Starlink by Blue Orange Games I recently was able to host a game night with my regular crew featuring a game that wasn’t specifically in my wheel house. It had no dice, weird mechanics, miniatures, or anything that resembles what we normally play. The game was Starlink by Blue Orange Games(whose only other game I’d played was the spectacular Photosynthesis) and it was a shit ton of fun. I didn’t expect it to be nearly as fun as it was. Really. The game is simple to learn. Like really simple to learn. You draw a card, pick a thing on the card, and draw the thing while everyone guesses what it is. These things can be anything from shopping carts to monkeys. Sounds easy, right? Here’s where it separates itself from Pictionary: with Starlink, players connect stars on the board with straight lines, creating a new constellation. The concept of the game was so simple, I almost wrote it off. With games like Pictionary, players with some level of artistic ability always have an advantage over those who lack a background in art. Starlink levels the playing field by giving everyone a handicap and forcing us to think around drawing perfectly straight lines between stars.

Another thing I loved about this game is that you can’t just shout out guesses to the current artist. Starlink specifically punishes that. Once the timer is set, the players attempting to solve the puzzle have to take the timer to announce their speculation. If it’s wrong, they cannot guess again until another player takes the sand timer offering their prediction.

We played several games that night and, at one point, I was feeling pretty cocky. How hard could it be? I drew a card that featured a thing from a previous game and started scribbling down my new constellation that I was so sure I could nail, where another player could not. I’ll happily eat crow. By using only straight lines between stars, the game offers an excellent challenge to what could be an otherwise boring party game.

I was initially skeptical for Starlink but it seriously was some of the most fun I’d had in a while. The game only allows for players to get two turns, but after the third or forth game, we just stopped keeping track of turns. You, and a person correctly identifying your constellation, do score points based on difficulty set by the card, but you’ll both also receive an additional point if said drawing fits within the provided telescope tile. Trying to fit a shopping cart within it was a nightmare.

There’s not really a whole lot else to say. If you’re looking for a fun party game that is easy to learn, but offers challenges to your creativity, I can’t recommend Starlink enough. It will likely get plenty of play time in this household.

-Ryan Miller