You have been tasked to command a Starmada and help defend your system from enemy factions. Some of the best captains, pilots, and engineers in the galaxy have been assigned to you, and with their help, you must defeat enemy ships and destroy their base before your own is destroyed.

The goal of Starmada is to destroy your enemy's base by moving your ships to the top of the screen and delivering their payload. Enemy ships move down the screen and damage your base when they reach the bottom, so try destroying them before they get there.

Commanders may issue a series of commands to each of their ships before commiting their orders and starting a new turn. Because the game is turn-based, you may take your time navigating menus, viewing informational screens, and deciding which orders to give to which ships.

Gameplay is menu-driven. Tapping a menu option will open a new menu or an info screen. Tapping outside the edges of a menu will usually close it and open the previous screen. The remainder of this manual explains the menu screens in the order that they appear.

Allegiance

The first screen you see when Starmada starts is the Allegiance menu. One of several questions is presented and your choice determines which faction you join. The ships in your fleet and their call-signs depend on your faction, but since all of the factions have access to the same technology, there's no practical difference. The base commanders determine who wins and who loses.

Career Menu

The Career Menu offers many options you may set before starting a new game.

Faction: Tapping on your faction will reopen the Alligance Menu so that you can select a new faction.

Difficulty: Tapping on this menu bar adjusts the game's difficulty. Tap near the left side for an easier game or near the right size for a harder one. The stats for enemy ships and their base will increase or decrease in relation to your own.

Options Bar: Tapping on this menu bar will change the value of whichever option is selected below it: Accuracy, Populace, or Production. Tap near the right for higher values or near the left of lower ones. These options effect your stats and those of your enemy.

Accuracy: Higher values cause ships to hit their targets more often when they attack.

Populace: Higher values lengthen the game by requiring more successful attacks against a base before destroying it.

Production: Higher values cause more ships to be spawned at the beginning of each turn.

Retire: Tapping the retire button exits the game.

Retry: When available, tapping the Retry button starts the current game over again. Ships will start in the same place, and if you issue the same commands in the same order, the results will not change.

New: Tapping the New button starts a new game.

Headquarters

The Headquarters menu is presented when the game begins, serving as its main menu. There are four options that you may select.

Commit Orders: This option ends your turn and starts a new one. You will be asked to confirm your choice, and if you cancel, the Headquarters menu will reappear.

Issue Commands: This option lets you select one of your ships and then opens the Commands menu so that you can issue commands to the ship you selected.

View Reports: This option allows you to view mission stats and your command log.

Surrender Base: This option opens the Career Menu and allows you to start a new game or to quit.

After selecting the Issue Commands options from the Headquarters menu the Pick Ship screen is presented. Tapping any one of your own ships will select the ship and then open the Command Menu so that you may issue commands to your chosen ship.

If you tap somewhere on the screen where there are no ships, then the Headquarters menu will reappear.

Command Menu

The Command menu appears after selecting a ship from the Pick Ship screen and then reappears after you finish executing a command. The ships title appears at the top of the menu and all of the available commands appear below it.

Once you issue a command it is removed from the list. You may not issue the same command to the same ship again until next turn. Tapping outside the edges of the Command Menu makes the Pick Ship screen reappear.

You may continue selecting ships and issuing commands for as long as you like until every command has been sent to every ship in your Starmada. Or you may end your turn at any time by returning to the Headquarters menu and selecting Commit Orders.

Engineering

The Engineering Menu allows you to Repair or Boost one of your ship's systems each turn. The status of the four primary systems is shown in the menu. The right side number represents the performance of the system when operating at peak efficiency. The left side number may be lower to reflect any damage that the system has suffered.

After selecting the system that you wish to enhance you may select Repair or Boost. Choose Boost to increase the performance of any system by a small amount. The Repair option has the potential to increase that status of damaged systems by a greater amount, but it has no effect on undamaged systems.

Alternatively, you may transfer power from once system to another. Enable Transfer mode by tapping the menu bar located directly above the Boost and Repair buttons. The amount of power that you wish to transfer can be increased by tapping closer to the right side of the menu bar.

Select the Target system you wish to enhance and the Source system you wish to transfer the power from. Then, after verifying that the desired amount of power is set, tap the Transfer button to confirm your options. The Source system's status will decrease and the Target system will increase by a similar amount.

Note that if you try to transfer too much power from a damaged system it will cause your ship to explode.

Helm

The Helm command allows you to move your ships. Arrows will appear to show how far your ship can move forward or to either side. Tap anywhere within that range to move your ship there. Alternatively, you may tap an enemy ship that is within range to move your ship directly below it so that you may attack with a Tactical command.

Intel

The Intel command detects the status of an enemy ship. Selecting it opens the Pick Ship screen so that you may select an enemy by tapping it. Then a status screen will appear with the detected information.

Some of your chosen enemy's stats may not be detected properly. This depends on the distance between your ship and the enemy, as well as the strength of your ship's scanners and the skill of its crew. Undetected stats will appear as question marks in the status screen.

For information about what each of the stats mean, see Status Menu

Morale

Every ship has a morale officer whose duty is to inspire the crew to perform better. The Boost Morale Menu allows you to select which tasks you wish to apply this bonus to.

Engineering: This increases the effectiveness of your ship's Engineering commands as well as the blast radius when you make make it self destruct.

Helm: This increases the distance your ship can move during a Helm command as well as the ship's ability to avoid attacks from an enemy ship.

Security: This increases the amount of damage that can get through enemy shields when your ship attacks them, as well as the effectiveness of its Intel commands.

Tactical: Thisincreases your ship's accuracy when it attacks.

Status

The Status Menu displays the stats of your ship and its crew. Ship stats usually show two numbers, with the number on the right representing the system's peak performance. The number on the left may be lower to reflect any damage to the system The lower number determines how well the system will actually perform.

The Status screen is purely informational and does not allow you to interact with it. Tapping closes it.

SHIP

Shields: Most of the damage from enemy attacks is applied to your shields, which may be repaired by an Engineering command. Once the shields are depleted all damage is applied to your ship's hull and other systems instead.

Hull: When a ship's Hull is reduced to 0 it explodes. Their is no way to repair damage to a ship's Hull, so try to maintain your ships' shield strength.

Propulsion: The distance a ship may move during Helm commands is determined by its Propulsion rating.

Scanners: The range and accuracy of a ship's Intel command is determined by its Scanner rating.

Stealth: Ships with high Stealth ratings can slip past a base's defense and cause more damage. Intel commands are less effective against them.

Payload: Each ship begins with a limited amount of explosive payload. The payload can be used to increase the damage of its attacks and the blast radius when it self destructs. Its main purpose is to damage your enemy's base, however, so use it wisely.

CREW

Evasion: A crew with a high Evasion rating is more likely to avoid enemy attacks.

Engineering: This rating increases the effectiveness of Engineering commands, allowing you to repair and boost the ships systems by a larger amount.

Response: A responsive crew is more likely to score the first hit during an attack.

Security: A crew with a high Security rating can cause more damage to enemy ships by bypassing their shields.

WEAPONS

Accuracy: This effects the likelihood of hitting an enemy ship during an attack.

Force: This effects the amount of damage a successful attack can cause.

Penetration: This allows more damage to penetrate an enemy's shields.

Tactical

The tactical system is used to attack enemy ships that are lined up in front of your own. The attack begins after you chose Phasers or Torpedos and then tap Confirm. Both your ship and your enemy's will have an opportunity to fire once. Which ship fires first is determined by their Response rating and random chance. If the target of the first shot is not destroyed then it returns fire.

Phasers: This is your basic attack and should normally be used. Tap confirm to fire.

Torpedos: When you tap the Torpedos button the menu bar beneath it is set to use half of the ship's remaining payload. This delivers more damage to your target. You may adjust the amount of payload by tapping elsewhere on the menu bar.

Remember that if you use all of a ship's payload then it cannot damage your enemy's base.

Low Yield: This option destroys your ship when you tap Confirm. It does no harm to enemy ships but may be used to clear a path for your other ships.

High Yield: This option destroys your ship when you tap Confirm. A large blast spreads out around your ship and destroys any other within its range. This includes both your ships and your enemy's.

You may adjust the size of the explosion by using less of the ships remaining payload.

You may target a specific system on your enemy's ship by tapping the Target button. Doing so can increase the damage and may potentially destroy the targeted system, but your overall accuracy diminishes somewhat.

Base Status

The Base Status screen opens after you finish a turn by selecting Commit Orders from the Headquarters menu. You may also open the Base Status from the View Reports menu at any time.

If you received points from performing well, you may assign them to your various base stats by tapping them. Once you assign all your points you may close the status screen by tapping Continue.

There is a menu bar that allows you to focus more of your resources to either Production or to Security. Focusing on production allows you to build more ships, whereas focusing on security helps avoid damage to your base when enemy ships reach the bottom of the screen.

Fortification: This determines how much damage your base can take before your bases populace is reduced.

Morale: This represents how well your crew responds to your order and increases the Morale Bonus applied to your commands.

Orbital Defense: This represents your base's ability to shoot down enemy ships before they can deliver their payload. It is reduced by the enemy's Stealth rating.

Populace: This represents how many people live on your base. Your base is defeated when its populace is reduced to zero.

Production: This effects how many new ships your base can deploy every turn.

Training: This effects the crew ratings of your ships, including Engineering, Evasion, Response, and Security.

Mission Status

The Mission Status screen appears after you close the Base Status screen or whenever you select Mission Status from the View Reports menu. It displays general information regarding your command performance. More specific performance information can be learned by viewing your Mission Logs, which is also available from the View Reports menu.

Formations

You can increase the effectiveness of your ship's attacks and evasion by first moving other ships into formation with them. Allied ships aligned directly behind your ship increase the accuracy and damage of any attacks it makes. In addition to enhancing your attacks, allied ships directly beside your ship increase its ability to avoid enemy attacks.