StarVaders Review
A Tactical Tribute to Taito
StarVaders blends the unrelenting enemy attacks of Space Invaders with the depth of a modern deck builder. Set in a galaxy under siege, you take on the role of a rebel pilot fighting against an alien onslaught. But instead of frantic button-mashing, victory depends on prudent planning and clever positioning, as well as a bit of mercy from the old random-number generator.
Gameplay feels like a cross between a deck-building roguelike and a tactical grid-based battler. Each mission is a puzzle, with enemies descending down the battlefield during their turn. But instead of gunning them down, you maneuver across a battlefield, utilizing cards that let you attack, move, or activate special abilities before the intruders approach the bottom three rows. Even on the game’s easier mode, a single careless decision can push you toward defeat.
In Space No One Can Hear You Whine
There’s a rewarding sense of progression built into Vader’s roguelike structure. You’ll fail often, but over time, you unlock new cards, learn enemy patterns, and sharpen your tactics. While the difficulty can be punishing and you’ll occasionally be dealt a losing hand, there’s a sense that you’re progressing. At first, I wasn’t effectively using the overheat system, which let me play additional cards, at the cost of randomly burning one. Pleasingly, enemy attacks are all clearly telegraphed on-screen, so you’ll always know when a foe will also nullify one of the cards in your deck and increase your doom gauge.
Visually, StarVaders embraces a clean, cell-shaded style that’s charming and makes everything easy to read, even on portable PCs like the Steam Deck. Largely, the sprites are expressive, the animations are smooth, and the soundtrack delivers a driving cadence. Save for the inability to back out of some decision, Vaders seems to expect players to play their cards quickly.
‘Ace ‘Vaders
If there’s a weak spot, it’s in the story, which is serviceable but largely forgettable. This game is more about mechanics and moment-to-moment strategy than any kind of narrative immersion. Some card combos can also feel a bit unbalanced, and you can habitually feel out-tooled after the first boss. Hopefully, Montreal-based Pengonauts injects a bit more lenience into the proceedings.
SpaceVaders was played on PC with review code provided by the publisher.
Overview
GAMEPLAY - 80%
CONTROLS - 75%
AESTHETICS - 75%
ACCESSIBILITY - 70%
PERFORMANCE - 75%
VALUE - 80%
76%
GOOD
StarVaders is a smart, addictive, and refreshingly original indie game. It references Taito’s pioneering arcade title while delivering a modern, engaging gameplay loop. For fans of tactical titles, deck-builders, or just clever twists on familiar genres, it’s well worth your time.
Kind of a low score. I saw another site that gave the game a 95.
This is a crazy low score for this game. What does performance even mean? It is playable on Steam Deck at 60 frames. Did you use AI to write this review because this not a pixelated art game.
Yes, it’s 60 FPS on Steam Deck. It’s a good game but the RNG means that occasionally you’ll get screwed over and no amount of strategizing can help.
Changed pixel art to cell-shaded. No AI, just a brain fart.
You didn’t mention that you can rewind.
You are missing the point. If you are looking for a deterministic game, rogueli(k/t)es are not for you. There is always a random approach to something; sometimes you don’t get what you need, but you die, you get better, more powerful cards/boons/weapons/skills, and try again, and the RNG lowers the more you play it.
I haven’t played StarVaders but I have played dozens of roguelikes since our team is building our own. I can say that the best games perform a bit of rubber-banding where things aren’t completely randomized. Occasionally when you’re down the changes of getting certain powerful cards can increase. That why there’s still the feel of randomization but the sting of defeat from circumstances out of your control is at least lessened.