Star Realms is a strategic card game where players engage in space battles through deck-building. It combines the fun of a deck-building game with the interaction of Trading Card Game battle styles. As you play, you use Trade to acquire new ships and bases from the cards revealed in the Trade Row from the Trade Deck.

You use the ships and bases you acquire to generate more Trade or to attack your opponent. When you reduce your opponent's score (known as Authority) to zero, you win!

You can play with multiple Star Realms decks and/or Star Realms: Colony Wars, one for every two players, allowing up to six players to play various scenarios. In the latest edition, there are new game modes that allow up to 6 players with modes such as Boss, Hunter, and Free for All. You can also add Star Realms Colony Wars to the deck to play with 4 players.

As you acquire cards using Trade, you place them in your discard pile to be shuffled later into your personal deck. When you draw ships, you execute their commands and place them 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 per turn.

Combat is how you reduce your opponent's Authority to zero and win the game, and it is also useful for destroying your opponent's bases. Some bases are pre-designated as Outposts and must be destroyed before you can attack your opponent's Authority directly.

Star Realms is easy to learn but takes time to master. Each time you play, the game is full of strategic choices: Should I pick the best card for me or the best card for my opponent? Should I focus on acquiring cards from a specific faction or the best available cards? New players don't need to agonize over these choices to play, but as they become more advanced, they will find that this strategic depth leads to great replayability.