Starvester Wiki

Starvester is a short active incremental / factory game by Syphono4 (published by Future Friends Games), released 29 May 2026 on Steam for Windows. You grow a civilization from manual clicks on your homeworld Vesta to a Kardashev Type 2.5 star-harvesting empire spanning dozens of unique celestial bodies.

The campaign takes roughly 4–6 hours for a first clear (developer target ~5 hours). Steam reviews are Very Positive. The game supports 10 languages, includes 28 achievements, optional challenges, and a prestige meta-layer that can turn five-minute grinds into seconds after a few resets.

• Genre: Casual, Simulation, Strategy
• Price: ~$6.99 USD (10% launch discount through 12 June 2026)
• Platform: Windows PC (Steam) — Proton/Wine works on Linux (GamingOnLinux)
• Supporter Pack DLC available on Steam
• Strictly NO AI used in game creation (developer statement)

Your run begins on Vesta (home planet). Click to mine Fuel until you can afford drones that automate mining. All drones are built on Vesta and shipped to colonies — every outpost needs assigned drones at rising cost.

• Build the Research Station early — Research Points (RP) unlock global upgrades on Vesta
• First expansion unlocks Brittlerock (achievement: Space Elevators!)
• Use quick-travel hotkeys 1, 2, 3… after unlocking locations
• Assign ~5 workers per site as a baseline; starving Vesta of drones stalls the whole system
• Inventory note: unused drones cap around 200 until you deploy them to colonies (frees capacity)
• Settings: language toggle, mute, FPS-based indicator auto-disable for performance

Avoid over-expanding early colonies before Vesta can supply drones — later worlds often buff earlier production, but only if your homeworld factory keeps pace.

• 1. Click / automate Fuel & resources on Vesta
• 2. Build & ship drones from Vesta to new celestial bodies
• 3. Spend Research Points + local upgrades on each body
• 4. Hit resource thresholds → earn Prestige Points → optional reset with permanent bonuses
• 5. Construct megastructures (Torus, Dyson Swarm, Ringworld, Penrose Sphere, etc.)
• 6. Harvest the central star (solar/Dyson panels) for exponential late-game energy

Unlike pure idle games, Starvester expects active play: burst buttons on Hephaestus, satellite placement on Brittlerock, golden asteroids, and challenge modes all reward attention. Waiting happens, but prestige acceleration keeps pacing tight.

Each celestial body produces different materials. Late-game precious metal chains convert upward without loss (gold→iridium, platinum→rhodium, ruthenium→palladium). Ceryx outputs Compressed Gas for speed multipliers — do not let its boost brick other planets at extreme values.

Drones are manufactured exclusively on Vesta and allocated to colonies. Scaling drone cost means exponential colony growth must be staggered — each new world should pay for itself before you drain homeworld production.

• Prestige upgrades can grant +20 starting drones per tier (buffed from playtest)
• Clicking-hold on Asteroid Mining Station boosts yield — use during metal grinds
• Research drones on Vesta accelerate RP — invest before sprawling
• Metals Satellites on Brittlerock: base +200% resource gain (major mid-game spike)
• Satellite cost scaling: 1.8× per tier (reduced from 2× in balance pass)

Two parallel systems: Research Station upgrades (RP, persistent within a run) and Prestige Point shop (persistent across resets). Vesta research must appear from first expansion — if missing, verify game is updated.

• Research UI shows RP/sec — prioritize when unlocking new bodies
• Brittlerock: satellite upgrades (Metals, etc.) — synergy with prestige nodes
• Ceryx: speed vs amount buttons — amount/speed positions match other planets
• Star upgrades: click-hold speeds leveling bars on the central star
• Local upgrades on Hephaestus / Ceryx / star scale with expansion number

Prestige is core pacing — you earn Prestige Points by reaching resource thresholds, then reset the run while keeping permanent upgrades. A few points can collapse a 5-minute grind to ~10 seconds. Full game supports 30+ points (achievement Prestigious at 30).

Brittlerock is both a discoverable world (Space Elevators achievement) and the main prestige UI: satellites, metals boosts, and prestige nodes that must update correctly after each purchase. Fuel costs for prestige scale ~7.5× per tier in balance patches.

• Prestige when the prestige bar ETA stalls and upgrades cost more than your burst income
• Key prestige nodes: clicking boost (+100%/tier), starting drones (+20/tier), satellite upgrades
• Prestige upgrades persist on save — mid-run progress also saves in full release
• Do not prestige before unlocking Brittlerock satellites if metals are your bottleneck

• Stanford Torus — Cindermoon
• Asteroid Mining Station — breakable & golden asteroids
• Dyson Swarm — Oda's Star (Type 2 Civilization)
• Caplan Thruster — Proxima Ares
• FTL Astral Gate — Aeolus
• Wormhole — Cybele
• Particle Accelerator — Belle's Dreidel
• Niven Ringworld — Pistol Star (Type 2.5)
• Penrose Sphere — late construction
• Black Hole Bomb — Supernova achievement finale
• Titanium Miner — Thysia / Planet Cracking
• Summon Spaceship — Spacefarer

Megastructures gate achievements and civilization tier milestones. Complete the Dyson Swarm before chasing Ringworld — only ~12% of players reach Type 2.5 on Steam stats.

The central star accepts solar panels and later Dyson swarm panels. Each research tier raises per-panel output (commonly 1–5 energy per panel). Full release caps near 1000 stellar energy when fully upgraded; late prestige goals may require thousands of panels.

• Click-hold on the star accelerates bar fill — active play matters
• Dyson panels should render below the star (visual/UI fix in v0.4.5+)
• Stellar energy gates the last expansions and Black Hole Bomb sequence
• Balance energy investment vs colony drone spend — starved Vesta slows everything

Recommended route aligned with Steam achievement order and median playtest time (~1.5h demo slice, ~5h full game):

• Hour 1 — Vesta: Fuel, Research Station, first drones, discover Brittlerock & Cindermoon, first prestige
• Hour 2 — Asteroid Miner, Hephaestus bursts, begin metals satellite stacking on Brittlerock
• Hour 3 — Ceryx Compressed Gas, tune boosts, push toward Oda's Star / Dyson Swarm
• Hour 4 — Type 2 complete, Triton's Eye, Proxima Ares, mid-game prestige farm for 10+ points
• Hour 5 — Aeolus, Cybele, Belle's Dreidel, Pistol Star Ringworld, Thysia, endgame spheres & Supernova

After Type 2.5, mop up rare achievements (Golden Asteroid, 30 Prestige Points, all Challenges) before detonating the Black Hole Bomb if going for 100%.

• Balance colonies: each world needs drones but should buff the whole network
• Brittlerock metals satellites are the biggest mid-game power spike — prioritize prestige nodes there
• Watch Ceryx speed — if planets brick, reduce gas speed upgrades
• Precious metal conversions should never decrease totals (fixed in v0.4.4+)
• Use quick-travel keys; disable floating indicators if FPS drops (re-enable in settings)
• Challenges (3.8% completion) — endgame difficulty layer for achievement hunters
• Join Syphono4 Discord for balance patches — post-launch support ongoing

Complete list with Steam global unlock rates (May 2026). Names are official English Steam strings.

• Is the game out? — Yes, full release 29 May 2026 on Steam.
• How long? — ~5 hours campaign; 100% achievements much longer.
• Demo vs full? — Demo capped earlier prestige/panels; full game has all bodies & endings.
• Save system? — Full game saves progress; prestige upgrades persist.
• Homeworld name? — Vesta (stats UI labels it as home planet).
• What is Brittlerock? — A colony with space elevators + prestige/satellite meta.
• Linux? — Works via Proton per community reports.
• Idle? — Active incremental; prestige removes need for overnight idle.