I collect and play a lot of board games, and I especially love adventure-type games where you roam around the board looking for objectives to reach while building up your character like Runebound, Relic/Talisman, Eldritch Horror, etc.
But this game? My god, I just played my first game last night and it felt incredible. And I'm not that big of a Star Wars fan; I like the universe and I've seen the movies, read some entries on WookiePedia for fun, but that's it. I don't even own any Star Wars movies. This game is so thematic and just plain FUN, and it's also really easy to get into. I love Runebound 3rd ed, but I keep forgetting half the rules. Not with Outer Rim: it's easy, fast, and intuitive. You also play it for the theme, not just to win. Yesterday I was Han Solo and managed to get his blaster, and by complete chance I happened to be hated by everyone except the Rebels. That was great!
The "rim" I wasn't sure to like, but when you play it does make sense because destinations can be very close or very far away. Of course you could have a board that works like that, but the modular aspect is nice. I think what I like the most about the game is its lack of complex "doomtrack-style" mechanic. You just play and then you win or lose. In a lot of adventure games there's this feeling of urge you don't get here. Even if your opponent has a lot more Fame than you do, there are choices you can make and risks you can take to close that gap. And if you don't, who cares?
The reason I decided to come to this forum was to praise the game and nothing else, because I see a lot of people wondering if expansions are coming, and I'm one of those. I want to show support. I want to say I was incredibly surprised by the quality and streamlining of this game, and yes, it deserves expansions. Not in the form of new mechanics; just more characters and cards. I'll buy every single one (well actually I buy all my games in French so… yeah, please have the expansions translated too).
[My only gripe is with the playmat: I bought it and returned it. The quality is great (and BTW the price was also great for this level of quality), but the configuration of both the rim and the cards on the mat was terrible for a two-player game. You just can't sit face-to-face with this thing, or if you do, the other person is too far away to read the market cards. But that's just it. More Outer Rim please!]