Star Realms
Starting with a small fleet of Scouts and Vipers, two rivals buy ships and bases from a shared market, developing personal decks into forces capable of breaking the enemy’s Authority.
Star Realms supports 2 players; community best: 2 players; playing time: 20 minutes. A WANGO browser trial has not been confirmed.
Background & introduction
Star Realms turns deck-building into direct combat. Each player uses a personal deck, spending Trade on ships and bases from a common market and Combat against the opponent. Purchases normally enter the discard pile before a later shuffle makes them available, creating a delay between investment and payoff.
Four factions encourage combinations through ally abilities: another card of the same faction must be in play to enable one. Bases remain on the table to help on later turns, while Outposts protect their owner and ordinary bases. The market refills immediately, so buying a useful card can also reveal a new opportunity for the opponent.
Scrapping can streamline a deck, but removing a card from hand or discard is different from activating an in-play card’s own scrap ability. Unspent Trade and Combat disappear at turn end, and remaining hand cards are discarded. Timing the shift from buying power to sustained attack is central to the contest.
Core rules & scoring
Use the original base set for two-player combat. Each player shuffles eight Scouts and two Vipers into a personal deck and starts at 50 Authority; determine the first player randomly.
Shuffle the Trade Deck and reveal five cards as the Trade Row, with a separate Explorer pile. The first player starts with three cards and the second with five; normal later hands contain five.
Each turn has a Main Phase, Discard Phase, and Draw Phase. During the Main Phase, arrange card plays, base uses, abilities, purchases, and attacks in the desired order.
A ship’s primary ability resolves when it is played. Bases remain in play, and their owner normally chooses when to use their primary abilities during the Main Phase. Each activated ability is usable once per turn.
An ally ability requires another card of its faction in play; card-play order does not prevent either card from qualifying. An in-play card’s primary or ally abilities may be used before its own scrap ability.
Spend Trade to acquire cards from the Trade Row or Explorer pile, normally putting them in your discard pile rather than playing them immediately. Refill emptied Trade Row spaces immediately.
Allocate Combat to enemy bases or Authority. Destroy a base by spending its full Defense in a single turn. While any enemy Outpost remains, its owner and non-Outpost bases cannot be attacked, and those ordinary bases cannot be targeted.
A destroyed base goes to its owner’s discard pile and may return later. Scrapping removes a card from normal deck circulation; scrapping a card from hand or discard through another effect does not trigger its scrap ability.
During Discard, lose remaining Trade and Combat, discard in-play ships and remaining hand cards, and keep bases. Then draw five. If a card must be drawn from an empty personal deck, shuffle the discard pile and continue.
Win by reducing the opponent to zero Authority or below. Authority may exceed its initial 50. In physical play, forced discards happen immediately when triggered, with the affected player choosing the card.
Rules & gameplay questions
Can I use a card immediately after buying it?
Normally no. Acquiring places it in the discard pile and is not the same as playing it; only explicit card text can change the destination or procedure.
Is a destroyed base permanently lost?
No. Destruction sends it to its owner’s discard pile. Scrapping is what removes a card from normal deck circulation.
With two matching faction cards, does only the second get an ally ability?
No. Both can meet their own ally conditions while another matching card is in play; the order they entered play does not restrict the benefit to the later card.
Does Fleet HQ retroactively reward ships played earlier that turn?
No. The official core-set erratum grants one extra Combat only for ships played while Fleet HQ is already in play.
Does Trade Bot trigger the scrap reward of a card removed from my hand?
No. Trade Bot’s effect removes another card; that does not activate the removed card’s own scrap ability.
Rules & introduction sources
- Edition
- Original physical base set in two-player play, with current official standard FAQ and applicable core-card errata; excludes Colony Wars, Frontiers, Rise of Empire, challenges, and digital-only procedures.
- Rule references
- Introduction source
- BoardGameGeek
WANGO editorial
| Parameter | Recorded value |
|---|---|
| BGG overall rank (snapshot) | #178 |
| Complexity Weight | 1.91 / 5 |
| Best player count (community) | 2 |
| Player range | 2 |
| Playing time (minutes) | 20 |
| Core mechanisms | Deck, Bag, and Pool Building · Delayed Purchase · Hand Management · Income · Multi-Use Cards · Open Drafting · Player Elimination · Set Collection · Tags · Take That · Variable Set-up |
| Chinese publication | Unconfirmed |
| WANGO browser play | No confirmed WANGO trial |
| Year published | 2014 |
| Suggested age | 12+ |
BGG statistics are stored snapshots, not live rankings. Source checked：2026-09-27
Player questions
What is the best player count for Star Realms, and can I play online?
Star Realms supports 2 players; community best: 2 players; playing time: 20 minutes. A WANGO browser trial has not been confirmed.
How complex is Star Realms, and which mechanisms does it use?
Weight: 1.91 / 5. Mechanisms: Deck, Bag, and Pool Building · Delayed Purchase · Hand Management · Income · Multi-Use Cards · Open Drafting · Player Elimination · Set Collection · Tags · Take That · Variable Set-up. Chinese publication: Unconfirmed.
Where can I learn Star Realms?
No rule guide, strategy article or WANGO trial has been confirmed for this record.