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SUGOI Showcase & Meet the Pilots: Zeke

Hello Pilots,

Keep your eyes on the skies, particularly this coming Thursday 27th March! There might be something at the SUGOI Showcase you'll want to see!



In the meantime, here's some more about Zeke, our third pilot for the Gunner Mech!



[h3]"Adaptability is the foundation of innovation."[/h3]

[h3]Pilot Bio[/h3]

Name: Zeke

Place of Birth: Earth's largest metropolis, Shin-Tokyo

Bio: Zeke is the brains behind the first Gunner Mecha and is the son of one of earth's leading nuclear researchers. To the world, Zeke's father was the pioneer behind nuclear reactor miniaturization, a technology which enabled the manufacturing of mechas among other things, but to Zeke, he was too focused on his work and often absent.

Holding his father in the highest regard, Zeke was desperate for his approval and, thanks to his father's affluence, enrolled in the most prestigious academies. During his time at university, Zeke created a device he dubbed 'The Machine' enabling mechas to repair themselves by siphoning undamaged components to repair damaged parts.

Despite his academic prowess, Zeke is yet to receive his father's approval, and has buried himself in his work until he achieves his aim. For Zeke, excellence isn’t just a goal -- it’s a requirement. Like father, like son.


[h3]The Gadgeteering Genius[/h3]




  • The Machine - The first time you burn a card with a Component each turn: Dismantle that card
  • Nuclear Reactor - You get +2 Heat Sink. When the encounter begins, give Heated to all cards without a Component.
  • Fi-Tech - Whenever you create a 0 cost card, upgrade it with a random Component


Zeke's artifacts relate to his engineering abilities and the components that can be added to his cards.

Having unique artifacts and cards for each pilot really helps build diversity during your runs. Zeke has some interesting cards like Theorycraft which creates 3 random Attack cards in your hand with the Theory component.



That's all for Zeke just now, but you can discover more of his unique cards as you play and we'll be back with another Pilot feature soon!

Stay tuned for Thursday!

The Pengonauts Team

Happy New Year from Noel

Hello Pilots,

Happy New Year, it's launch year for StarVaders and we're super excited for the months ahead!



[h3]"Stay cool Noel, remember what's at stake."[/h3]

[h3]Pilot Bio[/h3]

Name: Noel

Place of Birth: Antarctic Settlement (Approximately 20km from Nuclear Crater)

Bio: Despite living near the nuclear crater, a relic of the Extinction War, life was relatively worry-free for Noel and her younger sister, Eira. They were accustomed to seeing Mechas from an early age as they worked to insulate the colossal icebergs that the people of Antarctica called home.

However, it wasn't long before a strange illness emerged. At first, the symptoms were hailed as the next stage in human evolution, allowing those afflicted to drain the heat from nearby objects with a simple gesture. But this supposed blessing wouldn't last forever. Over time, their bodies would be unable to retain heat, eventually freezing them where they stood. The unlucky ones affected became known as 'The Frozen'.

Noel manifested her powers at 24 years old, just as she was finishing her studies in biomedical sciences. With her future being stolen from her, Noel struggled with her place in the world, resigning herself to her fate. It wasn't until her sister developed the same symptoms two years later that Noel dedicated whatever remaining time she has left to research her illness and find a solution.

When the invasion began, Noel was prepared to defend her Antarctic homeland, but also had an ulterior motive to study the aliens in the hopes of finding something to help cure herself and her sister.

[h3]Bring the Perma-Frost[/h3]

Noel's illness offers her a range of unique tactical moves on the battlefield. Ice projectiles have a devastating effect on enemy units with the added bonus of providing some home comforts from Noel's Antarctic homeland.



  • Perma-Frost - Your rightmost card is unburnt and becomes Frozen when your turn ends
  • Cold Star - When the encounter begins, gives Frozen to 2 random cards in your hand. Your Frozen cards count as Burnt cards, and vice-versa.
  • Iceberg - When your turn begins, make Frozen cards in your hand free.


Frozen cards are Noel's specialty. They aren't discarded when a turn ends so can be queued up for maximum effect.

Like with all our pilots, having unique artifacts and cards really helps build diversity during your runs. Noel has some interesting cards like Cold Snap which strikes a random invader but does additional strikes for each Frozen card you own.



And then there's Chisel - A tactical card that discards a card from your deck but adds two new cards. And if you choose to discard one of your frozen cards, then both new cards are free to use.



That's all for Noel just now, but you can discover more of her unique cards as you play and we'll be back with another Pilot feature soon!

Wishing you all the best for 2025!

The Pengonauts Team

StarVaders is part of TGAGWCAGA 2024! Tune in to the stream happening RIGHT NOW!

We’re thrilled to announce that StarVaders will be featured in TGAGWCAGA 2024—The Game Awards for Games Who Can't Afford the Game Awards! This one-of-a-kind indie showcase is streaming this Friday, December 13th!

TGAGWCAGA highlights incredible indie games that truly deserve more attention while also poking a little fun at the exclusivity of The Game Awards.

The event is happening in less than an hour, so head on over to the youtube channel to catch it live!

📅 TGAGWCAGA 2024
🕔 Friday, December 13th
6:00 PM UTC / 7:00 PM CET / 1:00 PM ET
📺 Watch the stream here: https://www.youtube.com/@TGAGWCAGA

We’ll also be part of the TGAGWCAGA Steam Event running from December 13th to December 22nd, featuring tons of amazing indie games—including ours!

Check out a fresh new StarVaders trailer live! Hundreds of free keys will also be dropped in the livestream chat, so tune in for your chance to snag one for yourself :)

Signing out,
Pengonaut CrabDog

Meet the Pilots: Roxy

Hello Pilots,

This is the start of a series about our pilots. Get to know a bit about them before you jump into the game! First up, we have Roxy!



[h3]"Nothin’ that can’t be fixed with a little SCR4P-Paste and some good ol’ elbow grease!"[/h3]

[h3]Pilot Bio[/h3]

Name: Roxy

Place of Birth: 31st Northwestern Sahara Settlement

Bio: Roxy's parents worked as moon miners, often leaving Roxy at home for months at a time. Her earlier years were spent looking up at the stars, hoping to one day join them on their adventures. That day would sadly not come to pass, when she was 16 news of a tragic mining accident reached her settlement.

In the aftermath, her mom's damaged mecha was the only thing that was returned to her. Being the last physical remaining connection to her parents, Roxy tinkered with the mech night and day while her community supported her.

When the aliens invaded, Roxy's engineering skills made her one of the first to be called upon to strike back against the invaders. She'll do anything to protect her world and the people of the 31st.

[h3]A True Firestarter[/h3]

Guns, missiles, explosives - Roxy is no stranger to these weapons, and utilises her Gunner Mech to unleash devastating attacks on her foes but she also has a few unique artifacts that give her an advantage in the field (if used correctly).



  • Fire Starter - The first time you overheat, draw +2 cards and get +2 Heat sink next turn
  • Incinerator - When you overheat, purge the card after burning it. Then gain Sparks in your hand next turn.
  • Greenhouse - Whenever you gain or lose any amount of Heat sink, increase that amount by one.


From Roxy artifacts, you may be able to get a feel for what strategies would work best for her. By pushing the limits of her Gunner Mech, she can use overheating to her advantage and wreck havoc on the battlefield.

Having unique artifacts and cards for each pilot really helps build diversity during your runs. Roxy has some interesting cards like Trailblazer which allows her to move up to 4 titles, and when the card becomes Burnt, she receives +1 Heat sink for the remainder of the encounter.



And then there's Reckoning - We'll give you two guesses what this does.



That's all for Roxy just now, but you can discover more of her unique cards as you play and we'll be back with another Pilot feature soon!

Happy Hunting!

The Pengonauts Team

An Incredible Next Fest

Hello Pilots,

What an incredible week it has been! We have been absolutely blown away by the coverage and feedback of our demo.



From YouTube videos (Here, Here and Here and many more!), Twitch streams, fan art, speedrun submissions and written reviews, we've been glued to our screens reading and watching everything to do with StarVaders, and we'd like to thank each and every one of you for a huge morale boost.

We also received a special mention from LocalThunk, Creator of Balatro, who recommended our demo during Next Fest.

We had a huge number of entries to our raffle which is now closed and we'll be announcing the winners in due course.

In return for all your support, we actually feel like it's a bit unfair to take the demo away from you so soon. So we're going to be leaving it up for another week and we also have a special speedrunning challenge with three keys up for grabs!

Check our Discord for more information on the speedrun challenge and stay tuned for more StarVaders news!

Much love,

The Pengonauts team!