What is Stellar Drift?
Stellar Drift is a pull-and-write game of spaceship repair for 1 to 5 players. Each player is the captain of their own spaceship, minding their own business as they speed through space. Unfortunately, due to navigation errors, the ships have strayed into the orbit of an unstable white dwarf star, and the local radiation and celestial debris has violently knocked all of the ships out of lightspeed, causing extensive damage in the process. All of the ships are drifting helplessly in orbit around the angry star, which is set to go supernova at any moment. The captains must enact emergency repairs to their ships and leave the area quickly, before the star decides to incinerate them.
Stellar Drift is a unique twist on the roll-and-write genre. Instead of dice or cards, the game uses a bag of colored cubes as the game's randomization mechanic. While there is only one cube bag that is shared by the whole table, the cubes themselves are not shared; the cubes a player pulls are for their own use only. Each player pulls cubes out of the bag, then spends them to move around their spaceship, conducting repairs as they go. The spaceships are depicted by a grid of square spaces, with each square having a repair cost and reward. The costs to repair a ships are measured in cubes, where each space wants differing colors and amounts of cubes to repair. When a space is repaired, the player gains reward symbols, which accumulate on various checkbox tracks. A repaired space is also checked off, allowing the player to progress outward from the ship's central starting location.
Stellar Drift is played over seven rounds. Play is simultaneous; it is never any one player's turn, and a game typically takes between 30 to 45 minutes to play regardless of the number of players. At the end of the game, players total up the number of victory points gained from multiple sources, and most points wins!
Stellar Drift is a unique twist on the roll-and-write genre. Instead of dice or cards, the game uses a bag of colored cubes as the game's randomization mechanic. While there is only one cube bag that is shared by the whole table, the cubes themselves are not shared; the cubes a player pulls are for their own use only. Each player pulls cubes out of the bag, then spends them to move around their spaceship, conducting repairs as they go. The spaceships are depicted by a grid of square spaces, with each square having a repair cost and reward. The costs to repair a ships are measured in cubes, where each space wants differing colors and amounts of cubes to repair. When a space is repaired, the player gains reward symbols, which accumulate on various checkbox tracks. A repaired space is also checked off, allowing the player to progress outward from the ship's central starting location.
Stellar Drift is played over seven rounds. Play is simultaneous; it is never any one player's turn, and a game typically takes between 30 to 45 minutes to play regardless of the number of players. At the end of the game, players total up the number of victory points gained from multiple sources, and most points wins!
Kickstarter Fulfillment in Progress!
The fundraising campaign for Stellar Drift has completed! For a target goal of $10,000, we raised over $27,000 with the help of exactly 1000 backers! (Can't make this stuff up!) We reached all of our stretch goals as well, meaning that the game will be as blinged out as we can make it. :) We're especially happy to be able to include the dual-layer energy tracker boards, as I think those came out amazing.
In addition to the upgraded components included with the game, backers of the game could also choose to purchase an upgraded cube bag for the game. While not necessary to play (the bags that come with the game are perfectly fine), these bags add an extra bit of flavor to Stellar Drift. These bags are hand-made, with a sturdy canvas outer later and galaxy print cloth inner layer, and are available in different colors. (Even if you don't use the bag with the game, they make stylish bags for holding all your shiny math rocks or other bits and baubles.)
The production for the first run of Stellar Drift has also been completed! The games are currently sitting at fulfillment warehouses, slowly getting sent out to backers. (There is an issue with the upgraded bags, those are not entirely completed yet but we're getting them a little at a time and sending out orders when we can.)
In addition to the upgraded components included with the game, backers of the game could also choose to purchase an upgraded cube bag for the game. While not necessary to play (the bags that come with the game are perfectly fine), these bags add an extra bit of flavor to Stellar Drift. These bags are hand-made, with a sturdy canvas outer later and galaxy print cloth inner layer, and are available in different colors. (Even if you don't use the bag with the game, they make stylish bags for holding all your shiny math rocks or other bits and baubles.)
The production for the first run of Stellar Drift has also been completed! The games are currently sitting at fulfillment warehouses, slowly getting sent out to backers. (There is an issue with the upgraded bags, those are not entirely completed yet but we're getting them a little at a time and sending out orders when we can.)
Reviews
Don't just take our word for it, hear what others have to say about Stellar Drift:
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Preview: BoardGamerSteph
(Rules & Playthrough) Preview: Inspired 2 Game
Preview: The Nerdyweds
Preview: JenCamPlaysBoardGames
Preview: Michiana Boardgamery (Instagram)
Preview: Gaming Caravan
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Preview: Rahdo Runs Through (Playthrough)
Preview: Just Got Played
Preview: Achunkeemunkee
Interview: The Tabletop Misfits @ Escape Winter Con 2024
Preview: 9 to 6 Games
(Instagram) |
Preview: Rahdo Runs Through (Final Thoughts)
Preview: The Tabletop Misfits
Preview: gameswithben
Preview: 20 Minute Tabletop (Podcast)
Preview: Gunpla Meli
(Instagram) |
Convention Photos
*Note: Prototype version shown here. The final will have more artwork and colorblind-friendly cubes. Lamination sleeves and dry-erase markers won't be included.
