Sea of Stars: How to Play (And Win) The Wheels Minigame

Wheels is a complex, but very fun minigame in Sea of Stars that requires some careful planning and strategy.

Sea of Stars is an old-school turn-based RPG that's been getting high praise from both critics and its playerbase. Alongside its brilliant combat and rewarding exploration, it also includes a fun minigame akin to Gwent in The Witcher 3 or Orlog in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla. It's called Wheels and can be quite complex. Players can generally find opponents at special Wheels tables inside the game's taverns and inns, although there are some exceptions.

The general objective of Wheels is to take out the opponent's crown. These are situated centrally above the player's spinning slots and below their opponent's, and each starts with 10 hit points. The first player to reduce their opponent's crown to 0 HP is the winner. Players can win a small amount of gold for winning at casual games, but the reward for winning a champion's game is a new Wheels figurine to play with next time. Here's how to play Wheels and several tips for how to win at Wheels.

Understanding the Rules of Wheels in Sea of Stars

What Does Each Part of the Wheels Board Mean?

Players start a game of Wheels by selecting two figurines to play the game with. Only the knight and mage are available until the player earns more from winning champions games against different opponents. Each figurine has its own combat abilities and different attack timer levels to consider.

A figurine's combat abilities are represented on its base. The sword symbol shows its attack power, which is essentially how much damage it will inflict on the opponent's crown when it hits. The bricks symbol shows the damage it will deal to the opponent's wall if one exists. Walls are built in the semi-circular indent in front of each player's crown and will be explained later.

The spring-looking pole next to each figurine is essentially a timer, with each hoop around the pole representing how long until the figurine can attack. The higher the pole, the longer the figurine takes to attack.

The indents around a figure's base light up and act as an XP bar. After receiving six XP, the figurine will level up and improve its powers. Figurines start as bronze versions and can be leveled up to silver and gold. Finally, the three dots in the bottom right corner of the screen light up to show how many lever pulls players have remaining. These are used to generate symbols that represent different actions, which are shown at the very top and bottom of the screen.

How Does Each Wheels Figurine Act in Sea of Stars?

Each figurine also acts in a unique way. Knights simply charge forward once to deal a chunk of damage. They can't avoid the wall, though, so if one's in place, they attack that instead. Mages fire twice, once at a normal level towards the crown or wall if it exists, and a second time over any remaining wall to deal damage directly to the opponent's crown. Archers can hit the crown if the opponent's wall is level two or lower. They deal a good amount of damage to the crown, but are ineffective against a wall.

Engineers are stronger against opponent's walls than against the crown directly and therefore make useful support figurines. Assassins ignore walls completely but only deal a small amount of damage. They also add a ring to the attack timer of an opponent's figurine, pushing their attack back. Finally, priests heal the player's crown and lower the attack timer of their allies.

What Do the Different Spinning Symbols Mean in Wheels?

The spinning symbols represent actions and are the crux of Wheels' gameplay. The yellow squares move the left figurine's attack timer down, whereas the teal diamonds do the same for the right figurine. If the symbol also has a starry blue background, it not only reduces the attack timer but also gives XP to the respective figurine. Hammers add layers to the player's protective wall, whereas the blank slots unfortunately count for no action. There are also some double symbols which, as would be expected, count for two.

However, it's important to note that most symbols work in a three-of-a-kind pus-one manner. This can be confusing, though, so it's simpler to just pretend that the number of drawn matching symbols minus two is the number of actions. For example, three yellow square symbols equals one attack power, four equals two, and five equals three, etc. Both attacking and wall-building work using this system. XP, on the other hand, is a simple one-to-one translation, meaning figurines gain XP for every blue starry background with their respective symbol. These actions form the basis of the game, which is essentially played by pulling levers and locking in these symbols.

How to Actually Play Wheels in Sea of Stars

Wheels players pull levers to draw randomly generated action symbols in a similar manner to a fruit machine. Then, they can choose to lock as many of these symbols in place as they want before pulling the lever again to essentially re-spin any non-locked symbols. After three spins, those symbols are finalized and turned into actions.

The square and diamond symbols move the respective figurine's attack timers down. If a figurine's attack pole reaches the bottom, that figurine will attack the opponent in line with its combat abilities, which are based on its type and level. The starry blue backgrounds get turned into XP, which level up the figurine with every six XP points. Hammers increase the player's protective wall height, which is a visual representation of its HP, to protect their crown. The game continues as each player spins and locks in their symbols until one player finally comes out victorious.

Tips for Winning at Wheels in Sea of Stars

The best tip for new players is to always use the mage and focus on building its XP and attack power. It's the most offensively powerful figurine given its double attack and ability to ignore the wall on the second attack. Focusing on locking in symbols for the mage will be the easiest way to victory.

It's best to pair the mage with a figurine that does well against the opponent's selected figurines. For example, if the opponent has a mage or an assassin, which can both ignore walls, then it would be good to add a priest to heal your crown, or also add an assassin to push the opponent's attack timers back.

Players should also adapt their playstyle to counteract the opponent's figurines. For example, if they have a knight or an archer, it will be massively important to keep a wall up by locking in hammers. If the opponent has a mage or an assassin, players should focus on other symbols.

In general, adding XP whenever it comes up early in the game is always good as it means figurines can level up quickly and be more effective. Overall, like with The Witcher 3's Gwent, Sea of Stars players can lose hours enjoying several games of Wheels. Its creativity and depth, alongside the fact that it's only a small part of Sea of Stars as a whole, is just another reason why the indie RPG deserves its place as one of the best games of the year.