How Sabacc works in Star Wars Outlaws: Rules, rewards, cheating with Nix, more

Sabacc has been made real in Star Wars Outlaws. The iconic card game is playable across the galaxy and we’ve got the full rundown on how it all works. From the basic rules to trick cards, here’s what you need to know.

Decades after its on-screen introduction, Sabacc has become somewhat of a legendary game in its own right. While countless variations have appeared across the Star Wars library, be it in movies, animated shows, or books, a fully interactive version is now upon us thanks to Star Wars Outlaws.

Throughout her travels, Kay Vess is able to familiarize herself with Sabacc, testing her luck against the Underworld’s many quirky characters. Not only is it a fun way to kill time, but by winning more than you lose, there’s a wealth of great rewards up for grabs.

So if you’re looking for the full overview of Sabacc in Star Wars Outlaws, we’ve got you covered. Here’s how the card game functions.

How to play Sabacc in Star Wars Outlaws: The basics

Sabacc in Star Wars Outlaws is unique from any other rendition you may have played in the past, namely the Galaxy’s Edge physical card game.

The rules here are simple. Each player starts with two cards in their hand, one red (Blood) and one yellow (Sand). The difference in the value of your two cards is key, with your goal being to reduce this value as much as possible.

Cards range from 1-6, with a few special outliers we’ll discuss later. Say, for example, you start with a 5 and a 2, the difference between these cards is 3, so that’s the value of your hand.

Each turn, you can spend a Chip to replace a card in your hand with one from a deck on the table. After three turns, the player with the best hand (the lowest difference in card cost) wins the round.

Rounds continue until only one player is left with chips at the table.

How to play Sabacc in Star Wars Outlaws: Win conditions & taxes

Getting into the nitty gritty now, there are several key factors to keep in mind while playing Sabacc in Star Wars Outlaws.

The most important thing is the value of any given hand. While a pair of sixes might look good on paper, as the difference between them is zero, and thus, we call it a Sabacc hand, value comes in descending order. By that logic, a pair of ones would outrank that hand, leaving you as the round’s loser. Therefore, it’s always worth trying to prioritize lower numbers.

If no player at the table reveals a Sabacc hand (a pair), the round then goes to the player with the lowest hand value overall. Two or more players can be winners in the same round, however, in the event of a tie.

Should you win a round of Sabacc, you’ll get your chips back that you invested that round. For instance, if you replaced three cards, you’ll get those three chips back in your pot.

Meanwhile, any losing player without a Sabacc hand is taxed an amount equal to the value of their card differential.

Your chips are essentially your remaining life, so pick your plays wisely, and don’t over-commit to too many replacements if it can be helped.

Sylop & Imposter Cards

Alongside the standard cards ranging from 1-6, Sabacc also has two other technical cards in the set. These are the Sylop and Imposter cards.

Up first, a Sylop card takes the value of the other card in your hand. There is only one Sylop per family, meaning two overall across both Blood and Sand decks.

Next, Imposter takes the value of one of two dice thrown. This gives you a little more control over the odds, letting you pick the dice that suits best. There are three Imposters per family, meaning six overall across both Blood and Sand decks.

If you’re lucky and manage to get a Sabacc hand thanks to one of these technical cards, its value is equivalent to a standard Sabacc hand of the same value. For example, if you have a hand with a six and a Sylop, it’s still the least valuable Sabacc hand in the game.

If you’re extremely lucky though, managing to get a hand with both Sylops in the entire game, that’s known as a Pure Sabacc, the very best hand in the game.

Shift Tokens in Sabacc

Also shaking things up in Sabacc are the Shift Tokens. These are powerful modifiers than can shake up the state of any given game.

You’re able to sit down at any Sabacc table with three Shift Tokens at the ready, though each can be played just once per game.

Some Shift Tokens are able to return a certain number of chips to your pile, while others may force opponents to add more chips to the pot. Regardless, they’re all more than handy when it comes to securing wins.

Speaking of which, you can find new Shift Tokens by winning at various tables across the galaxy. Others can be found out in the open world, while some can even be purchased on the black market.

Cheating with Nix

Of course, it wouldn’t be a card game in the Star Wars underworld without some cheating. Hilariously, at least for us not our opponents, we can use Nix to our advantage when playing Sabacc.

Our friendly little companion can be sent to the other side of the table in order to peek at an opponent’s hand. If it works, you gain some valuable knowledge of how they’re tracking for that round, but there is always a chance it fails.

Fail to cheat and things will get a little tense. With suspicions raised, fail at cheating once more and you’ll be caught red-handed. Should you push your luck, you’ll be banned from the table and have to wait quite some time before coming back to play again.

For now, all we’ve seen is the ability for Nix to cheat. Though through the game’s UI, we can see room for multiple other types of cheats. Exactly what they are and how they work remains to be seen, but much like Lando, we’d love to be able to keep some Sylops up our sleeve for when they’re needed in some high stakes games.

Sabacc Rewards

We’re only just scratching the surface with Sabacc. With seemingly dozens of tables strewn across the game’s many planets, there’s no shortage of games to play, some more casual and some high stakes.

Rewards seem to vary depending on where you are and who you’re playing against. In almost all cases you’ll get some Credits for your troubles, but other games might provide new cosmetics for Kay, Nix, or the Trailblazer, while others might hand out powerful Shift Tokens.

We’ll be sure to update you here with a comprehensive list of every Sabacc table we come across and the accompanying rewards when we get our hands on the full game. Star Wars Outlaws hits store shelves on August 30, 2024.