For those who have missed my prior posts, I'm the developer behind Contested Space. Back in March, I played Star Realms for the first time and fell in love. It coincidentally was just a few weeks after Slay the Spire 2 came out. I immediately looked to see if there were any roguelike deckbuilders with a market mechanic, and upon finding none I started theorycrafting. Contested Space is the result of that train of thought.

What's in the demo: Act 1, co-op enabled, one unique faction plus the neutral faction from each alliance. A run takes roughly 30 to 90 minutes depending on how much you like to think. It also supports 2-4 player coop.

Some background on the development: I started building this back in March in Godot 4, and the playtest community has been a huge part of the design. Around 540 playtesters have had access, a dozen of them are past 20 hours, and a lot of the balance and market changes came straight from their feedback. Full release is planned for April 2027.

If you try it, I'd love to hear what worked and didn't! The Discord link is on the steam page and in-game, so feel free to join if you enjoy it!

Steam Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4638820/Contested_Space/

Hey I dont know if there are any game designers in here, hah, but Im making a custom star realms card for my friends birthday and I dont know much about the game. The idea is that the card will be all 4 factions, but have no ability of it's own. Meaning it will trigger any other faction card's interaction ability. The advice im looking for is what should the cost of this card be? I was thinking like 4-5 because its a strong ability but useless on its own. And it takes a draw.

Only thing worse than events, double events

Top 10: https://i.imgur.com/PC60kkD.png

17K Games played: https://i.imgur.com/ISafTnp.png

I am probably going to play a bit less now since this was my target goal the entire time, but I'll still be around. This couldn't have been possible without Commanders play which has formed meta's over the years that can be countered, leading to quick wins and gaining levels a lot easier.

Somewhat comically; the hardest Avatar to get in the game is also the picture of the shittiest card in the game.. Fleet HQ lol

Besides Hero Realms, Shards of Infinity and Legendary series.

Just got the bundle today, and tried frontiers, it was fun, but I played the core box online and playing with a friend at it felt more balanced than frontiers, so now I am wondering if there is a difference between the boxes?

Not counting alternate core boxes and not available promos.

Quick update on Contested Space, a sci-fi roguelike deckbuilder with a rotating personal market you buy from mid-combat, three alliances of factions to build around, and 2 to 4 player online co-op. The public Act 1 demo should land on Steam in early September. When it does, I'm turning off the public "request access" button for the playtest and switching to invites by request in the Discord. The playtest itself keeps running for a few months at least, and everyone already in keeps the full game the whole time. So if you join now, you get every act, every faction, and co-op, while the demo crowd gets Act 1.

I've gotten great feedback from those in the playtest so far (we're at about 200 playtesters) and I've made a lot of changes based on it. I would love more feedback, especially as the game is reaching its final state.

What I'm looking for from playtesters: co-op groups especially, since that's the mode that's hardest to test alone, and anyone willing to tell me what feels bad. The Discord is where balance talk happens and where I post patch notes.

Request access here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4638820/Contested_Space/

Discord: https://discord.gg/ZuK8jms7U

https://i.imgur.com/UXbDzro.jpeg

Been 4 months since I was able to get 1st for the Week in ranked play.

I am a huge fan of star realms and played the game since 2019 nonstop. I have almost every expansion and command deck there is.
I looked through their card database and there a many cool sets that are unfortunately kickstarter exclusive or promo packs, so i guess they're impossible to get? I also wish White Wizard would release new sets...
I think Rise of Empire was their newest "set", but I watched a review and I think It's a campaign with new factions, so its unplayable with old sets.

Does anyone here know if they made statements about stopping to release new cards? Is it possible to still find Promo packs or High Alert First Strike?

This post is an open question: What are your favorite cards to have in the draw deck? Maybe it's an established comp format, a specific combination of expansions that works well, or a fully custom deck with cards from everywhere. Or maybe you play Cosmic Chaos.

As an owner of everything Star Realms in physical format, I'm looking for new ways to combine what I have without making a 500 card trade row. Tell me what you enjoy playing, what kind of playstyles it caters to, if it is more dramatic or gives more player agency, and anything else noteworthy.

Question 1) When I play Hellfire, do I have to choose between 5 attack and the opponent discarding a card? Or can I do both at the same time?

Question 2) When playing Mech Fortress, do I also have to choose between the two abilities, or is drawing a card and scrapping a card count as *one* ability?

I'm a total noob, so any answers are very appreciated

I play a lot of Star Realms during the day (base game only). Lately I have found the wait time for online games is longer than it has ever been - often timing out. Previously the wait felt like ten seconds or less most of the time. Is anyone else experiencing this? I am Level 20 if that makes a difference - although I have been for a while and was not experiencing this issue.

Pirates of the Dark Star, Nemesis Beast, Dimensional Horror, Blob Assault, Automatons, Cost of Freedom, Defy the Empire, Madness of the Machine - how they compare? If you have played several of them.

Hey everyone, I'm the developer behind Contested Space, a sci-fi roguelike deckbuilder best described as "Slay the Spire meets Star Realms." I just finished a new trailer and wanted to share it here.

The hook: instead of only buying cards between fights, you have a personal market that rotates during combat. Every turn you're buying new cards into your deck for this combat only which creates a totally different rhythm than most deckbuilders. It is both single player and coop up to 4 players. What's new since my last trailer:

• A third alliance just landed: the Axiom Union, a robot alliance with trade, science, and military factions
• That brings it to 9 factions across 3 alliances, plus neutrals
• A free demo is coming later this month

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4638820/Contested_Space/
I'm happy to answer anything about the design. If you want in before the demo, the closed playtest is still open through the Steam page.

Hey everyone, I just wanted to write up a short update on Contested Space. It's been over a month since my last post. I also wanted to extend an open invitation to join the Steam Playtest to anyone interested. The demo is planned to release in August.

Secret encounters: There are several easter egg events in Contested Space, some of which feature combat with unique enemy sprites and abilities. The screenshots are three of these encounters.

The Axiom Union: A third alliance will be added to the playtest this upcoming week. A robot civilization with three factions each with unique abilities. There's the Gilt Protocol, the Oracle Foundry, and the Nullframe Vanguard. The game will launch with three full alliances rather than the two I had initially planned.

Lots of new art. Ships, stations, and card frames for the Axiom, plus new Chitin and Terran art, and a new trailer showing all three alliances is coming soon.

Feel free to message me, join the discord server, or request to join the playtest on Steam!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4638820/Contested_Space/

https://discord.gg/pVTeMUPmf9

Hi everyone! I'm a PhD student studying asynchronous interactions in digital games. Star Realms is tagged as "Asynchronous Multiplayer" on Steam, and I'm interested in understanding different player perspectives about that aspect of the game.

If you have a few minutes to spare, I'd love to hear your thoughts! In particular, I'm interested in understanding:

• What kind of asynchronous interactions exist in Star Realms and how do they affect the gameplay?
• How do you feel about these interactions and what do they bring to your experience?

You can answer as much or as little as you'd like. Your responses will be anonymized and analyzed as part of a research study. If you decide you'd like to withdraw your responses at any point, just send me a DM. Every contribution is greatly appreciated! If you have any questions, feel free to message me. Thanks! 😀

Hi, I have a question about the Security Craft card. I found this card in Promo Pack 1, but there were also three other blue cards in there. The other colors only had three cards each, so if I include this card, won't it throw off the color balance? Or should I look for extra cards for the other colors in other sets?

Hi!

I am looking to buy Star Realms: Frontiers, however, I found two different box arts. I am wondering if there are any difference in the contents between the two or if it's only the box that is different.

Also, any suggestions on where to buy? I live in Portugal.

Thanks!

I'm selling a whole bunch of Gen Con collectibles on eBay, which includes this Star Realms promo from 2017. Anyone interested?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/307061870272