Goldenstar: The Galactic Tournament Preview

Say what you will about social media, but all these different platforms have really allowed Purple Phoenix Games to grow into something pretty special. We get to share our love of games with everyone, and we get to communicate with fellow designers, publishers, and all-around board game enthusiasts! And that’s actually where I came across this game. I saw a post on social media about Goldenstar, and was able to get in contact with the publisher about doing a preview. Getting the chance to build these relationships is a pretty awesome opportunity, and I’m glad that the board gaming community is so inviting and accepting of all types of reviewers. So before I start getting too sappy, let’s get into this preview.

Disclaimer: We were provided with a prototype version of the game for the purposes of this preview. The name and overall theme of the game are slightly different than are presented in these prototype components, but much of the gameplay flows in the same way. What you see pictured are not finalized components, and could differ after a successful Gamefound campaign. -L

The Goldenstar Tournament takes place every 5 years, and each team consists of 2 Challengers. Challengers will travel the galaxy to various arenas, gather fans along the way, and fight for glory and fame against other tournament hopefuls. Only one duo will be victorious – so upgrade your arsenal, synergize your abilities, and fight your way to the Final Face-Off.

Goldenstar: The Galactic Tournament (referred to as just Goldenstar from here out) is a competitive game of deck building, area movement, and combat. Played over a series of turns, players will each take control of a team of 2 Challengers with the goal of defeating all opponents and claiming victory in the Goldenstar Tournament. To setup for the game, place the Black Market and Battle boards within reach. Put out a number of Location mats for your player count, and place a Trophy token on each one. Shuffle the Tech and Skill cards, and place them in their corresponding locations – Black Market board for Tech, and off to the side for Skill. Each player will collect a Player Board and cubes in their chosen color. Each player will also randomly draw 2 Challenger cards, and will collect their corresponding minis and starting Skill cards. All Challenger minis are placed into rings that have slots for holding cubes – each Challenger will start the game with 3 cubes. Challengers are then placed on specific Locations to start the game, following the diagram from the rulebook. Players will shuffle all of their starting Skill cards together to form a draw deck, and will draw 3 cards to start the game. The Challenge All token is placed nearby, starting Credits (money) are distributed, and the game is ready to begin! Pictured below is the setup for a 3-player game.

In Goldenstar, players will take turns performing various actions with their Challengers. On your turn, you will perform 2 different Actions with both of your Challengers. So in total, you will perform 4 Actions each turn. The Actions available each turn are as follows: Move, Fight for Fans, Challenge the Arena, Challenge All, Play a Card, Train in the Arena, or Check Fanmail. The Move Action is pretty straightforward – you Move your Challenger to an adjacent Location. Each Location may only ever hold 1 Challenger, so if you Move to an occupied Location, a battle immediately commences. To win a battle, you must have a higher total Power than your opponent. The cubes on your Challenger mini represent Stamina, and that number is your initial Power. The attacking and defending player will then play a card from their hand (face-down) in an attempt to boost their total Power. Each player will have the chance to Boost their Power, or play Reactions once the face-down card is revealed. The total Power for each Challenger is tallied, and the winner is determined. If you win a battle, you get to remain in the Location and advance your Successful Attacks track on your player board – collecting the corresponding reward. If you lose a battle, you immediately lose 1 Stamina and are forced to retreat to an adjacent Location.

Every Location has 3 different open slots, and those slots are what allow you to Fight for Fans. Each slot has a corresponding number, and that is the amount of Stamina your Challenger needs to have in order to complete this Action. Compare your Stamina to the slot – you may play 1 card from your hand to add its Power bonus to boost your total. If you meet the requirement, move 1 cube from your mini onto the slot on the card. Whenever you Fight for Fans for the first time on a Location, you will then advance your Arenas with Fans tracker on your Player Board, collecting the listed rewards. If you choose to Challenge the Arena, you are going to attempt to earn the Trophy token at that Location. You must declare that you are Challenging the Arena, and that is your Action. If you are able to remain there until the start of your next turn, then you earn and collect the Trophy. Opponents can attempt to battle you while you are performing this action – if you win, you continue to earn the Trophy, but if you lose you must retreat and that Trophy remains in that Location. The Challenge All action is basically the same thing. You need to have collected a requisite number of Trophy tokens in order to perform this action. If you are able to defend yourself successfully and last until the start of your next turn, then you win the game! Playing a Card allows you to play a card from your hand to perform the listed action, Training in the Arena allows you to use the ability of your current Location, and Checking Fanmail lets you gain 1 Stamina, 1 Credit, or draw 1 Card.

All of the actions described above ‘cost’ one Action to perform, and each of your Challengers only gets 2 per turn. You may perform any number of free actions each turn. These are to play a card with the Free Action symbol, or to buy a card from the Black Market. Cards purchased from the Black Market go directly into your hand, and can be used in battles or to perform Actions. To end your turn, you discard down to 5 cards and 5 credits, and restock the Black Market, if necessary. The game then moves to the next player, and continues in this fashion. Something to note about your Actions – you may not perform the same Action twice with the same Challenger. So I cannot make my Challenger 1 Move twice in the same turn. Something to consider as you strategize! The game plays on, with each player performing Actions with their Challengers, until one player is successfully able to Challenge All. That player is declared the winner of the Goldenstar Tournament!

I know that that probably sounds like a lot going on. And I have to admit that it seemed daunting to me at first too. But once you get into the gameplay, the game actually flows pretty smoothly and relatively quickly. Each of your Challengers gets 2 Actions per turn, and the Actions themselves are simple to understand and perform. Ultimately, this game comes down to combat – you need to earn Trophies in order to Challenge All for the win. You only succeed in earning Trophies/Challenging All by successfully defending yourself against attack from opponents. You can’t just ignore the other players and go with a passive approach, because then you are just helping them out by allowing them to move ahead unimpeded. Strategy is key in this game, and how you choose to play it will determine your success or failure. You want to make sure you are earning credits so you can upgrade your Challengers through the Black Market, but at the same time, you need to make sure you have some strong Combat cards in hand at any given time. Is your approach to be on the offensive as much as possible, or would you rather hunker down and take a defensive stance throughout the game?

In Goldenstar, there is no reward without risk, and you need to decide just how risky you are willing to be. And that makes the game that much more exciting. The game can change directions at any second, based on card play or a strategic move, and it keeps all players engaged the entire game. Yes, you have some ‘down time’ between your turns, but you have to be paying close attention to what everyone else is doing, as it probably will affect you in future turns.

Components. As I mentioned earlier, this is a prototype version of the game, but with that said, I like the direction the game is headed. The artwork is colorful, thematic, and fun to look at. The boards, tokens, and cards are a good quality and easy to manipulate. The text on the cards is clear, and the iconography is uniform and understandable. I’m not really someone who is into minis, but I have to say that these minis are so detailed and awesome that I just sat here for like 10 minutes looking at them when I first got the game. They’re awesome. The rulebook can use some editing/clarification, but I know this is still a work in progress, and have no doubts that any issues are being addressed and edited. Even for a prototype copy, a decent production quality here.

So all in all, how does Goldenstar: The Galactic Tournament sit with me? I really like it!! There are some unique strategic elements that keep the gameplay engaging and exciting, and there is no time to be idle. The variability of this game is high as well, since you can try different combinations of Challengers to find a great time. It is unlikely that you will play the same game twice, even if you do use the same team of Challengers a few times. You can’t know what your opponents are going to do, but you have to be proactive and strategize quickly and efficiently. The type of gameplay offered by Goldenstar isn’t something I thought I would be excited about, but after having played it, I have nothing but praise for it. As someone who isn’t too into competitive games, this one hits the spot for me. I feel there is a good balance between all aspects of the gameplay, and that is great. I already am thinking about when I can play again, and what Challenger combo I will use – and that, to me, is the sign of a great game. If you’re in the market for something engaging and strategic with a competitive edge, I highly recommend checking out Goldenstar: The Galactic Tournament. It’s live on Gamefound now – back it before it’s too late!