Astral Heroes

About

Astral Heroes is a single player and multiplayer strategy game. It was developed by Apus Software and was released on October 19, 2016. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Astral Heroes is a Collectible Card Game that's simple to learn, exciting to play, and deep enough to challenge even the greatest strategists. It's the spiritual sequel to our older game, Astral Masters, which still enjoys a loyal following over ten years after its release!

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66%

Audience ScoreBased on 122 reviews

gameplay6 positive mentions

grinding5 negative mentions

Engaging and strategic card game with a well-designed system and multiple game modes including solo campaign, PvP, drafts, and guilds.
High-quality visuals and soothing music create a distinctive and enjoyable fantasy atmosphere.
Fairly balanced gameplay where skill matters, with limited pay-to-win influence and opportunities to progress without spending money.

Extremely slow progression, heavy grinding, and mandatory PvP level requirements limit campaign advancement and can frustrate players.
Low and shrinking player base makes online matches scarce and uneven due to matchmaking against much higher-level or pay-to-win opponents.
Reports of unbalanced cards, unfair AI behavior, and a pay-to-win economy where some players gain strong advantages by purchasing cards and upgrades.

gameplay
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
57%
14%
The gameplay in Astral Heroes is generally accessible and incorporates familiar card game mechanics with some unique elements, such as activatable creature abilities and point-based deck construction. While the core gameplay loop is enjoyable and the campaign mode effectively introduces mechanics, some players find it slower, grind-heavy, and less engaging compared to similar games. Overall, the gameplay offers fun and strategic depth but may feel frustrating or archaic to some.
- “The core gameplay loop of Astral Heroes is fun and there is no denying that.”
- “The fast paced gameplay and non-pay-to-win style will provide you with hours of fun.”
- “Excellent campaign mode: it is both fun and explains the game mechanics well, and has a good mix between repeating cards and introducing you to new cards.”
- “An excellent card-battle game only hampered by some archaic gameplay rules.”
- “The fact that creatures have activatable abilities adds a nice layer of extra depth, but I find the gameplay frustrating and honestly rather dull.”
- “The macrogame systems are truly bizarre, with the deck construction being based around points values for each card, a lot of which seem to make little sense and some weird mechanics about upgrading your deck capacity which I found off-putting.”
story
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
50%
25%
The story offers a structured single-player campaign with daily missions that help familiarize players, though progression is gated by level and can require grinding. While the narrative and mechanics are praised, some players find the mission structure repetitive and level-based restrictions frustrating. Multiplayer is emphasized as the core experience beyond the story mode.
- “There is a single-player campaign with daily missions, including a good few at the start to get you familiar, but I think it's fair to say that multiplayer is the core of the game.”
- “This game is fast and easy to learn, with a full story campaign that you have to battle through.”
- “The AI is very smart; finish the quests to get more points for your deck and discover which creatures helped each other, especially on the undead side.”
- “I was stuck playing these random and repeatable missions unless I took my incoherent mess of a deck into PvP.”
- “Story locks you out based on level and forces you to grind in league to level up in order to progress.”
- “You gain nothing from a loss and actually lose XP, further slowing your attempt to work through the story.”
graphics
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
The graphics are generally described as simple and calm, complementing the overall game experience without being flashy or overwhelming. While some find the visuals lacking or basic, others appreciate the soft, meaningful art style that supports focused and enjoyable gameplay.
- “Visuals, sound, and game design all complement each other and create a solid experience, which is surprisingly rare these days.”
- “Graphics and calm ambient which is still meaningful and not boring, but allows you to focus on the tactics, not fireworks and jingles every single step.”
- “The whole game feels just more fun and less stressful than other games mainly due to the soft graphics and sound.”
- “The graphics suck but the gameplay is fun.”
- “Graphics: 7”
- “- graphics and calm ambient which is still meaningful and not boring, but allows you to focus on the tactics, not fireworks and jingles every single step.”
grinding
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
83%
Grinding in this game is extensive and often feels tedious, with AI opponents using highly optimized decks and potentially manipulative mechanics, leading to a demanding and sometimes frustrating experience. While some players don't mind grinding in an enjoyable game, many find it serves little purpose beyond prolonging playtime without sufficient incentive.
- “This game is incredibly grindy; all your AI enemies have incredibly meta decks (even the beginner daily quests, mind you). I'm pretty sure the AI controls its card draw, even going as far as to pull wins out of nowhere, and it's incredibly bad with money.”
- “Endless grinding.”
- “It's just a tedious process that serves no actual purpose but to keep you playing more.”
music
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
The music is praised for its soothing and relaxing qualities, enhancing the nostalgic old-school high fantasy atmosphere. While somewhat repetitive, it remains unobtrusive and enjoyable enough to keep players from turning it off.
- “The music is very soothing, perfectly complementing the old-school high fantasy setting and adding a nostalgic atmosphere.”
- “I usually turn off music in games I play, but not in this case (at least not yet).”
- “The music is nice and relaxing even if it is a bit repetitive; however, it is not intrusive and this isn't an issue.”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The game features fair monetization with no ads and reasonable in-game purchases, though spending money is likely necessary to compete on leaderboards. Overall, the balance and gameplay depth help maintain a positive experience despite microtransactions.
- “The price is right at free and the in-game monetization isn't too bad but if you want to be on the leaderboards you're going to have to spend money.”
- “There are no ads, it has great balance (from what I can tell, at ~30 hours invested), limitless deck options, intelligent AI, an abundance of cards and strategies with them... guilds are brilliant and easy to use and join, and include a variety of new ways to play once you're in one (caravans are dope).”
- “Worse version of Spectromancer, plus microtransactions.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere is praised for its soothing music and nostalgic old-school high fantasy setting, creating an immersive and calming experience.
- “Music and atmosphere: the music is very soothing, and the old-school high fantasy setting is nostalgic.”