Star Heroes TCG: Rules, Factions, Rarities, Prices and Release Date of the New 4X Card Game

A TCG designed by a spaceflight expert, cards that contain real pieces of hardware that orbited the Earth, and gameplay that feels like a galactic conquest board game. Star Heroes has just opened its crowdfunding campaign, so here is everything you need to know.

What is Star Heroes?

Star Heroes is a sci-fi trading card game for 2 to 4 players, developed by The Space Collective Ltd, a London company that has worked in the spaceflight sector for more than 15 years. Its first set is Star Heroes: Eternium.

What sets it apart is 4X: eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate. Instead of only trading blows with cards on the table, players send their heroes to conquer zones on a hex-based star map, manage resources, build a fleet and defend their homeworld. The result sits halfway between a classic TCG and a conquest board game.

Creator Richard Garner has launched five payloads that were deployed outside the International Space Station on the MISSE experiment platform: 1,814 days in space and 28,687 orbits of the Earth in total. This is where the materials embedded in the Astra cards come from.

Another strong point: every card features cinematic 3D artwork made exclusively by human artists, with no generative AI. The game is developed with video game production partners including Virtuos (credited on Final Fantasy VII Rebirth) and TransPerfect Gaming.

The official Star Heroes trailer

The quickest way to get the vibe: the trailer released by the official Star Heroes TCG channel (1:35).

Star Heroes Trailer, official Star Heroes TCG YouTube channel, released 18 December 2025.

The lore: Eternius, Cataclysm and Eternium

The Eternius, where it all began. Official Star Heroes artwork.

The story begins in Stellar Year 2086, when humans discover an alien device buried beneath the Antarctic ice: the Eternius, older than human civilization by more than a hundred millennia. Studying it triggers a technological leap, then a war between nations to own it.

By 2089, Earth is uninhabitable: the Cataclysm. The survivors detect a stable transdimensional portal, the Eternium, and build seven Arcs, vast colony ships. Only the strongest and most useful are allowed aboard. Everyone else is left behind on a frozen, irradiated world.

Five centuries later, those left behind have survived and founded the Order of Ancient Terra, bringing Earth back to life. But the Eternium has reemerged, with three signals coming from the other side. The descendants of the Arcs are returning, and that is where the first set begins.

The 4 Star Heroes factions

Each faction has its own starter deck, playstyle and Star Heroes. Here is what the official material tells us.

The Sentinel Primus, an icon of the Starforge Dominion. Official Star Heroes artwork.

Star Heroes card types

The game uses several card families, split across three decks (Flight Deck, Star Hero Deck and Discovery Deck) plus a homeworld card.

Card families shown on the official Star Heroes website.

• Homeworld: your home planet, with its own shields. Lose it and you lose the game.
• Star Hero: your heroes, who move across the star map, conquer zones, fight and run missions. Up to 3 in play at once.
• Vessel: ships, in three types: Starships, Space Stations and Planetary Outposts.
• Crew: attaches to a hero or vessel (2 max) and raises its class.
• Mission: earns Eternium Shards, the resource behind the Achievement victory.
• Research: grants non-combat advantages.
• Discovery: a 10-card deck drawn when exploring conquered planets.
• Astra and promo: collector cards, including serialized cards with spaceflight materials.

How to play Star Heroes: the rules explained

This summary is based on the Quick Play Guide Beta 2.2 (last updated 8 June 2026). Numbers may still change before the final version.

Components: two battlefields

The game is played on two mats. The shared Star Map shows a solar system split into hexes, with a sun wrapped in a Dyson sphere at its centre. It contains planetary zones (planets, moons, asteroids), dead space zones, navigation lines and Eternium Portals that teleport a hero across the system for 1 Navigation point.

Each player also has a Fleet Map: Homeworld slot, Flight Deck, Discovery Deck, Junkyard (discard), the Spacedock where vessels are built, and the Fleet area where they are deployed.

Deck construction

• Flight Deck: 50 to 60 cards (vessels, crew, missions, research).
• Star Hero Deck: 10 cards, plus your Epsilon-class starting hero.
• Discovery Deck: 10 cards.
• Homeworld: 1 card.

The resource: zones

No need to burn cards to play other cards: the resource is the zones you conquer on the map. Every card has a class that sets its cost: Epsilon = 1 zone, Delta = 2, Gamma = 3, Beta = 4, Alpha = 5. When you pay, you flip zone tokens to their depleted side; they refresh at the start of your next cycle. The more you expand, the bigger the cards you can play.

Setup

1. Each player lays out their Fleet mat, then the Star Map is unfolded.
2. Shuffle your Flight Deck, Star Hero Deck and Discovery Deck.
3. Place your Epsilon Star Hero in its slot and its token on your Homeworld on the Star Map.
4. Place your Homeworld card on your Fleet mat.
5. Flip a coin or play rock, paper, scissors to decide who goes first.
6. Draw 7 cards. If you have no Epsilon-class vessel, you may mulligan once.

A turn (one cycle in 3 phases)

1. Draw Phase. Draw 1 Flight card or 1 Star Hero card. You can draw up to 2 extra Flight cards by spending 3 zones each.

2. Space Phase (Star Map).

• Recruit a Star Hero: 3 slots max. Your 2nd hero unlocks after 5 conquered zones, your 3rd after 10. A new hero can only act from your next cycle.
• Move a hero up to its Navigation value.
• Conquer a zone: one per hero per cycle, connected to your Homeworld. After conquering a planetary zone, a hero can stay one more cycle to draw a Discovery card.
• Fight an enemy hero by entering its zone. Both sides deal weapon damage to the other's shields; a hero at 0 or less goes to the Junkyard.
• Disrupt supply lines: conquering an enemy zone that cuts other zones off from their Homeworld leaves them depleted.

3. Fleet Phase (Fleet Map).

• Build a vessel: it spends one cycle in Spacedock before deploying.
• Recruit crew: 2 Crew max per hero or vessel; their class adds to the carrier's class.
• Complete missions with Specialist heroes, Starships or Space Stations whose combined class meets the mission cost, to earn Eternium Shards.
• Conduct research with Researcher heroes, Space Stations or Outposts.
• Fight the enemy fleet, then the enemy Homeworld once it has no Starship or Space Station left to defend it.
• Deploy drones (1/1, 6 max), usable right away but unable to attack a Homeworld.

The 4 victory conditions

This is one of the game's best ideas: you can be badly behind on one front and still win on another.

Source: Quick Play Guide Beta 2.2. Some press previews mention 30 Shards in 1v1, a sign that balancing is still evolving.

Rarities, foils and Astra cards

In Star Heroes, rarity names mirror card classes, from most common to rarest: Epsilon, Delta, Gamma, Beta and Alpha. On top of that come several collector layers:

• Holo / foil: 1 per Battle Booster, every card in Eternium Boosters.
• Artist Signed: cards signed by the artists, 1 guaranteed per box.
• Alternate Reality: ultra-rare variants, 1 foil guaranteed per Eternium Booster Box.
• Astra: limited edition, serialized cards containing genuine flown spaceflight materials. According to the publisher, many were flown on The Space Collective's own ISS missions or earlier historic missions.
• The four 1/1 cards: one per faction, featuring material flown on Apollo 11, the first crewed Moon landing. These will be the ultimate chase cards.

Star Heroes artwork is cinematic 3D made by human artists. Official artwork.

Star Heroes Eternium products and prices

The four starter decks, one per faction. Official artwork.

Starter Deck (one per faction)

Ready to play, no deck-building needed. Contents: 50 Flight Deck cards, 11 Star Hero cards, 10 Discovery cards, 3 Homeworld cards, 3 Star Hero tokens, 6 Drone tokens, 30 Zone tokens, 12 Damage tokens, 1 Star Map, 1 Fleet Map and 1 rulebook.

Battle Booster and Battle Booster Box

The core gameplay product, containing the complete base set. A booster has 12 cards (11 non-holo and 1 holo/foil) and a box holds 24 boosters. Announced breakdown per box: 96 Epsilon, 72 Delta, 48 Gamma, 16 Beta, 8 Alpha and 48 random rarity cards, with 1 guaranteed Artist Signed card.

Eternium Booster and Eternium Edition Booster Box

The collector version: 12 all-foil boosters per box (48 Epsilon, 36 Delta, 24 Gamma, 8 Beta, 4 Alpha, 24 random), with 1 Alternate Reality foil and 1 Artist Signed foil guaranteed. This is also where the serialized Astra cards and the Apollo 11 1/1s are hiding.

Recommended retail prices shared with European retailers and prices seen on the Gamefound campaign on 3 November 2026, shipping excluded. Subject to change.

The campaign also offers official accessories: sleeves (£11.50 per 100), binders (£30), deck boxes (£30), acrylic token sets (£30) and a 4-player Star Map playmat (£22).

Gamefound campaign: tiers and terms

The Star Heroes: Eternium (4X TCG) campaign opened on Gamefound on 3 November 2026 with a £20,000 goal. On launch evening it already showed around £12,800 from 27 backers, with 21 stretch goals, the first two being a Security Seal and Alternate Reality cards.

What to know before you back:

• Shipping is not charged during the campaign: you pay it later in the pledge manager.
• Fulfilment is handled by Games Quest from regional hubs. Backers in the UK, EU, USA, Canada, Australia and China should not pay customs fees on arrival; VAT and local taxes still apply and are collected in the pledge manager for the UK and EU.
• The project is part of Gamefound's Stable Pledge programme: if any price estimate rises by more than 10%, you can claim a full refund within 14 days.
• Free cancellation during the campaign; after it closes, refunds minus a 10% fee.
• Instalment payments available through Stretch Pay.

Star Heroes release date and timeline

1. 3 November 2026: Gamefound campaign launches.
2. 26 November 2026: campaign ends.
3. December 2026: pledge manager open (1 to 31 December).
4. January to May 2027: print run and quality checks.
5. May to July 2027: freight to fulfilment hubs.
6. July 2027: backer orders ship.
7. August 2027: retail release.

On release cadence, the publisher's retailer presentation announces a new set every 6 months, aiming for every 4 months as the line scales. Each set is meant to add a new region of space (a new map), not just new cards: that is the game's “expanding system” principle.

Where to buy Star Heroes

Right now, the first release of Star Heroes: Eternium is available exclusively through Gamefound, according to the official website. The publisher says worldwide distribution is secured and a retailer programme is open, with retail release planned for August 2027.

The rules, campaign and website are in English. The game relies heavily on symbols and visual mechanics, which helps non-native speakers. We are following the game closely and will update this article as official announcements land.

The Star Heroes TCG companion app

An official Star Heroes TCG app by The Space Collective is already on Google Play in beta. It includes a Card Codex (searchable database filterable by faction, type and rarity), collection tracking with a wishlist, a deck builder with the construction rules built in, and a battle tracker for Homeworld shields, Eternium Shards and defeated heroes.

Our take: who is Star Heroes for?

What we like: zone conquest as the resource system, more intuitive than games where you burn cards; four victory conditions that always leave a way back; 100% human-made art; and Astra cards that give collecting a real story, with material that has actually been to space.

What to watch: English-only material for now, the price of the bigger tiers, rules still in beta, and whether the game can build a community and organised play outside the UK.

Who is it for? TCG players who want more spatial strategy, fans of 4X games like Twilight Imperium or Eclipse looking for a shorter format, and collectors drawn to space history. If you enjoy Magic: The Gathering, Star Wars Unlimited or Star Realms, Star Heroes is worth a close look.

Star Heroes TCG FAQ

What is Star Heroes?

A sci-fi trading card game by The Space Collective that combines deck-building and 4X strategy on a hex-based star map, for 2 to 4 players.

When does Star Heroes release?

The Gamefound campaign runs from 3 to 26 November 2026, backer orders are planned to ship in July 2027 and the retail release is planned for August 2027.

How much does Star Heroes cost?

European RRP: €25 per starter deck, €5 per Battle Booster, €120 per Battle Booster Box and €199 per Eternium Booster Box. On Gamefound, the entry tier is £75.

How many cards are in a Star Heroes booster?

12 cards: 11 non-holo and 1 holo/foil in a Battle Booster; 12 all-foil cards in an Eternium Booster.

What are Astra cards?

Limited edition serialized cards that contain genuine flown spaceflight materials. Four unique 1/1 cards, one per faction, feature material flown on Apollo 11.

What are the Star Heroes factions?

Ancient Terra, Starforge Dominion, Astero Mining Corp and Descent Guild, each with its own starter deck.

How do you win a game of Star Heroes?

Four ways: destroy the enemy Homeworld, conquer all their zones, defeat 5 of their Star Heroes, or be first to 25 Eternium Shards in 1v1 (Beta 2.2 rules).

Is Star Heroes artwork made with AI?

No. The publisher highlights 3D artwork made exclusively by human artists.

Sources and updates

LorenZone, 3 November 2026. Sources: official Star Heroes website; Star Heroes Lore page; Star Heroes product page; Quick Play Guide Beta 2.2 (PDF); Gamefound campaign; creator page; Board's Eye View; Star Heroes TCG app; publisher's European retailer presentation. Campaign figures change in real time.