Tabletop Game Review: Starlight Stage

Starlight Stage

Japanime Games

Players: 3-4

Play Time: 30-60 Minutes

Starlight Stage is another Japanese hit localized by Japanime Games. Starlight Stage is a set collection game in which players act as a talent agency starting with a modest group of idols. Players will need to help their idols grow through various events, then achieve fame in order to become the top talent agency.

Starlight Stage isn’t a particularly heavy tabletop game and is pretty simple to grasp once players get used to the flow of the game. Everyone starts with three newcomer idols that give minimal resources for players to spend. Every turn, players will choose idols to perform certain assignments (Actions). Players can pay a cost (Via their idol’s resources or tokens) to acquire an event card. These event cards usually come with achievements that will help players to reinvent their idols. Reinventing an idol is another assignment players can perform, which essentially trades in an idol, achievements, and tokens to obtain a better idol that provides more resources for the player. Acquiring fame cards is another assignment, and one usually reserved for the mid to late game. Acquiring fame cards is essentially acquiring points for score calculation, but they usually don’t provide benefits to the player during the game.

Every turn players can only choose one action to perform, making early-game efficiency key to long-term success for the player. New idols, events, and fame cards will be constantly flipped at the beginning of every turn, leading to constant changes in player strategy. Most players will be rushing to acquire event cards that will help them reinvent their idols. Players will want to be as discreet as possible to avoid giving away the idols that they are shooting for, since spending multiple one-action turns to gather resources for a particular idol then losing her is devastating.

The short turns allow the game to move at a quick pace, resulting in most games being less than an hour long. They also allow all players to be fairly engaged throughout, and most players didn’t check out of the game at any point. The turn length allows for just enough time for players to plan out their next turn, but the constant flipping of cards might lead to last-minute changes that throw a wrench into plans. It’s a fun rush that leads to constant planning out long-term strategies, while also accounting for a Plan B in case things go awry.

The amount of strategy needed for the mid to late game is surprising for a game like this, but I did find myself disappointed in how much luck is involved at times. Sure, players don’t have to draw cards from their own decks, but in larger player counts, it is possible for essential events or idols to be revealed and taken before a player even gets a chance at acquiring the card. Of course, this is the nature of most tabletop games, so it won’t deter most players from enjoying the game.

I’m usually not a fan of games that require a specific opening from players, and fortunately, that isn’t too much of a problem for Starlight Stage. While players will certainly want to shoot for events followed by idols in almost every case, there is enough variety in the type of tokens and idols to result in diverse ways to play. Things just don’t feel so rigid when playing Starlight Stage, so that’s a big plus. Also, while there isn’t a lot of direct player interaction, the act of taking a card that someone has been eyeing does often lead to malicious satisfaction.

At three to four players only, Starlight Stage doesn’t change much with different player counts. Most every game is the same, and will only change with the types of players playing. This game is also listed as one for ages 10 and up, and as far as difficulty, I do agree. It’s not hard to play, but there is some risque card art throughout for gravure idols and such. It’s up to parents to decide if this is an issue, I just wanted to put that out there. Overall there isn’t any more fanservice in this game than your standard anime, so this won’t be an issue for most of this title’s demographic.

Overall, Starlight Stage is an enjoyable game that will appeal to anime and set collection fans. It has light difficulty and little player interaction but is still enjoyable with a group. It sticks to its theme well, with fine presentation and a variety of cards. It won’t be for everyone, but idol fans will find the theme carrying it by itself. It doesn’t hurt that it’s fun little light game.

Check out some of our other anime themed tabletop games here