StarCraft: The Board Game - Tips & Strategies

Starcraft is a deep and satisfying combat strategy game with a lot of elegant, well-executed mechanics (except Cloaking :p ). But a pattern I’ve seen across several teaching games is that this depth comes with a steep learning curve. This is not a game like 7 Wonders where you can get the main idea after the first one or two rounds and start building strategies after your first full game. It takes a bit of patience, especially for those who don’t have the thematic advantage of having played the video game.

What I have done in my recent teaching games, has been to downplay the inclusion of things like the technology deck, upgrade modules, special/assist units, and so on. Explaining how the phases of the turn work, what each of the orders do, how to resolve combat, how to manage workers and resources, those things tend to be an entire teaching game unto themselves. For the most part, that’s enough that the most of the people playing the game enjoyed it and would like to come back for more. In the second game, I can get into more detail about what the different units do and how to tech up a certain strategy.

New Players: if someone is teaching the above game in this fashion, there’s going to be a part of you that says “I kind of get this but I don’t really know what I’m doing”. That’s a normal reaction, and I would argue it’s common for Fantasy Flight games. In War of the Ring, it’s much easier to know what to do when you understand how the characters work and what effects are in the decks, so you have an idea of what to expect. In Arkham Horror, it’s easier to know what items and weapons are useful and what monsters to go after when you are familiar with the cards and monsters and characters. Same goes for Starcraft. Right now, you’re just learning HOW to play, in a mechanical sense. Repeated plays will make you familiar with how the units interact and how the tech deck can help your units and how to counter your opponents moves. Taking care of the “how” today will free up your mind to concentrate more on what works in future games. Embrace the learning curve. It’s a good investment.