Stellar

published 2026-04-17

by Christopher Howard

I've played a few more games of the Stellar card game with the boys.

Initially, I was attempting a strategy of simply putting as many three star cards as possible in the telescope, while putting the low star cards in the notebook. This usually translated into having a roughly equal number of each card type (suit) in the telescope.

Then I realized that there is, on the face of it at least, a mathematical advantage to focusing deployment on just one or two card types. As an example, say we have 12 cards, with four cards for each card type, i.e., three card types. And two of each of those four cards have six star points total (three each), whereas the other two cards are used for the run. Then we have points like so:

6x2 + 6x2 + 6x2 = 36

On the other hand, if our twelve cards are of only two card types, with 9 star points for each type, and each type having a three card run, we get these points:

9x3 + 9x3 = 56

The tricky part, however, is that if I am trying to focus on just one or two card types, then it become more difficult to get the cards I need. There are only five cards in the row to choose from, not counting the random draw option. Do I ignore a three star card because it is not the card type I'm aiming for, or take a one star card because it is? And whatever card I play, in the followup selection, I am more likely to be forced to take a card that I don't want. In the last game I played, it was somewhat frustrating because I was getting a lot of run cards of the type I wanted, but not many good star cards. I won the game, but in the end my score was very close to the score I got in the previous game, using the simpler strategy.

Some related questions: since there is a limited number of cards in the deck, shared with my opponent, is there is really enough good cards to go around if I am focusing on one or two card types? And would it be beneficial to try and focus on different card types as my opponent?

Copyright

CC BY-SA 4.0 Deed