Let's talk STAR REALMS

Star Realms is a very neat little deckbuilder and may possibly be the best thing ever coming out of a Kickstarter campaign. And I don't even care much for deckbuilders - it always feel like deckbuilding should really be part of another game (like in Starcraft) and not the game in itself.

However. I didn't back it, but bought it in my FLGS for the price of three Magic boosters and it's a steal. With one set you can play two players, and the goal is of course to build an armada of spaceships and bases to destroy your opponent with. Ships are discarded to fight another day, bases stay in place until destroyed, and some cards can even be scrapped (removed from play) for an extra effect. It resembles Ascension quite a bit, but feels much more - dare I say it - elegant.

As in Ascension you have a common pool of cards to buy from, and as always in deckbuilders synergies are all important. But they are also really easy to grasp, since many cards gain an extra ability if you play them at the same time as another card in the same colour (out of four). So for the first few games you can do quite well just by aiming for a couple of factions which makes it very easy to teach.

It also looks nice and plays great solo with an official variant you can find online. And while I haven't played multiplayer, the rules offer some seemingly cool play modes if you combine more sets.

Has anyone else played it? If so, what do you think?

It was pretty similar to Ascension, the attacking felt more like a race to 50 VP to me, it was pretty non-interactive. I only played 1 game but I wasn't impressed.

Just yesterday, I played Eminent Domain and Star Realms at a local con (Game Days). It reminded me of how much I dislike Eminent Domain, and also that I can appreciate nearly any game that plays to completion in 15 minutes.

In Realms, it was nice to deal spacey damage to my opponent. Didn't feel like VP scoring to me, but I'm lowbrow that way.

It's cheap, too, as you say. Not sure I'll buy it, since I don't really need 2-player super-fillers. And when I do, Flash Duel always gets the job done.

As far as an appreciative audience, Star Realms seems like a great stocking stuffer for gamer kids. It's more portable than Marvel Dice Masters, anyway - and way less expensive.

I picked it up on a whim after reading a review somewhere, and I really liked it. I have only a little experience with Ascension, but I recognized the similarities. I found the cards in Realms easier to grasp at a glance.

I'm not sure what Bull means by "non-interactive." Since you can only win by attacking your opponent, we had interaction every turn. You can't affect what cards are available for your opponent to draft, so I guess that could be seen as a limitation. It didn't bother me, though.

My only complaint was the scoring cards. Instead of telling players to get a pad of paper or some other method for keeping score, they made about 20 cards with numbers on them, like money. As you take hits, you adjust your cards accordingly. It's not great, but it's passable. However, I would much rather those 20 cards were spent on gameplay, rather than wasted on a dumb score tracker.

What I mean by non-interactive is when you're attacked, you just take it, you can set up cards to block damage but they're automated. As an attacker you can choose to take out some opponents defenses, but the gameplay I'm the game I played was more like "discard that, take 8, go"

Well, I was going to review it for y'all but they were give out of review copies...I was going to buy it but both CSI and MM are out of stock. It looks pretty good, I really like that it's at a low price point and compact.

I think it was smart to do the tracking cards...that keeps everything in one pocket-sized box and you don't need anything else.

To clarify, I came into the hobby through M:tG, so I have pretty high standards for 2p card games, even light ones. I don't think the interaction has to be called "attacking" but it has to be interesting for both players. In this game the defense just has to sit there and take it. there are interesting parts to the game (particularly the "trash for kicker" mechanism) but overall, with 1 play, I wasn't wowed. I'd play it several more times to confirm this, but I'd rather play CIA v. KGB every time for a small 2p ccg feeling for $10, because that game is awesome.

Since you explained it, I totally understand what you mean, Bull. It's a valid criticism. It didn't bother me, but I could see how it might get old after a while.

I liked Cold War, but it never caught on with my friends. Sold it, and kinda regret it (but I kinda regret everything I sell, even the games I hate).

As for the card-points, I respect them for doing something different and keeping it all self-contained. I guess if they had used one card with a score track and another to cover/mark the score, it runs the risk of being bumped or otherwise messed with.

Ok, I played his twice tonight, both two player games. I think it's pretty great. Definitely an Ascension descendant, but it sands that game down to a fine point and increases the card combos while decreasing complexity. It's more accessible and plays smoother. The direct damage thing totally works and there is a clear sense of escalation as the damage starts to pile up and your deck gets better at dishing it out. Looks really good too. $10 street is outrageous, this game would have been $40 in a jumbo box just a year or two ago.

I have the gambit cards and solo challenges from Amazon, I'll try those tomorrow.

Could be the best deckbuilder yet.

I played a team game yesterday (2 vs. 2) and it changed the game quite a lot. Since you can share money, you suddenly get to buy big ships early on making for some quite different decks. Also, team play was a great way to introduce two new players to the game.

I got the pc version yesterday and played through the campaign and about 10 games online. It works great for live play, even multiple games at once. If anyone wants to play my nickname is Divino there, please challenge me.

The game is free to play the tutorials, easy AI and first part of the campaign.

I've played a few games in person and a number of them online (Legomancer), but I'm already feeling like I've sort of exhausted what's there. It's fun, it's certainly a great package at the price, but as Bull said, not only are there no choices for a defender to make, the choices for an attacker aren't that exciting and usually are pretty obvious. As with Ascension, I'll probably play the hell out of it on the iPad, but if I'm sitting down with a live opponent I have tons of other 2p games I can pick from that are more interesting.

Amazon has it for fifteen bucks with free Prime shipping

Legomancer wrote: I've played a few games in person and a number of them online (Legomancer), but I'm already feeling like I've sort of exhausted what's there. It's fun, it's certainly a great package at the price, but as Bull said, not only are there no choices for a defender to make, the choices for an attacker aren't that exciting and usually are pretty obvious. As with Ascension, I'll probably play the hell out of it on the iPad, but if I'm sitting down with a live opponent I have tons of other 2p games I can pick from that are more interesting.

Yeah, in two days it's already feeling kind of samey, it plays so fast online that you burn out way quicker. This game desperately needs expansions.

What two player games do you recommend that are not very language dependent and more interesting?

Michael Barnes wrote: Ok, I played his twice tonight, both two player games. I think it's pretty great. Definitely an Ascension descendant, but it sands that game down to a fine point and increases the card combos while decreasing complexity. It's more accessible and plays smoother. The direct damage thing totally works and there is a clear sense of escalation as the damage starts to pile up and your deck gets better at dishing it out. Looks really good too. $10 street is outrageous, this game would have been $40 in a jumbo box just a year or two ago.

I have the gambit cards and solo challenges from Amazon, I'll try those tomorrow.

Could be the best deckbuilder yet.

Rafael Silva wrote:

Legomancer wrote: I've played a few games in person and a number of them online (Legomancer), but I'm already feeling like I've sort of exhausted what's there. It's fun, it's certainly a great package at the price, but as Bull said, not only are there no choices for a defender to make, the choices for an attacker aren't that exciting and usually are pretty obvious. As with Ascension, I'll probably play the **** out of it on the iPad, but if I'm sitting down with a live opponent I have tons of other 2p games I can pick from that are more interesting.

Yeah, in two days it's already feeling kind of samey, it plays so fast online that you burn out way quicker. This game desperately needs expansions.

What two player games do you recommend that are not very language dependent and more interesting?

Barnes: Best deckbuilder ever!

Legomancer: Kind of samey and limited.