual survival and the goal is command the most galactic influence.Every match is either 2v2 or 3v3, with one faction controlling the Heroes, while the other chooses the Villains. The roster has 28 characters, including icons like Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, Darth Vader, Count Dooku, and Darth Maul.
Each character has an active ability with a cooldown or a passive skill that triggers under set conditions. For example, Yoda can upgrade locations twice in one turn, Obi-Wan Kenobi can reroll a failed GO Event attempt, and Han Solo can enter the Cantina from anywhere on the board. Although I initially built teams around characters I liked best, I quickly learned some powers are better than others and shaped my teams around those characters.
In order to win the game, your faction must collect the most Influence Points within a set amount of GO events, which are triggered when someone passes GO. You earn Influence by buying locations, completing every property connected to one planet, upgrading territory, capturing rival spaces, and succeeding during GO Events.
When a GO Events happens, your entire team faces a dice challenge based on classic Star Wars moment, like battling in the Clone Wars, becoming Darth Vader, the destruction of the Death Star, or the Battle of Hoth. Large Influence are rewarded to the winners and board-changing effects can occur, like protecting locations or destroying upgrades. The match ends after a certain number of GO Events have taken place.
Money is present in this version of Monoploy, or more accurately Credits, and these belong to your entire team and pay for purchases, upgrades, enemy property downgrades or takeovers. Bankruptcy doesn't end the game, and your shared balance can even drop below zero.
Buy properties is important as it addes to your team's Influence Points, and collection rent when an opponent stops on one you own will add Credits to your team's total. That said, rival properties can also be taken by paying a higher price, moving Influence Points from one team to the other. You can also upgrade properties from Standard to Outpost and then Base, with Stronger properties generating additional Influence and cost more to capture.
Battles begin when characters from opposing factions occupy the same tile. The defender rolls first, then the attacker throws into those dice and tries to lower their values. An attacking win captures the location, while a successful defence steals Credits.
Special tiles exist on the board and can quickly change the game. Hyperspace moves you toward the nearest Hyperspace space, the next neutral location, or an allied property. Landing on the Cantina lets you spend shared credits on special actions that supports your faction or disrupts the opposing side, like purchasing an option to send a player to jail. Canto Bight lets you bet credits on one dice roll, with larger wagers offering larger returns. Destiny spaces replace Chance cards and trigger effects that can help either faction.
All considered, the revised rules turn Monopoly into an exciting faction battle where character selection, shared spending, property control, and major event rolls all shape the final outcome.
Presentation and Audio
Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains sets every match inside a Cantina with a holographic game board, with C-3PO and R2-D2 hosting the action. Fully animated heroes and villains replace traditional Monopoly tokens, and it's cool seeing them walking or running between spaces after each dice roll.Landing on one of the 22 Star Wars property locations causes a 3D diorama to rise from the centre of the table, which is awesome to see. Each property, be it Hoth, the Jedi Temple and others, will appear in short animated scenes, giving each space its own vibe that pays hommage to the Star Wars films.
The board also visually changes when a faction buys a property, changing either blue or red depending the light or dark side bought it. It's also neat to see Outposts and Bases getting built on upgraded locations, and I often would rotate the camera around the table just to see all bases each team had built.
The soundtrack uses familiar Star Wars orchestral music, while droid sounds, ship engines, explosions, and Cantina background noise also sounds like they came straight from the movies.
All considered, the animated board, holographic character, detailed location dioramas, and familar Star Wars music and effects all combine to really immerse you into the Star Wars universe.
Multiplayer
It's entierly possible to play Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains solo by having AI control your teammates and rivals, but of course, the game is so much better when you play with others. You can play locally with everyone on one television, connect online in virtual rooms, or combine local and online friends in the same session. For any AI-controlled character, you can adjust the difficulty to set the challenge to your group.Public rooms let you join available games others have made, while private rooms keep the table limited to invited friends. It's great to see the game features cross-play across all supported platforms, and cross-progression carries your progress between them.
The game also supports drop-in and drop-out in case people leave or join, plus host migration keeps the match running if the original host departs. Anyone who loses their connection can rejoin, which is a nice touch.
The Verdict
Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains is a fantastic group game that reshapes familiar Monopoly rules around thrilling faction play. I loved the shared planning, dramatic GO Events, and interactive dice battles, while the Cantina tabletop setting puts you into the Star Wars mood right at the onset. Local and online options make gathering a group straightforward, and the huge character roster means everybody's favourite is on board. Behaviour Interactive has delivered a fun twist on the Monopoly formula built for friendly rivalries, exciting score swings, and one last roll before game night ends.Final Score: 7.5/10 - Good
Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains details
Platform: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, Nintendo Switch 2Developer: Behaviour Interactive
Publisher: Ubisoft
Genre: Board Game
Modes: Single-player, Multiplayer