Why StarVaders Succeeded? Lead Designer Shares Insights

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StarVaders is a mecha-themed roguelike deckbuilder by Pengonauts, which launched at the end of April of this year and has already built up a really big community. It’s a game where you pilot one of three unique mechs: the Gunner, Stinger, or Keeper each with their own distinct cards and mechanics. Your goal is to fight off alien invaders in tactical, turn-based combat on a grid.

The primary reason for its success is its endless replayability. With over 400 cards, 10 pilots, and interesting Chrono Tokens that let you rewind time, it cleverly blends elements from Space Invaders, Slay the Spire, and Into the Breach for endless fun. We had a chance to chat with the lead designer of StarVaders who revealed more about the game, its unexpected success, challenges they faced and what they think of the gaming industry in general.

You can also read our detailed review here. Additionally, don’t forget to support the devs by checking the game on Steam.

Can you introduce your studio and share how long StarVaders has been in development? 

Our team started out as friends long before we formed Pengonauts. We’ve worked on a slew of projects together in the form of game jams, discarded prototypes, and abandoned ideas before we decided to commit to StarVaders as our first commercial project.

StarVaders was started as a side project for all of us while we worked our regular day jobs. But thanks to the momentum it organically picked up, we were fortunate enough to be able to make the leap to full-time development in 2023.

Have you ever struggled while playtesting StarVaders, and what was the toughest challenge for you personally? 

It takes a lot of time to playtest. Especially in a game as varied with as many combinations as ours – there are more combinations of card pools than we can realistically play. What helped us a lot is having a large and dedicated group of beta testers help us refine the game.

What’s your vision for the ideal roguelite deckbuilder, and how close did StarVaders come to that goal? 

StarVaders completes the goal for us. We set out to create what we wanted to see in the genre, and there is nothing that was left on the cutting floor or that we couldn’t implement.

What inspired StarVaders’ concept, and how did you balance its difficulty levels to keep them challenging yet fair? 

The original concept was inspired by two boardgames, Bullet and Under Falling Skies. Balance – no idea honestly, it is very hard to balance a game and we kinda just went by feeling and intuition most of the time.

Can you share a key moment in StarVaders’ development where the team overcame a major obstacle? 

We had a lot of trouble marketing the game – it was tough to showcase how interesting the gameplay is without getting players hands on it. So we really focused on promoting and creating a very extensive demo for players.

With around 400 cards and artifacts in StarVaders, how did you brainstorm and design their unique effects? 

The sheer power of time, working almost 3 years on the project gives a lot of time to come up with ideas and effects. I always try to think of the wackiest effects we could add in the game, and then try it out to see if it’s possible.

Do you have data on which mech or character is the most popular among players? 

It’s hard to say at the moment because the characters unlock at different times during a playthrough – Roxy will be the most played pilot because she is the first one. I know many players love Stinger because of the melee ninja fantasy. Noel is also a fan favorite because of the characterization.

The Chrono Token mechanic feels unique, when was it added, and what inspired its inclusion? 

Very very early, we wanted a way to mitigate all forms of input randomness, for the player to have extra control over it. One of the worst feelings in a deck builder is when the “RNG” deals you a bad hand or gives you bad options, so we wanted players to have a resource to control that system.

How replayable is StarVaders, and what elements drive players to keep coming back? 

There are thousands and thousands of synergies and combos to discover in the game. Every time I play the game I still discover new synergies I hadn’t thought of before, even though I’m the lead designer and have played thousands of runs already. There’s a creative sandbox that allows players who want to explore the intricacies of the mechanics to really thrive.

What updates or content can players expect from StarVaders after its launch? 

We are working on new content, but nothing confirmed at the moment.

Do you view StarVaders as a success for your studio, and why? 

It has always been a success for us, but it’s really been amazing to see the reception from our playerbase, after release it has been a much bigger success than we could have ever originally imagined.

What’s your take on the gaming industry today, especially the indie game scene? 

It’s really really tough. I see a lot of studios just like us, with their first games, putting their passion and soul into their games and coming out with nothing. Even though our game is doing well, it could easily have been a financial failure if the players didn’t connect with it at the current level. It feels like, to succeed, you must be an exception or an outlier, and you can never really bet on that. Though maybe it always did take a little delusion and risk to make games.