Star Realms Bundle of Base Game, Colony Wars Deck, the Gambit Set Plus 2 Star Fighter Buttons

My husband and I have always enjoyed board games but didn't have a good one for just two players that we could enjoy over and over, until we found out about deck builder games.This game is very similar to Dominion in that you are buying cards in order to have a deck strong enough to win against the other person.Some of the things we love about Star Realms, which has made it our favorite. are as follows:Size. We can carry this in a small bag. Since it's the size of just a couple of decks of cards, it can go anywhere.Time. A game can take anywhere from 15-30 minutes. For busy or tired people this is just right, or it's easy to start a new game if we want to.Strategy vs. chance. There is a good amount of strategy, which my husband appreciates, but there's enough chance, and the fact that the cards are constantly being bought/shuffled/played, that chance comes up quite a lot. You have to be able to change your strategy based on what you've got in your hand and what's available to purchase. We have about a 50/50 win rate, which is quite uncommon for us since we have different styles and abilities.Theme. The space ship theme is pretty fun but doesn't seem like it overtakes or distracts from the underlying game.Expansions. We personally don't like additional rules or mechanics that expansions usually bring, but there are three decks worth getting: Frontiers, Colony Wars, and Base game. These all just add different cards but without changing rules. If you have two, you can play with four players. I haven't looked to see if you can play with 8 if you have all expansions. I think it would get unwieldy quickly unless you change some of the tactics.Changes: The life counting mechanism is difficult. The rules are not easy to understand if you haven't played it with someone who knows the game. Youtube probably has some good videos on how to play.

It's fun to have the full collection of Star Realms. My roommate and I play this a lot. We had the base game already and got the other things and gave our new base game as a gift since everything is packaged separately. I'd say Colony Wars is the same as base except it has more powerful cards that cost less. The play is exactly the same. The gambits are fun, but you could make up your own. For example, one gambit gives +1 damage every turn. Another lets you get a card worth 3 for free. You shuffle the gambits and deal them out as you see fit, and players can use them any time during the game as a "secret play". You could just make your own gambits if you're creative. One we have made up is "BAM! You miss!" for when a player makes a big hit that you wish to avoid. :-D So all in all, I'm glad we have this in case we get a game night going and need more cards for more players; however, for two players, the original game is the best, and there's no real need for more. If you're a gaming nerd, get everything. If not, you will really enjoy the base game, and that's enough.

REVISED: 10/31/17, I just got an email saying my review was just read and that the missing buttons were being mailed out. Therefore as promised in my original review, this now has 5 stars. We really do love the game, in fact we bought into the kickstarter for the new edition and are looking forward to that arriving later this year because this game is awesome.

This includes the expansion that lets you play with four players in a free for all or a team setting. If you like deck builders or are interested in trying one this is a great game for you. It is easy to pick up and the round are quick.

Light But with a good amount of depth. Good quick fun. Outstanding!

Definitely worth buying.