Review Details

Star Realms Deckbuilding Game

Product Review (submitted on January 1, 2017):

Star Realms is a great 2-player deck-building game. It takes familiar concepts from other deck-building games (such as Legendary), but gives them a new theme (two space armadas dueling against one another). The thing that makes this game unique is that each player uses attack power to directly do damage to their opponent. Each player has 50 hit points (called "authority"). The first player to get down to zero authority loses. Throughout the game, players take turns buying new ships through "trade" (the currency in the game, indicated by a marker on the cards) and attacking each other. There are four 'factions' on the cards, and playing the same types of cards can trigger additional abilities. The symbology is extremely straightforward, and the cards have very details directions on them for any abilities they might possess.
To be frank, the theme is pasted on. This can be seen by the fact that Hero Realms was created a few years after Star Realms. It is essentially the same game, but with a fantasy theme. However, the theme really does not matter in this game. You are simply trying to out-maneuver your opponent, and build a more formidable armada. Matching factions can be helpful. Choices do matter, such as whether to take multiple low-cost cards or a single high-cost card on a turn. Also, anyone has a chance to win this game. I game quite frequently. I play a lot of games with my spouse, but my spouse is not really a "gamer." However, only just recently did I finally win a game of Star Realms against my spouse. We must have played 20 times before I won. The reason my wife kept winning was because her strategy was much better than mine! I had to adjust, pick different cards than I would normally be inclined to pick, and I finally won!
This game is super short. It usually does not last longer than 20 minutes. It is fun, but light-hearted, and even when you lose, you say, "I'm gonna get you next time!" and you want to try again. For $10, this game is a steal. If you want to introduce someone to deck-builders, this is the game to do it with. Even if you're on the fence about buying it or not, buy it. You'll only be out a few bucks if you end up not liking it a lot.