A Handful of Stars

More abstract, and thematically drier, than the other two games in the trilogy, A Handful of Stars is also the better game by some distance. The rulebook is one of those documents that makes you stare at the table and wonder who thought it was ready for print; from a designer of this standing, that is a poor showing.

At the table, A Handful of Stars lives through its cards. The first encounter is murkier than it ought to be because the rules do not help you see the possibilities in front of you, so the game can feel dry before its pieces begin to connect.

Repeat plays change that. Once you have a rough sense of what the cards can offer, you can pursue a particular strategy instead of feeling your way through the dark. That is where the other players enter the picture: everyone is reading the same available information, and choosing a direction becomes a race rather than a solitary puzzle. There are teeth in it after all.

You do not get everything at once: the theme sits in the background and the manual is an embarrassment, but the design rewards anyone willing to persist. Carrying a dreadful rulebook on its back, A Handful of Stars is still easily the best game in the trilogy.

Updated session

Later plays did not overturn the first judgement; they strengthened it. Familiarity with the cards gave the strategies more weight and confirmed that this is a very strong game, provided you get past the rules.