Star Realms with 3–4 players: formats and keeping score
Star Realms multiplayer works out of the box: the rulebook includes free-for-all, Hunter (attack left or right only), Hydra and Emperor team formats. What does not scale is the scorekeeping — three or four authority totals moving every turn.
Here are the formats worth playing and the clean way to score them.
Free-for-all
Everyone against everyone, attack whoever you like, last player standing wins. Simple and brutal — and the table’s politics get spicy when someone falls to 15 authority. You are tracking 3–4 independent totals with damage flying in every direction.
Hunter
You may only attack the player to your left (or as agreed). Removes the gang-up problem and speeds up turns. Damage flow is predictable, but authority still changes on almost every turn of the table.
Hydra and Emperor
Team formats for 4+ players: shared or linked authority pools, teammates coordinating engines. Great fun, and even more bookkeeping — two pools plus per-player effects.
The scorekeeping problem
With two players, flip cards are annoying; with four they are a mess. Four sets of dials on a crowded table, plus “wait, who hit whom last round?” after every beer run. Multiplayer games die from bookkeeping fatigue, not from bad formats.
One device, four counters
The Star & Hero Realms Counter puts up to 4 tap counters on a single phone or tablet in the middle of the table. Everyone sees every total, misclicks are fixable, and the app’s stats record the winner so your group’s rivalry has a paper trail. It works offline — game night in a cabin is safe.
Four players, one clean scoreboard
Up to 4 counters on one device, with win stats per player. Free.
