Wise Wizard Games Star Realms: Colony Wars Deckbuilding Card Game

It's my boy's favorite game and the replay value is extremely high especially if I ever played it likes a good strategy game that is a deck builder.I think the quality is really good but once we bought sleeves for the cards we were extremely happy because with a lot of play the cards will deteriorate. We found some card sleeves that have the Star realms backing and I wish I would have put them on sooner.

TLDR: Star Realms is an awesome deck building game that will constantly challenge you to pick the most valuable buy for your deck. At first glance, this game may seem luck based, but the game definitely does reward strategy and good decision making. Overall the game is designed to be most strategic in a two-player game setting, but I love adding more decks to play with more players. Star Realms is very similar to Dominion and even more similar to Ascension (except instead of monsters in the middle, you kill the other players and eliminate them to win the game). There are four different colors (factions) that all have slightly different mechanics and reward you for synergizing your deck well. This is a must have game for any deck-building fan and I would say a must have game for anyone who calls themselves a board game enthusiast!NEW TO STAR REALMS (Experienced Star Realms Players, Skip To Next Section): Star Realms is a deck building game where each player starts out with 8 cards that give 1 gold and 2 cards that give 1 combat. Each player will take turns buying cards from the center trade row of 5 cards off the top of the deck that will give them more gold, combat and abilities. The goal of the game is to eventually use your combat damage to deal 50 damage to the other player and eliminate them from the game.There are four different colors of cards (blue, yellow, red and green), each of which has their own unique kind of play style. Blue is kind of the jack of all trades and is the only color that can let you gain life back. Yellow often focuses on having cards replace themselves and helping you filter your deck, while making your opponents discard. Red is focused on thinning your deck and cutting out the bad cards to make it so you more frequently draw your powerful cards. Green is mostly focused on all out damage and killing the opponent as fast as possible.Star Realms is fun and unique, because every time you are going to shuffle up the deck, and the cards available for you to buy are going to be different. This means, that good players are going to learn how to play every single color and how to evaluate the value of cards based on the current contents of their deck and the point of the game. For instance, red cards that thin your deck are much better earlier on, because you get more of the thinning throughout the duration of the game. And cards that let you draw if you have played another card of the same color are even better later on in the game when you already have cards of that color.There are two major variants of cards: ships (vertical cards) and bases (horizontal cards). Ships will always be discarded at the end of your turn and once your deck runs out will be shuffled back into your deck. But, when you play bases, they stay out in front of you and provide a lasting effect until your opponents destroy them. Once a base is destroyed it is sent to your discard pile and eventually you will draw it again. There are two kinds of bases: regular and outposts. Regular bases can be ignored and your opponents can shoot right past them to attack you as a player (not recommended, but a valid option). Outposts on the other hand must be attacked before any of your other bases or you as a player can be attacked. All damage to bases is only kept until the end of the turn, so sometimes if an enemy doesn't have enough damage to destroy an outpost, all of the damage is negated.Star Realms is an awesome game, and at the price point there is really no reason not to buy it. The box is small enough to fit in your pocket and you can literally take it with you wherever you go. I would definitely recommend both this stand-alone expansion and the base game to anyone who is interested in any form of deckbuilding game. Enjoy! (Please like this review if it was helpful to you!)WHAT"S NEW? (For Experienced Star Realms Players) : Star Realms: Colony Wars is what I would consider the first major expansion for Star Realms. Yes... there was the Crisis expansion that came in the form of four different booster packs, and the gambits, but this is the first big expansion that you can buy, all in one box. To be honest, there isn't a lot that is brand new, just a lot of variation on past cards. Some of them are even named similarly. For example: Swarmer (Blob ship; Cost: 1; 3 combat- you may scrap a card from the trade row, Ally ability: 2 combat; Basically the battle pod - 1 damage for 1 less gold), Patrol Cutter (Trade Federation Ship; Cost: 3; 2 gold 3 combat; Ally ability: 4 authority; Basically the cutter, but with damage and healing flipped), Trade Hauler (Trade Federation Ship; Cost: 2; 3 gold; Ally ability: 3 authority; Basically the trade federation version of the trade pod).However, there also some cool new cards and features! One such feature is cards that let you put them or cards you buy directly into your hand based on ally ability triggers. This is really cool and can really make you change the way you play. Also, they seem to have added more variety to the way bases are setup. There are a couple of bases with really low health that provide interesting benefits, which is a new variety that I liked. It is hard to put my finger on it, but there is a unique taste to the bases that did feel fresh. Also, they have added at least one major, expensive card to each color. You can find most of the cards in the expansion here: (...).If you are looking for a Star Realms expansion that will completely change the way you play the game and add whole new mechanics, then this probably isn't what you are looking for. But, if you are an avid Star Realms fan that is looking to freshen up your experience with some new variance, then this is a great set to pick up! To really make the experience fresh, I have combined this deck with a deck of the original to make it so every game is a very unique experience. I would wholly recommend it!PLEASE LIKE THIS REVIEW!: [...] I am trying to figure out how to improve my reviews to aid other Amazon customers and any feedback in the form of likes, dislikes and comments would be appreciated!

This is a great two player game. It wasn’t hard to learn. It is a great game to travel with because it’s just the cards. No easy to lose pieces! I love the theme too. It reminds me of every sci-fi series ever.

Completely new set, was perfect

With this I completed my Star Realms "collection" (I had the original game and Star Realms Frontiers expansion). A pile of new ships, and an interesting feature for some of them- if you have played that faction/ color ship, you put the newly bought ship (or base) directly in your hand instead of the discard pile. Other than that- various ships, various combo abilities, but nothing revolutionary new.If you're a fan of this game, I'd say you won't be disappointed with this expansion.Btw, this can be played even without the base game- it has cards for keeping score, and the initial cards for two players (Scouts, Vipers, and Explorers)

This is my current favorite game. It is actual an expansion to the original Star Realms card game but with a better overall feel.This expansion includes everything required for the game and can be used without the original set at all. Used with the original it will allow for more than two players.So why do I love this, it is fast with just the right amount of straregy. The creators did a great job of keeping decision making opportunities limited. Consequently, even beginners pick up the game quickly and we can get on with playing.A brief description: Star Realms plays like a somewhat simpler version of Legendary or Dominion. It is a deck building style game. The original and Colony Wars both include the base cards as well as a full set of draftable cards. There is no collectible element, although there are some other expansions that modify the play of the game. The card artwork is great. There are a variety of different approaches all of which can result in a win. Gameplay is simply enough for my 8 year old and full enough for my brother in law and I to spend hours playing together. The game typically take 15 to 20 minutes including setup and teardown. My brother in law and I can play in about 7 minutes.I would love to see another game from the designers.Again, maybe the best game ever...

Good cards and cool art. The cards in this set seem a little bit more powerful and complicated than the base set. That has its pluses and its minuses. One's turn takes longer adding up all the different effects and points. There does seem to be more strategy, potentially, due to all the volatile special abilities; but honestly at this point I am pretty happy with the simplicity of the base set. I think I like the base game better by just a bit. That could just be because I am used to the cards in the base game. Again, pluses and minuses to this set. Some will like it because it requires more thought and a little more depth, and others will prefer the simplicity of the base set. At this point I lean towards the latter. I really like how the base set stays firm at around 17-20 minutes game time. This new set is so volatile that this window opens up to 7-35 minutes. Part of what I like about Star Realms is what you get for the time frame. This set causes that time frame to be more unpredictable. However, this would be a great second set if you were going to play teams, which I highly recommend doing. It will offer some great variety in team games. 8/10 Rating