StarVaders

• Title — StarVaders • Developer — Pengonauts • Publisher — Joystick Ventures, Playworks • Designer — Eddie Cai • Programmer — Hansen Liu • Platforms — Windows, macOS • Release — 30 April 2025 • Genre — Roguelike deckbuilder • Modes — Single-player

• Illustration — The player's mech (the Gunner) along with several enemies on a grid. StarVaders is a single-player, turn-based roguelike deckbuilder where players build and use a deck of cards to control a mech to fight enemies on a grid. Playing cards allows to move around the grid, shoot at enemies, and perform other actions. Cards produce heat when played, which fills a gauge over a turn. Completely filling the gauge causes the player to overheat, causing the player's turn to end and the played card to become unusable in the future. The player does not manage health in a traditional way; instead, taking damage adds useless cards to their deck. In each round, enemies start at the top of the grid, and move downwards in a manner inspired by Space Invaders. After each round, the player receives a prize, which can include adding cards to their deck, upgrading cards already in their deck, and gaining artifacts that grant new powers. There are three different mechs with different abilities, each with several pilots with different abilities. Different mechs use different resource systems: the Gunner's cards generate Heat when played, the Stinger uses Energy to play their cards, and the Keeper uses Mana. Pilots add cards, mechanics, and abilities on top of their mechs.

StarVaders was developed by Pengonauts, a Montreal, Canada based team including designer Eddie Cai and programmer Hansen Liu as their first commercial project. The developers cited Into the Breach as a influence on their design philosophy, and board games as the inspiration for many of the game's mechanics, in particular one named Bullet