Star Realms - United: Missions DLC

I really like this DLC because it extents content by adding de facto new game mode. For few bucks you can have really interesting mode with missions so I highly recommend it. It would be nice if devs add option to continue in game (at least against AI) after all missions are completed - sometimes I simply want to know If I would win by pure power. :)

"Hey, want to try the Missions expansion?" "No." - [i]Every person I've ever played with outside the App.[/i] I enjoy having it in matches against the AI, but in more serious competitive scenarios it can become aggravating, because: 1) With one or two outliers, the missions themselves are incredibly easy to complete, with the simpler ones being along the lines of [i]'play a Trade Fed ship while you have a Trade Fed base in play'[/i]. Probably the most difficult to complete IMO is 'activate ally abilities from two factions in the same turn', but late game that becomes an inevitability if you've thinned your deck appropriately (or are stacking dual-faction cards from the other United expansions). To illustrate how easy this is: after getting the expansion, I beat the hard AI something like 6 times in a row with missions victories. 2) Tying into the above, pulling off Missions victories feels strangely unsatisfying when you're the one doing it; and insanely frustrating when it's being done to you. I mean when someone is like 2 HP away from losing against an opponent with 100 HP but then wins anyway because hey he had two outposts in play to beat his third mission. ... Okay? I think the core concept is pretty interesting, TBH. Getting rewards (typically 'draw a card', 'get 10 authority', 'acquire 2 explorers for free' etc) from completing the missions can give you a nice momentum boost and change a normal turn into a great turn. Sometimes the heart of the cards is very much stacked against you, though, and you'll have multiple missions that push you in a certain direction. Getting a 3-draw of 'play Blob base + blob ship in 1 turn", 'play 3 ships of same faction in same turn', and 'have two bases of same faction in play' would naturally lead you to think: "Well, I guess I should try to stack Blob as much as I can in this game"; but then you get one of those games where blob shows up so very little that following this strategy would be suicide. Ah, RNG. I feel that in a true tabletop setting, a variety of 'house rules' might improve Missions: - Don't give victory on 3 completions, because most people hate that. - Allow draft pick of Missions, helping you sort for a more cohesive strategy - Try having fewer or more missions per player - Try having all missions available to all players at all times; or, alternately, have a kind of 'trade row' for missions where new ones become available once others are completed. Heck, maybe even allow for Blob cards to scrap missions in said trade row. Sadly, none of these are possible in the App, because that's how it is. Note 1: This is a plus in my book. I've noted that, while it would be a distinct possibility in the physical card game, the App never actually gives you more than 2 Missions of the 'play X ship while X base is in play' variety, so as to overtly force you into doing a triple-faction deck. Note 2: There are no additional promo ships or bases hidden away in this deck AFAIK (something they did with Gambits, giving you the Merc Cruiser in set 1 and Year-2 promo cards in set 2), and I've been playing with them activated for a couple months now. You get the missions, as advertised, and that's it. Note 3: Gambits, dual-faction cards and events can make some of these (even more) trivially easy to complete. For example, there is a mission of 'Play 7 ships in the same turn', which seems like it should be something you complete once you have a few ships with the 'Draw 1' ability, right? Well, unless you get that event on turn 1 that lets you draw two cards ... or you have the gambit that lets you draw two cards ... then you just complete it immediately, even if you haven't built your deck for it. Likewise (but actually kinda a good thing?) the 'Secret Outpost' gambit becomes much better with Missions enabled because it becomes a kind of synergistic wildcard that makes completing one of the 'play X ship with X base in play' cards very easy to complete. Note 4: Similar to secret outpost above, Warning Beacon becomes a much better and more opportunistic card if you have the 'play a Machine Cult ship and have a Machine Cult base out in play in the same turn' mission.