The Star Trek Lower Decks Challeneger is released on Friday, so let's take a look at another UVS Star Trek Property Star Trek Star Realms! What's in the Box!!

https://youtu.be/BXn-Cp52okQ?si=fYhf8o4eki7Dnecp

My partner and I have been playing Star Realms for a few years now and we love the game for its simplicity and for being fast paced.

One of the problems we encountered while playing (not always), is that the market can fill up with high value cards and for several turns no one can buy cards.

Replacing the entire market seems to be very beneficial for the player who first has access to those new cards. That's why I decided to look for other variants and found one on BGG called "Less luck, more control" (https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/231348/star-realms-rules-cards-for-less-luck-more-control).

The variant is the following:

Before a card is replaced after being acquired from the Trade Row, slide the cards between the Trade Deck and the newly unoccupied card space (preserving their order) to fill that space until the unoccupied space is shifted directly next to the Trade Deck. The next card from the Trade Deck is then placed in that space.

If no cards are acquired from the Trade Row or the Explorer Pile by the end of the player´s Main Phase, the card in the last space of the Trade Row (furthest from the Trade Deck) is scrapped.

The costs of the two closest cards to the Trade Deck in the Trade Row are modified by +1. Dice or tokens can be placed above thes card spaces to conveniently remind of the cost increase. Card abilities that refer to costs of cards in any of these two spaces now refer to their modified costs.

Event cards are no longer resolved and scrapped immediately. Instead, they are resolved and scrapped after they reach the last space of the Trade Row and the replacement of the previously acquired card is completed. Event cards may not be acquired. If also playing with the Event Deck Variant, disregard the rules here for Event cards.

I really like the first 2 paragraphs of the variant, since it makes the market more dynamic. Still have doubts about the third paragraph (Novelty Tax). The idea is interesting, but I feel that this can tip the balance towards looking for more cards that provide coins. Can't comment on the events section, since I only have the base game.

For now, I'm going to continue playing with the renewed part of the market and evaluate the tax part.

Any thoughts about this variant? Do you play with any variant?

Do you get anything special in the Preorder? Like promo cards? And I’m not talking about the kickstarter preorder but if I just regularly pre order it.

HOW HAS THIS KNOWLEDGE ESCAPED MEEEE!?!?! I’ve only ever used my Frontiers card game. It wasn’t until I thought, “Hmm, I wonder if there’s a Star Realms subreddit?” Prompting me to open my AppStore to find a literal one to one copy of the physical card game ON MY DEVICE?!? Wooooow

My friend owns the game and i wanted to get him sleeves for christmas but i just haven't found any thing suitable yet.

So i'm looking for "generic" star trek designs that don't belong to a specific game.

We like Dragon Skins matte texture.

And yourplaymat is cool, but their max oder size at $75 is 120 cards. This game's card count is 130 cards.

So i'm in a bit of a pickle and hoping some one is sitting on a set they can recommend here because i simply can't find a good one.

For scenario 4 "non starting ships have +1 damage"

Does this mean any ship, so including ships with only trade abilities as an example

Or is it for ships that already do damage .

I feel it's the former but my son is asking

While i acknowledge ill get better at recognizing the card artwork and text will be more memorized the more familiar i get with the game, i would say Star Realms original sets have much better art for game play. I don't know what the word for it is, but compared to the original artwork, the look of the Trekdeck™©^^^Quizzelbuck ^^^^Ltd. is like looking through a window smudged with Vaseline and photoshop butter.

I hope future editions make the ships and art pop a bit more.

Otherwise, after playing a few games, i like the slight change to the game flow so far.

so i want to buy the star realms box set but i am unsure what is in the box set can somebody help me ?

A few years ago, I tried Star Realms board game and loved it. This Christmas, I wanted to start my board game collection by buying it, but when I tried to figure out the different expansions and such, I noticed there’s also Hero Realms. I watched several videos comparing the two and sharing opinions, and the consensus was that Hero Realms is basically the same but more refined and with an extra mechanic. The reviews were a couple of years old, and I’ve seen they’re still releasing new stuff for Star Realms (Rise of Empire), so I wanted to know if they’re now on the same level.

I’m much more drawn to the space theme than the medieval one, but the features I’ve seen in Hero Realms expansions (like cooperative mode and 1 vs 3) seem really cool. Does Star Realms now offer anything like that?

Would you recommend getting just one game and combining expansions, or buying the base game for both and picking the expansions I’m most interested in for each?

One more thing: since I’m in Spain and I need the game to be in Spanish for anyone to want to play with me, is there any news or way to predict when the latest release will arrive here?

Thanks in advance!

You know who I am. See you next time ❤️.

Hi I just picked up the Star Trek Star Realms Core Set.

Just looking over the rules,

Any tips for a new player, is there anywhere to play online and learn and just the game looks amazing I am excited to play my first game!

Hello everyone! So, I discovered the game a few weeks ago, was just with friends and played the game, cause one of my friends had the base pocket game, and I really got hooked on the game, and so, I myself wanted to play more by getting the game, but I saw all these extensions, but since I’m kind of a newbie, I’m not sure how they work and what’s like, good extensions to get when you want to extend the game a bit.

I saw there were extensions like Frontiers which seemed to add new functionalities or something , but I have also noticed there are some sort of card boosters, and I don’t really understand how they change the game, and if it’s interesting getting many or not.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks for reading!

This is gonna have spoilers for Rise of Empire

If you haven't played or are still in the middle or don't want anything spoiled; you probably should move along.

The campaign is full of surprises, and they are wonderful moments.

Last chance.

--

--

Full discloser, I am a Star Realms super fan. I own all the content, and have played hundreds of games over the many years.

So I am surely biased on my opinion of anything Star Realms related.

At the start of the campaign, you pick either Trade Federation or Star Empire and your buddy picks the other. The two of you will be that faction fore entirety of the campaign.

The campaign is 12-13 scenarios; 12 if you have the base game and 13 if you kickstarted it to get the bonus scenario. A scenario is battle of traditional Star Realms. So, basically, the campaign is 12 - 13 games of Star Realms. (Sometimes I use the terms 'battle', 'game', and 'scenario' interchangeably. Sorry. They are basically the same though)

Note that overall winning is based on how many Victory Points you earn. Not how many games you win. I actually won the overall campaign with a 12-11 Victory Point total, but I lost the games at 5-7.

Phase 1 - Scenarios 1- 4

The trade deck starts out with no Trade Federation or Star Empire cards in it. While playing though, you are able to permanently convert a card in the trade deck into your faction. At the same time, it gets upgraded to be a bit more powerful.

This mechanic fits the story really well. Your 2 factions are in a war, trying to pull more groups into their cause. The trade deck represents this. The more cards you permanently change to your faction; the better your odds in the overall war (campaign).

Each scenario, for the first 4 scenarios, lets you do this more and more.

So, at first I thought the strategy would be to rush the deck conversion as much as possible to my faction. Even sacrifice early games if I need to; so long as it meant better odds to win the campaign.

While players are still converting cards; there is a clear advantage for 1 faction over the other. If you have converted more cards in the trade deck to your faction; then you have an advantage. And so you play to that advantage.

This is and was true, but only to a point.

Phase 2 - Scenario 5 and onward

Eventually you realize that each player can upgrade a maximum of 20 cards. The trade deck is 60 cards. So you end up with a trade deck that is 1/3 Trade Federation, 1/3 neutral and unconverted, and then 1/3 Star Empire.

At this point, it feels more like playing regular Star Realms.

Even though might be a Star Empire player with starting deck that slightly favors Star Empire. You should still play the best deck you can make from the Trade Row. If amazing Trade Federation cards are flopping into the trade row for you; then play Trade Federation.

The rest of your campaign will play this way.

I really liked this Phase 1 vs Phase 2 shift that happens. At about scenario 6 or so, I had to change up my strategy and rethink things for the rest of the campaign. It was a fun switch up moment.

Scenario 5 also introduces Events and Gambits into the game.

This was a fun surprise moment. When you open the envelope for each scenario there are little bits of story and small rules tweaks. But scenario 5 adds a lot and is a big moment.

More and more Events get permanently added to the Trade Deck with each scenario; adding more and more uncontrolled elements as the war gets bigger and bigger.

Gambits are used as a handicap mechanic. If your opponent is winning more battles then you; then you will have more Gambits then them. And visa versa. This continues for the rest of the campaign.

Neither my buddy and I are big fans of Events or Gambits. We feel that it adds too much random spike and messes with the tempo flow of a normal battle. That being said, we played Rise as it is intended, and I think it works great in this format.

You are gonna play out 13 games. Events help to keep it different from game to game. And, in all honesty, it's not gonna be very fun for your buddy if you whoop on them for 13 games straight. So I think having a handicap system in place is a good idea.

Scenario 11B

This is the kick starter exclusive scenario. I feel sad for anyone that buys Rise off the shelf and doesn't get this scenario. It's also another one of those bigger envelopes with a fun surprise moment.

It permanently adds Hero cards into the Trade Deck.

And, for just this scenario, there is a pre-game drafting / hate drafting component that each player gets to be involved in.

It was a lot of fun, but it is too complex to really dive into here. This might be why it is not in the base game tbh. It was very involved and took more time to setup then anything so far in the campaign.

That being said though; I really enjoyed it.

Ok, one final spoiler warning.

I am about to talk about the final battle.

It is a fun surprise moment.

Last, last chance

--

The Final Battle - Scenario 12

This is another thick envelope to open, and boy was it a fun surprise moment.

Up until now, it has been you and your buddy acting as the Trade Federation or Star Empire factions. You two have been engaged in a back and forth battle over the galaxy.

But, right as you are about to engage in the final battle, The Blob appear for the first time in history. They are mighty and your armies are weak and depleted from constant battle. You and your buddy have no choice but to work together and defeat The Blob.

It technically becomes a 3 player Free-For-All

You have the choice to break the treaty and attack your buddy. If you do, you will lose a Victory Point. But, if you can somehow cause them to fail and then you defeat The Blob all on your own, then you will end up gaining significantly more Victory Points from this battle then your opponent. Enough where you could completely steal a campaign victory (if needed).

That being said, The Blob boss is crazy strong, and once one of you fails, The Blob boss is probably going to become even stronger and just steamroll you.

After reading all the rules, and before actually starting the battle, we agreed to keep the truce with each other.

Our Victory Point totals were very close (1 point difference).

I think if I were to kill my buddy, thus breaking the truce and taking a -1 Victory Point, then it would almost guaranteed to just result in The Blob killing me too. Which means I actually just give up my 1 Victory Point lead for nothing.

So, you think my buddy might have been incentivized to go all for it, right? Cuz they need the extra Victory Point to outright win.

But, there is another mechanic in the final battle to gain extra Victory Points. It's all a bit complex and so I won't dive into it. But, basically, you can use this mechanic to try and gain 1 (maybe 2) Victory Points or stop your opponent from gaining 1 (maybe 2) Victory Points.

So, during this final battle there are 2 basic plans:

- If the campaign is really close, probably best to play it save, work as a team, and try to net 1 or 2 more points then your buddy to get the win.

- If you are way behind in Victory Points, you might need to risk it all by working as a team, then stab your partner in the back at the last possible moment, just before defeating The Blob yourself to gain all the credit.

Like I mentioned, we opted for the safe plan. We worked together, defeated The Blob, and with some minor manipulating of that 'other mechanic' managed to keep my 1 Victory Point lead.

It was an absolutely fun journey to go on. It took us a full 2 days of non stop Star Realms to get through it all. So, it's a long one too.

Balance

I think the whole thing is balanced pretty well.

My buddy won 7 battles to my 5, and I won the overall with 12 Victory Points to their 11. Many of our battles (5 I think) ended with the winner having a single digit life total left. You can't get much closer then that.

I played Star Empire. We both actually wanted to go that faction, and so we flipped a coin. (Tales ftw).

Truth be told though. I think the Trade Federation cards are just slightly stronger. Trade Federation has a lot of stats on their cards, and (as is the trend lately) Authority Gain appears to have been buffed again.

But I think the advantage is very small. We are both very even matched players, and it was insanely close.

Something that did feel very different though. 1 drop and 3 drops seem to be really buff in this trade deck. The rest of the deck is ok. Some examples might seem on point with other sets. But I would say half of the 4, 5, 6, and 7 drops felt meh.

This is partly because the un-upgraded cards are weaker then you are used to. And you will have a larger percentage of the higher cost cards left as un-upgraded.

Also though, the 1 drops and 3 drops are just really really strong. A couple upgraded 1 drops in particular are amazing; like a 6 life swing on a 1 drop.

You will win games by going after the 1 drops and 3 drops imo.

It wasn't until we fought The Blob boss that I started to understand why though. The Blob boss is explicitly destroying high costed cards from the trade deck when you fight it. So, I speculate that this made the designers want to buff the lower cost cards more. You basically have to fight The Blob boss with cheap cards.

Conclusion

I am curious to hear what you all think. I am obviously a huge fan of the product. We just finished last night, and I can't stop replaying moments in my head. (So much so, that I felt like I had to write this novel lol)

Brother just keeps racking up 100+ damage turns but then not dealing them. I don’t like to concede games because as the winner it’s fun to play out the last turn so I’ve just been seeing how long this guy will go and there seems to be no mercy in sight 😅

I just got the storage box. I like how it stores all the cards I have so far, but why is it so large and oddly shaped?
I also have the Rise of Empire set and I cannot store the items from there in the box, the board wont fit.
This would have been a better box if it was square and maybe a bit of a lip to allow a game board to be stored in it.
Anyone else feel the same? Or am I alone in this and being just too picky?

I played Star Realms briefly several years ago. Fun game but just moved on. I bought into the Kickstarter thing and am patiently awaiting my reward but I also saw that they created a Star Trek skin of the base game, which is awesome so I bought that.

My partner and I lamented how it seems like the game starting with 50 authority seems a bit low. Like when the action begins to get fun, the game would already be over in a single turn.

Does anyytone here ever adjust the starting authority to a higher number or does that somehow mess up the game?

Also, other internal rules I was thinking of were:

• A game where faction(s) are removed from play.
• A game where each player picks/gets randomly assigned 1 or 2 factions to play and each player will have their own market board with their assigned faction.

I honestly don't know too well how the game balances out with the modifications above so I'd like to know what you guys think?

My opponent would have killed me if he didn't decide to buy that One. Final. Card.

An event took its place and gave me the one extra Auth I needed to survive.

Remember: events will betray you. They do not love you. (Unless they do)

107 against another player is my personal best!

Also drew my whole deck.

Have the devs ever explained why the events algorithm is so broken?

I've been playing in paper since the game came out and can probably count the times we've had multiple events trigger one after another on my hands. There should be games that they aren't seen but every time the arena uses them they fire off non stop and keep repeating the same ones. It feels like I'm playing two different games.

I think this game really needs an in game chat or messaging option. I just want to say. GG sometimes…

The way the draws were going early were just laughably bad luck for my opponent (he couldn’t beat recycling station for literally 3 turns). I built my health up to 70 and he was down to about 20. Then I lost.

TLDR; 1) game needs a chat. 2) good game @LordTengri

Finally! Got my package (Canada). Very excited to give it whirl this week! FYI some of the additional pledge items I ordered ended up under the inner box flaps. Take a look in case it looks like you're missing something.

The amount of times this card has dealt a mighty knockout blow is like 5x any other card.

I have a few expansions, and I'm curious how most people store their cards and choose which expansions to use. It seems there are two main options: either mix everything together and pick which events or gambits to include as you go, or keep the expansions separate after each game for easier storage, then decide which ones to play with next time.