Tabletop Game Review: Cowboy Bebop: Space Serenade

Cowboy Bebop: Space Serenade

Japanime Games

Playtime: 30-60 Minutes

1-4 Players

Cowboy Bebop and deck builders. These are two of our favorite things here at Sequential Planet. Cowboy Bebop is regarded as one of the greatest anime series of all time. It’s an instant classic, so it’s surprising that it took this long for there to be a major tabletop game that uses the franchise as a theme. Still, this is an exciting title that marries a great franchise with some fun tabletop mechanics. So how it?

In Cowboy Bebop: Space Serenade 2-4 players compete to be the best bounty hunter. Players will choose from one of the Bebop characters and build a deck, fly around space, and capture criminals. The game will end when Vicious, the big bad enemy of the game, is captured. At that point, the player who has the most renown points wins. 

Like most deck builders, each player starts with a weak and generic deck mostly filled with cards used to acquire new cards and there is a pool of cards in the middle for players to acquire new cards from. While the start of the game is rather typical for deck builders, the rest of the Cowboy Bebop takes off with unique movement and bounty hunting mechanics. The travel and bounty systems are the standout features. Players will travel from planet to planet to capture criminals. Each criminal can be defeated through resistance or investigation. An investigation is slower but safer. Resistance takedowns are much faster, but they result in the players receiving damage cards that clutter their decks.

In some ways, this is a semi-cooperative experience, as it will sometimes take multiple players working together to defeat a villain. This is especially because a criminal can escape and leave play if it takes too long to capture. Players will still gain some renown for helping take down criminals, but the big payout is for the player who times everything perfectly and makes the capture. Balancing teamwork and looking out for number one is essential to success in Cowboy Bebop.

Traveling requires fuel, which adds another welcome element to the game. Players can store fuel, but they will still need to be considerate of where they fly off to.

Everything comes together exceptionally well, making Cowboy Bebop a blast to play. The deck building itself is standard fare with nothing too noteworthy. Any fan of the genre will be absolutely comfortable with the routine of using a turn to get better cards and hoping to draw those cards later at the perfect moment. Permanently removing cards from a deck is actually fairly easy compared to other deck builders, which actually allows for more strategy and less luck.

Hunting villains, working together, and being the one taking the main prize is the most satisfying part of Cowboy Bebop. Players will need to manage and balance tons of resources while still maintaining a consistent deck. Considering one’s deck, fuel, and the status of the villains makes the game feel incredibly fresh, elevating it above the average deck builder. Like most Japanime deck builders, the rules aren’t too difficult to grasp onto, even for those who are new to the medium. Getting used to managing traveling and deck building takes some finesse, but this is a game that’s easy to learn but difficult to master.

Finally, each playable character comes with different powers for players to utilize. These perks aren’t significant enough to break the game and are balanced for each character. Most cards that can be built into the deck also come with a perk that benefits players if the correct player is on a planet with them. It’s a fun way to add to the cooperative experience while still keeping everything competitive.

As great as the gameplay is, the components of Cowboy Bebop are what really make this game great. The cards themselves are nice and thick, with good quality that should keep them in decent shape for some time. The ships, planets, and other cardboard components look fantastic, with tons of color and thematic flair. The card art is spectacular too, with excellent art featuring popular moments, characters, and settings. The whole package comes together beautifully to make this one of the Japanime Games’ best-looking games.

Cowboy Bebop: Space Serenade is aesthetically pleasing, thematic, and most importantly, fun. It’s a creative spin on deck building games that manages to pull players into the fantastic world of Cowboy Bebop. Even those who aren’t fans of the franchise but enjoy deck builders will still find tons of value in this game. For fans of the space western, this is a must-buy. It is easily one of the best games in Japanime’s catalog. Don’t miss out.

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