Colony Wars Review
By Dustin Clingman, from Megahaulin podcast
At long last, the latest expansion from the award winning Star Realms line is here! At first glance, the Colony Wars expansion for Star Realms looks very similar to its parent edition. For the benefit of those not completely familiar with Star Realms, it is a strategic deck builder styled game where players use a deck of “starter” cards to purchase new ships and bases that are then playable through subsequent deck reshuffles. Each new base and ship added has a unique set of interactions with other cards in your deck providing a wide range of paths to victory.
There are a number of exciting new mechanics introduced in this set. Colony Wars introduces cards such as the Emperor’s Dreadnaught that can be purchased from the Trade Row and under certain conditions, can immediately come into play or be put into a player’s hand. Regular Star Realms players will notice that this greatly accelerates the speed of play, but also requires an equal and opposite strategic shift to account for an opponent’s new found advantage.
Another mechanic that’s particularly interesting is the new ability for Blob faction cards to “acquire a ship of cost x or less for free.” In the core Star Realms set, the Blob Carrier provides this ability with faction, but now there are three new cards (including Leviathan) that give this ability. Combined with their powerful ability to manipulate the Trade Row, this gives Blob players the opportunity to get big and stompy in a hurry!
One card that deserves special attention in Colony Wars is the Stealth Tower. The core Star Realms set provided a ship that “copies” any other ship that is currently in play. Many players wondered when we would see the Outpost version of that card. Well fans, your wait is over. The very interesting part of this card is that it not only copies a base, but any base in play. So if your opponent got the drop on Brain World, no problem, now you’ve got one for the turn as well.
A number of players have invented interesting modes allowing for three to four players to enjoy a single Star Realms set. With Colony Wars a range of new play modes with each participant having a full set of starter cards can be enjoyed.
Colony Wars is designed to be enjoyed as a stand alone product, or mixed and matched with your existing trade deck from core Star Realms and its Gambit and Crisis expansions. With this new set, Wise Wizard Games has added thousands of hours of enjoyment to an already fantastic franchise. This is an instant buy for fans of the original game.
So, the spoiler cards here look like another unbalanced mess. Honestly, it’s like nobody bothers to play test these cards. I think they just like to see what they can come up with and let the chips fall where they may. I love the base game, but I really wish the expansions were something I could love too.
We do a lot of play testing. We have also received positive feedback from those who have played with Colony Wars with the pre-release product at Essen Spiel. I hope you love it 🙂
When and where will this be available for purchase? Looks awesome!
thanks! we expect it to be in retail stores in the November/December timeframe. Please let your local store know that you are interested in it to encourage them to order from their distributor.
The next logical question then, is when should we expect this to be available for the digital version?
We will work on Colony Wars after all the Crisis expansions.
Is there a rough ETA for the upcoming Crisis digital releases, maybe a ballpark ETA for Colony Wars digital, like Q1 2016 or something?
What’s the price point on this pack? Will the 4 player game be teams(2-headed dragon style?) or individuals?
Will there be any scenario cards to mimic the digital campaigns?
There won’t be any scenario cards, and the 4 player games can be played in whatever way you like. Colony Wars will have the same MSRP as the original base set.
Hi! Interested in purchasing for gift for a friend. Any online store I can preorder from now? My wife and I love the original and play the digital and card games with our family. Lot of fun! Thanks for making it. 🙂
This is currently not available in stores yet. You might be able to find some stores that were at Spiel in Essen, as we did sell some product there, but I can’t guarantee anything.
Hey guys,
I hope you don’t let the negativity get you down. I have all the sets you’ve released to the unwashed masses and think you’re doing a great job. I look forward to the new cards causing havoc with my game group’s play style. Keep up the good work!
Awesome news. It’s on my Christmas list!
Can we get some details on stats, like how many total cards and per faction?
There are 20 new cards per faction. There are 128 cards total, 18 of which are double sided Authority cards, 16 of which are Scouts, 10 are Explorers, and 4 are Vipers.
Isn’t it possible, that u booster packs (expansions)contain codes for the digital expansions? I love this game, but i always have to pay twice, thats why i thinking about to stop buying it.
This is technically possible, but because our prices are so low, we’d have to raise them to cover the costs we make. We’d rather have people choose what they buy for the lowest price possible, than have everything under one price, which would have to be much higher.
Can i mix Star Realms : Colony Wars with the normal Star Realms cards
Yes, you can 🙂
Any ideas on release date yet? I’m dying to play lol. Star realms is my life!
Colony wars plays out quite differently from the original game. The super powered cards have less effect. Explorer cards are used less. Cheap bases impact the game a lot. I prefer it in fact.