I was sent a free copy of Star Realms: Frontier to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review.

If you want to pick up Star Realms or any other board games at fantastic prices, get them over at Game Nerdz through my affiliate link.  

What is Star Realms: Frontier?

Star Realms: Frontiers is a 1-4 player deck-building card game. Gather your resources and build the best fleet in the galaxy. Loyalty to certain factions may help a player cement their place in the galaxy, but only those with the fastest, ships and abundant resources can rule it. Do you have what it takes?

What’s in the box?

Star Realms: Frontiers comes with 152 cards, including an 80-card trade deck and 8 oversized challenge cards for solo and cooperative play.

Quality

The quality is fantastic. This is a beautifully printed game with high-quality pieces. I am very happy with the weight and thickness of the cards, and they feel durable enough to survive a few years of consistent use. I sleeved them like a crazy person, but the sleeved deck fits snugly in the compact box for easy storage. I like to sleeve card games where I have to shuffle a lot to keep the cards in good condition and because it makes shuffling the decks easier.

Gameplay

Players will take turns spending and generating resources, and attacking their enemies. Each player and NPC starts with a set amount of Authority and the same basic deck. Authority is lost through combat. A player or NPC loses the game when Authority drops to zero. During a turn, players can cast cards that generate resources to buy ships, stations, or bases. Players can also summon units to attack.

As the game progresses, players will upgrade their decks. Building towards a certain faction can give players access to more power, but they are always at the mercy of RNG, especially in bigger games. While going in with a strategy is important, being flexible and adapting to the changes in the trade deck is what wins games.

For those who want to play alone or the group that needs a challenge, Star Realms: Frontiers comes with 8 challenge cards that successfully adjust the difficulty. Players have the freedom to adjust the game to their skill level, but also have access to the added flavor of each imaginative scenario.

How to Play

The instructions were a bit confusing, so I recommend looking up a guide. Whose Turn? does a decent job explaining the rules. I’ll leave his video bellow:

Review

I love deck builders and Star Realms: Frontiers does not disappoint. The art and flavor did a lot to attract me at first, but the gameplay kept me playing. I love that no two games were ever alike, nor did I ever use the same strategy twice. What I found impressive was that the game never felt solvable. I am sure this opinion will change with more play-throughs, but the game feels fairly balanced.

I don’t always have people to play with, so I appreciate the inclusion of a solo mode. Solo mode has players solve different scenarios. Players are given NPCs and rules on how to run them. If the encounter is too easy, the game provides additional challenges to help adjust the difficulty. Each scenario feels unique, and the challenges add enough depth to keep the game fun and interesting. You can run scenarios with your friends, but I don’t have to friend group to test this properly.

If you enjoy deck-building games, this is a fantastic and compact one to keep on your shelves. Setup is easy and the games go fast, but the onboarding can be a little tricky. Even for the experienced gamer, there is going to be some initial confusion. The game isn’t impossible to learn, but it does require a bit of extra effort. Once players can overcome this hurdle, Star Realms: Frontiers is a very good time. I recommend it to everyone.

You can pick up your copy of Star Realms: Frontiers on Game Nerdz (17.47) or Amazon ($29.99) through my affiliate links.