Star Realms is a ship combat game in which your fleet will be formed as the game progresses. Play powerful ships, destroy enemy bases, and blast your opponent! When you play Star Realms, you'll be able to acquire and use ships and bases from any of the four factions. Many cards have powerful allied abilities that reward you for using ships and bases of the same faction.

When you acquire cards using trade, you put them in your discard pile and then shuffle them into your personal deck. When you shoot ships, you do what they say, and then they are placed in your discard pile at the end of your turn. When you draw a base, you play it face up in front of you and can use its abilities once a turn. In addition to being the way you reduce your opponent's authority to zero and win the game, it's also useful to destroy your opponent's bases. Some bases are considered outposts, and your opponent's outposts must be destroyed before you can use combat to directly attack your opponent's authority.

Star Realms is easy to learn, especially if you're familiar with deck-building games, but it's a game that takes time to master. Each time you play, the game is filled with various strategic decision points. Should I take the best card for myself or the best card for my opponent? Should I focus on taking cards from a particular faction or the best card available? Should I focus on acquiring more trade or more combat? Should I attack my opponent's base or his authority? These are just a few of the many choices available to you. New players don't need to agonize over these choices just to play, but as they become more advanced players, they will find that this depth of strategy leads to great replayability.