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Astral Partyis similar to other party games you’ve played. It’s like Mario Party, except with no mini-games, light combat elements, andlotsof fan service. But don’t let the robo-maids, bunny outfits, and outrageous chibi character tokens fool you; Astral Party is serious business. This game is a fast-paced strategic competition that requires swift decision-making to win.
So, what does it take to nab those three elusive stars? Understanding your character and specific gameboard elements is a must. Utilizing your time to think ahead is another vital aspect. Finally, we found small details you may not have noticed in your playthrough that make all the difference. Can you become the life of the Astral Party? With our guide, victory is a dice roll away!
You’ll Start A New Game Faster If You Create A Room
If you’ve read Astral Party’s Steam reviews, you may have noticed claims ofconsistent booting from Quick Matches.Unfortunately, these accounts are true. Astral Party is very popular, and competing for a slot in a room against thousands of players is a hassle. Fortunately, there is an easy fix to this issue.
The fastest way to start a new game of Astral Party is to create a room yourself. How do you create a room? It’s easy as pie! First,click PLAY GAME in the main menu.Then,click the Create Room buttonat the bottom of the screen. Lastly, set the parameters of the game, which we listed below.
Type your room name into the text field.
Password
Type a one to six-digit password in the text field. Rooms without a password will be public.
Level Up
After you decide on your game settings,click the Create Room button under the room settings,and you’re set to go! In seconds, your room will flood with players.
Review Your Character’s Skills To Use Them Effectively
One neat aspect of Astral Party is thatits characters are more than pretty avatars. Each colorful personality hasunique stats and abilities. Using those abilities to your advantage is the key to victory.
Your Character’s Abilities
Each character has two abilities: aPassive Abilityand anActive Ability.
When you understand your character’s abilities, you can build a strategy around them. For instance, Mimi has a Passive Ability that grants her one coin for each discarded Battle Card. Her Active Ability discards her entire hand and replaces it with the same amount of cards plus one extra. Let’s examine these abilities in practice.
Suppose your hand has multiple Battle Cards in it, and there is no chance of another character dueling with you during this round. In that case, you can activate Mimi’s Active Ability to instantly receive multiple coins. As you can see, Mimi’s Active and Passive Abilities complement each other nicely.
Study The Board Before A Game To Develop Strategy
You can’t spell “board game” without"board.“So, studying the board layout before a game is essential. Each map hasdifferent routes, special events, and start point/checkpoint locations. Any of these details can catch you by surprise if you haven’t prepared for them.
For example, the screenshot above shows aRaccoon Thiefstealing coins from a player. Raccoon thieves are aunique feature of the Phantom City stage.
You canreview the details for each board in the Create Room menu. Choose a map from the room settings menu to see its details on the right side of the screen.
Sometimes It’s Better To Save Cards For Later
Cards are an invaluable resourcein Astral Party. A well-played Normal Card can place you at an advantage over your competitors. Battle Cards can hand you a much-needed K.O. in a Duel. However, unlike most board games,you won’t draw a new card every turn. You must land on a card-granting space to replenish your stock.
Specific spaces, like Fortune Spaces, will reward you with new cards for free. However, you’llmost likely acquire new cards via a Shop Space. Cards in the shop cost three coins a pop, which can set you back from your next star. Therefore, if you plan to use a card, ensure the benefit outweighs the cost.
Consider this scenario. You have a card that damages another player within six tiles of you, but that player has full health. Playing the damage card wouldn’t do more than cause a chip in their armor. But if the character within six tiles has mid to low health, playing that damage card will make them vulnerable to a K.O. in a duel. That’s a much better exchange.
You Can Target Yourself With A Negative Effect Card
Have you noticed that a card targeting a player within so many tiles will glow even when no one is remotely near you? You may not know thatyou can target yourself with a negative effect card.
But why would you act against your interest like that? There are rare situations where damaging yourself is the right move. For instance, if yoursoul gets linked to another player, they’ll receive any damage you take. So, damaging yourself can K.O. your soul-linked opponent, making them lose a turn.
If you accidentally clicked on a negative effect card and don’t want to hurt yourself, no worries!Click on your hand to return the cardto your arsenal.
The Circle Around Your Character Points Toward Where You’ll Move
Astral Party’s maps have fairly confounding routes. There are plenty of intersections of circling tracks that might make your head spin. In a game like Astral Party, where knowing what’s backward and forward is vital, misjudging your character’s direction can quickly set you back. How do you know exactly where you’re going?
There is an easy trick to remember which direction you’re facing. Refer to thecircle below your character. You’ll notice the circle has a point (or several points if you’re standing at an intersection) sticking out of it. Thisspike points to the direction(s)your character can move. In short, look at the ring around your feet when in doubt.
Use Your Downtime To Review Cards And Plan Your Next Steps
So, you’ve finished your turn for the round. All that’s left to do is wait until the next turn, right? Stop scrolling TikTok and think again! Your downtime between turns is theperfect opportunity to consider your forthcoming actions.
During your downtime, you can do several things. You canreview your cards' effectsand decide if any are worth using in your next turn. Or perhaps you can move the camera around the board andchoose where to turn at that next intersection. And if you’ve done both those things,observe your competitorsand pick who to take down a peg.
Your playtime doesn’t end when your turn does. Take advantage of every moment so you won’t have to scramble to figure out what to do during your turn.
Only Evade If You Have A Strong Chance Of Succeeding
In a Duel, you have two defensive options:DefendorEvade. However, one option is much safer than the other.
When youdefend against an attack, you’ll receivedamage equal to the difference between your opponent’s attack score(attack points plus dice roll)and your defense score(defense points plus dice roll). If the difference is negligible, you’ll still receive one point of damage.
Evading an attack allows you to avoid it completely, thus incurring no damage. However, yourdice roll must be higher than your opponent’s. Otherwise, you’ll incur your opponent’s total attack score.
When Should You Evade An Attack?
There is a clear risk vs. reward dilemma here. On the one hand, you can play it safe and take at least one damage point. On the other hand, you can take a chance at evasion, which puts you at risk of much more damage than if you defended yourself. So, how do you decide when an evasion is worth the risk?
The first consideration is yourodds of success. If your opponent rolls a one, you have a five-out-of-six chance to evade the attack. If they roll a six, you have a one-in-six chance. Those are not odds we’d bet against.
Second, you must considerwhether you can afford to take any damage. If your character has 100 percent H.P., they can take a hit and keep moving. But if they have only a few H.P. points left, any attack could lead to a K.O. In that case, you’re better off taking a shot at evasion, even if the odds are slim.
You Can Claim A Star On Any Player’s Start Point
Most board games have everyone start at the same spot. However, Astral Party is not like most board games. In Astral Party’s case,each character gets their own start space(with a cute little portrait of themselves).
If each player has a unique start point, does that mean you can only get benefits, like stars, fromyourstart point? Not at all.
Every start point grants players recovery and star opportunities.So, if you have enough coins for a star but your start point is on the opposite side of the board, consider visiting one of your competitor’s start points instead.
You Don’t Need To Win To Progress In-Game
Part of Astral Party’s allure isleveling up after each game, fulfilling missions, and using in-game currency to unlock all sorts of goodies! But don’t feel discouraged if you fail to nab first place. You’ll progress in Astral Partyregardless of your performance in-game.
Furthermore, sometimes failing in the Astral Party is a good thing. Several missions and achievements task you withreceiving damage from opponentsorgetting knocked out. Okay, you won’t get bonus stars (drat). But you’ll still get rewarded for doing your best and falling flat on your butt trying!
