Campaign, skirmish and Arena: the game modes

Star Cluster Conquest has three modes. The campaign teaches the game and rewards speed. The skirmish lets you build exactly the match you want to play. The Arena collects ranked duels. All of them are against the AI, and the campaign and skirmish work offline.

Updated 2026-10-28

Campaign

The campaign has 30 levels. The full table, with what each level introduces, the rivals and the three-star time, is in the campaign guide.

• Levels 1 to 5 are a guided tutorial. Each one introduces a part of the game, so you learn controls and rules one piece at a time.
• Levels 6 to 20 get harder, and each adds something new: special stars, black holes, storms, AIs on hard and up to three rivals at once.
• Levels 21 to 30 bring large maps and two new rivals, the Verdant Swarm and the Void Wanderers. Level 30 is the finale, with three AIs.
• Stars. Each level gives 1 to 3 stars depending on your time. Finishing faster earns more stars, and you can replay a level to improve the result.
• Credits. Wins give Credits, which you spend on abilities and boosts.

How to approach it

Do the tutorial even if you know this kind of game: the first five levels are short and introduce the send gesture and choosing the percentage, production and limit, neutral stars, your first ability and your first boost. After that, play to win first and for stars second. Stars are based on time, so the fastest, most decisive moves are the ones that earn three. The strategy guide shows how to find them.

Skirmish

Skirmish is the mode for building your own match. You choose:

• Map size, from small to very large.
• Number of stars on the map.
• Terrain. See stars and terrain for what can appear on a map.
• Opponents, from 1 to 5. For each one you set a faction and a difficulty.

Map sizes

There are four sizes: small, medium, large and very large. The number of stars can be set to "few", "medium" or "many". The table shows the range of stars on the map, from "few" to "many", and it varies with the seed and the number of players.

The seed appears on the skirmish screen as a number (for example, #424242). A dice button rolls another one, and another button copies the number. Typing the same seed with the same options generates the same map.

Seeds

Skirmish maps are generated from a seed. The same seed always produces the same map, and maps are generated to be fair. That gives you a few useful things to do.

• Replay a map you liked and try a different faction or plan.
• Practice one situation until you can win it reliably.
• Challenge a friend. Give them the seed and you both play the same map, then compare how you did.

Ways to use skirmish

• To learn a faction, play one opponent on an easy difficulty and focus on that faction's abilities.
• To test a plan from the strategy guide, fix the seed and try variations.
• For a hard match, put four or five opponents on a large map and see how long you last.

Arena

The Arena collects ranked duels against AI rivals, with ranks from Bronze to Master. Use it to measure how you play with a faction and a plan. It is not online multiplayer: the rivals are AIs.

Which one to start with

Start with the campaign. When you are comfortable, use skirmish to explore. If you want a particular map size, terrain or opponent mix and the campaign does not offer it, skirmish does.

To tell us which mode you spend your time in, or what you would add to it, use the feedback page.