There is a wonder and beauty that goes into gazing at the stars. Looking up at the cosmos one often finds themselves lost in the majesty. Today we are going to look at a game that allows you to do just that with your favorite star-gazing partner!
Stellar is a 2 player strategy game that allows you and another player to create a display of the beautiful sights in the night sky as you calibrate your telescope to create the best masterpiece in the heavens! It is published by Renegade Games and designed by Ben Pinchback and Matt Riddle with art by Tim Barton and Janos Orban.
Gameplay
Each player has a set of 12 telescope cards that are arranged to form an outline of the telescope. This area will be your play area with the spot below being your notebook. Each player also begin with two of the starter celestial object cards, one on their telescope and one in their notebook. The other cards are dealt two to each player and then set to the side as a deck with a lineup under the number cards 1-5.
The game is played over the course of 11 rounds. Each player will take a turn transforming their telescope into a display of the night sky through cards they gain. On your turn you will play a card to your telescope and a card to your notebook. To do so you will need to follow these four steps:
- Add a card to your hand
- Play a card from your hand
- Play a card from the row
- Refill the row
1. Add a card to your hand. Here players will take one of the celestial object cards and add it to their hand from the row.
2. Play a card from your hand. Next players will play any one of the object cards from their hand. You can play it in either your telescope or your notebook. The number of the card played will effect the card you must play next. When playing to your telescope you match numbers into a slot that is adjacent to at least one card of that same type.
3. Play a card from the row. Now players must play one object card from the row. The card played must be from the slot whose number matches the number of the card you played from your hand. You acquire this card and must play it in the area you did not use in step 2. So if you played a card from your hand in the telescope, this one must go to the notebook.
When you play a card to the notebook, you must play it into one of five possible stacks with one stack for cards of each type. These are kept by type in numerical order in front of you and cards added are placed in numerical order with the other ones there.
4. Refill the row. Reveal cards from the deck to refill the one or two empty slots on the row until it is full. The game ends when the 11th round is over and players each have 12 telescope and 12 notebook cards in their array in front of them. Players will take one final card from the two left in their hand and play it into their notebook to finish. The winner is whoever has accumulated the most points!
Impressions:
Stellar is a light but engaging two player game that felt relaxing to play. The game decisions are straight-forward but still provide a challenge as you try to maneuver around your telescope and notebook and decide where to best place your choices. I found the game to be something I had to think through but not overthink and be stuck with analysis paralysis.
The art is clean and very nice, I really like the construction of the board as a telescope through the cards to start. The illustrations are clean and have a fun theme running through it all that really ties it together. I especially like the art on the planets.
Overall Stellar plays well as a two player only type of game and doesn’t overstay its welcome. It is smooth and well made, giving you decisions that need to be made without bogging down the ease of play. Adults and kids alike can follow this one, but I found that our older kids probably understood the strategy for this one more as you plan ahead on your design. Make sure to get this one to table soon and see if it is the right fit for your next adventure in the stars!
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