Star Realms: Rise of Empire Deckbuilding Game

Wage a high-stakes legacy campaign for galactic supremacy, permanently customize your fleet with faction upgrades, and dictate the fate of a fracturing empire in an epic, two-player standalone deckbuilding game.

Star Realms: Rise of Empire (designed by Rob Dougherty and published by Wise Wizard Games) takes the critically acclaimed, fast-paced combat of the original Star Realms series and scales it into a massive, narrative-driven 12-scenario campaign. Moving away from standard, short-form modular card duels, this title establishes a persistent, evolving galactic conflict. The core objective is an intense tug-of-war for the loyalty of three neutral frontier factions—the Consortium, the Kingdom, and the Scavengers. One player steps into the shoes of the industrious Trade Federation to crush a massive colonial uprising, while the other commands the seceding Star Empire fleet to fight for true independent freedom.

The primary strategic hurdle centers on navigating your long-term legacy card customization choices while managing a high-tension, Yahtzee-like trade row economy. Players start with identical, faction-specialized 10-card starter decks, spending Trade currency to acquire warships or stellar bases from a shared center row, and unleashing raw Combat power to reduce their opponent's Authority pool to zero. However, Rise of Empire flips the standard formula by introducing an innovative on-acquire upgrade loop: when you buy certain cards from the center market, you can immediately pay extra Trade to permanently upgrade that ship or base using specialized faction stickers. This dual-faction hybridization physically links the new cards to your primary alliance, triggering powerful, cascading chain-reaction ally abilities in future scenarios. True tactical mastery requires adapting to shifting scenario rules that alter setup based on who won the previous match, choosing whether to thin your deck using Scavenger actions, and managing your custom deck structure across a fast, fiercely competitive 20-to-60 minute campaign duel. Once the 12-scenario narrative arc is complete, the resulting components transition seamlessly into a fully customized, standalone 2-to-6 player Star Realms base set that is fully cross-compatible with all previous expansions.

Game Specs at a Glance:
Age Range: 12+ Years
Publisher: Wise Wizard Games
Play Time: 20-60 Minutes (Per Scenario)
Player Count: 2 Players
Complexity: Medium (Closed-Hand Deck Building, Linear Market Drafting, Asymmetric Card Upgrades, Variable Scenario Conditions, Legacy Campaign Progression)

What's in the Box?

• 1 Shared 22" x 11" Folding Strategic Game Board
• 2 Full-Art Double-Sided Mechanical Score Dials
• 14 Sealed Secret Scenario and Campaign Progression Envelopes
• 10 Faction Upgrade Sticker Sheets
• 176 Core Game Cards
• 4 Multiplayer Starting Decks
• 4 Sets of Scorecards
• 8 Cardboard Dividers and 2 Foam Organizing Blocks
• 1 Narrative Campaign Rules Manual Booklet