So when I first started playing Star Realms about two and a half years ago, I absolutely loved it. Well… I loved most of it… The one thing I could not get behind were the cards used to keep track of the score. After about 5 games I quickly wrote a simple python script to keep track of the scores instead. A few weeks ago I went a bit further and put together simple App using Java to keep track of the scores. It is worth pointing out here that the new score cards that come with the latest expansion of Star Realms (Frontiers) are a big improvement on the originals.
So before I go any further, you can check out the simple score counter yourself at my Github repository here. There you will find both the source code (ScoreCounter.java), if that’s the sort of thing you’re into, and also compiled package (scoreCounter_v1_0.jar). The .jar file should run on any computer running an up-to-date version of java (although I haven’t gotten round to testing it on anything but my Mac yet…).
The score counter can keep track of score for 1 to 6 players with customisable player names, starting score and win/lose conditions. Different setups for different games are easy to make and can be saved and loaded to and from the disk. The counter can handle one of two win or lose conditions (first to high number, first to low number), and a win condition and lose condition can be used simultaneously. Alternatively you can play without win or lose conditions and just have a simple way of keeping track of the score.
When you open the counter, you are faced with the default setup. This is setup for a two player game of Star Realms, with both players starting with 50 points and the game ends when one player drops to zero. Setting up the counter for a different game is easy. Just go to File >> New and you can create a new profile and then clicking “OK” will reset the score counter with your new profile.
If you love your new profile then you can save it to a file by heading to File and then Save. Pretty simple, right?
The score counter is a bit retro looking with that classic grey Java GUI aesthetic. It may not appeal to everyone, but it is the simplest way of getting a working application. In the future I might change things around a bit to make it a little better looking. If you want to give it a go, you can download the .jar file (or the java source code) from my Gihub repository:
https://github.com/JLWard-90/ScoreCounter
If you enjoyed this post, why not check out 6 great games for two, or if you want something a bit different, why not take a look at some wort that is currently being turned into beer. And of course, feel free to let me know what you think in the comments below!
