98% positive on Steam: StarVaders could be your next rogue-like obsession

The debut game from developer Pengonauts has been extremely popular on Steam over the last few weeks. StarVaders is a rogue-like deckbuilder with grid-based tactics, and reviews are overwhelmingly positive, with 98% of over 1,200 reviews being positive. It’s rare to find a game on Steam with such consistently positive reviews, especially when over a thousand people are involved. I have also played several hours of the game, partially from a key sent to me recently by the developers, but also from plenty of time spent in the demo released during last October’s Steam Next Fest. I look forward to putting in many more hours. StarVaders was released on April 30th and is available now on Steam.

StarVaders has 98% positive reviews on Steam from well over a thousand players

The core premise of StarVaders is protecting the Earth from an alien invasion. Choose between three playable mechs, though you’ll only have one unlocked from the start, and play cards to move, attack, and otherwise stop the incoming aliens from reaching the bottom of the screen. Each mech also has several unlockable pilots that introduce different abilities.

StarVaders has a few clever mechanics to determine victory. Your only goal is to destroy all aliens in each encounter. But losing has nothing to do with hit points. Instead of losing health when you are attacked, a harmful card is added to your deck. This can be as simple as taking up space and disrupting what cards you have in your hand, or it can have more dire consequences. The aliens win if enough of them can reach the bottom of the screen and generate Doom. If the Doom counter reaches five at any point throughout your run, it’s game over.

As you take on missions to defend the Earth, you’ll earn new cards introducing new abilities or enhancing ones you already have. You can also upgrade a few cards as you go, enhancing the powers of whatever cards are already most useful or giving the less powerful cards a chance to shine. You can also equip artifacts that provide unique abilities and unlock ive buffs.

StarVaders initially caught some attention last year when LocalThunk, the award-winning solo developer behind last year’s breakout indie hit Mouthwashing, among many others.

If you’re interested in rogue-likes, rogue-lites, deckbuilders, or tactics games, StarVaders is worth looking at. To steal a few lines from recent Steam reviews: “Believe the review score on this one, it really is that good…” and “One of the most fun rogue-like deckbuilders I’ve ever played.” Steam reviews also say it’s great on the Steam Deck. Unfortunately, StarVaders is not yet available on consoles, but with positive reviews, it could make its way there eventually. This seems like a perfect fit for the Switch 2 once that console is released this June.

StarVaders

April 30, 2025

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• Overview

• strategy games
• indie games
• roguelike / roguelite
• PC