Lonestar's spin on deck-building helps it stand out from the pack

GamesRoguelikeLonestar’s spin on deck-building helps it stand out from the packWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: Math Tide)

Lonestar ship

You have to wonder whether the creators ofLonestarwere cursing their luck last November, when turn-based, space duel roguelike Cobalt Core was released. Lonestar, you see, is a turn-based, space duel roguelike, and if the two games don’t exactly look like twins, they could certainly be first cousins. Both centre on nose-to-nose spaceship battles where you pump out numbered damage in narrow columns and shift sideways to avoid incoming fire. Both involve pre-emptively neutralising the enemy’s signalled attack with randomised resources. Thus Lonestar seems to beg the question: if you’ve already played Cobalt Core (which you should) is there a need for this as well?

Thankfully, the short answer is yes. Lonestar’s early access release already has enough about it to differentiate itself not only from Cobalt Core but the teetering pile of recent turn-based roguelikes hustling for recognition around it. While of course it needs more bulk and refinement before a future 1.0 release, it’s sufficiently distinguished and piquant with its tactical demands to suck up free time like a mini black hole.

(Image credit: Math Tide)

Lonestar ship

The main difference between Lonestar and Cobalt Core—aside from Lonestar presenting its skirmishes horizontally rather than vertically—is that Lonestar isn’t a card-based game in the vein of Slay the Spire. Or at least, not quite. True, at the start of each turn, a spread of rectangles appears at the base of the screen, but these merely represent energy resources that you then allocate to units fixed to your vessel, choosing which to power up and how much for optimum results. In a way, it’s a typical card-based roguelike in reverse, in that all abilities are constantly available, but the number of points you have to spend is in randomised flux.

Instead of merely playing cards in battle, then, you fill coloured slots on each unit with energy, which charges it up. In basic terms, if you place a three-point energy resource into the slot of a cannon, it will fire for three points of damage at the end of the turn. If the unit has a second slot, you can add another energy card to increase that output. To complicate matters, though, slots and energy come in three colours: white, blue and orange. Orange energy can be loaded into any slot, blue into blue or white, and white into white only. If a unit has orange slots, then, you might not get to use it as often as you’d like.

(Image credit: Math Tide)

Lonestar ship

Support units, meanwhile, might generate higher value or quality energy when you power them up, or add passive boosts to surrounding units on certain conditions. And all but the most bog-standard weapons can be given extra oomph if you, say, load only white energy or load two energy resources of the same value. As in any good strategy roguelike, there are pros and cons with every choice, and satisfaction comes from finding the optimum balance in a turn, triggering status effects to boost damage output, rather than simply powering up your fanciest cannons as much as possible.

Beyond the basics Lonestar is awash with sticky choices and devilish turns.

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In short, there’s plenty to wrap your thinking gear around here, and beyond the basics Lonestar is awash with sticky choices and devilish turns: a range of upgrade possibilities, enemy ships with unusual units that can play havoc with your plans, two starting ships (essentially different characters) with bespoke play styles and units, a wide range of pilots which come with unique passive bonuses, and several extra levels of challenge after your first completion. Doubtless, more will be required in due course, but for the beginnings of early access, what’s on offer here isn’t to be sniffed at.

(Image credit: Math Tide)

Lonestar ship

It doesn’t help that the English script isn’t up to standard, stylistically and functionally. Explanations for units are often poorly worded or inaccurate, including a mix up between rows and columns. Much of the key vocabulary—such as ‘energy’, ‘strength’ and ‘power’—is also overly vague and similar. Sometimes it’s quicker just to equip something and see how it works for yourself. Lore, meanwhile, feels flat and throwaway, and hints of a fun universe where humans rub shoulders with tree people and talking cats are never given much context.

(Image credit: Math Tide)

Lonestar ship

There are, as you might expect at this stage, some balance issues too. A single run covers 12 battles, split into three levels, with every fourth encounter a boss. What tends to happen, though, is that regular enemies roll over and explode without much of a fight, while bosses put up eye-watering numbers that belong in a different galaxy. It’s still easy enough to complete a run since you can retreat from battle before an inevitable defeat and adjust your deck before going again, and it can be very pleasing to finally finagle a loadout that counters an opponent’s super power. But it’s a shame the difficulty curve isn’t smoother, forcing you to test your mettle more before placing major hurdles in your way.

Hopefully, these issues will all be addressed as further content arrives during this early access phase, and obvious comparisons with certain other recent games can be banished once and for all. For now, Lonestar has established strong foundations with its core systems, providing strings of strategic choices to fiddle with. As space odysseys go, it’s a promising start.

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