Where Starfend is now — and what I'm rebuilding

Hey — Ranieri here. I build Starfend solo, around a day job, so this little corner of the internet is where I’ll write honestly about where the game is and where it’s going. Welcome to the first entry.

What just shipped

The last few weeks were about making Starfend feel right, not just work:

• Full controller support & Steam Deck. Dash on the trigger, shield on the other, camera on the sticks, drone skills on the d-pad — with on-screen glyphs that match whatever controller you’re holding. It’s couch-ready now.
• A fresh new look. New key art, a new logo built around the game’s tri-color synergy system, and refreshed capsules across the Steam page and this site.

Both are live today.

What I learned watching people play

Here’s the honest part. When I sat and watched new players for the first time, one thing was impossible to ignore: the people who get taught the game play for hours — and the people who get dropped in cold bounce in the first couple of minutes.

The core isn’t broken. The first impression is. Starfend opens on a prep screen full of fleets, stones and skill trees before you’ve thrown a single shot — and that’s a lot to hand someone who just wanted to see what the game is.

What I’m rebuilding

So the next update is about the first five minutes:

• Your very first play drops you straight into a match — no prep screen, no menus.
• You learn by doing: move, place a drone, call a wave, fire, dash, shield.
• The deeper systems — fleets, stones, skills — open up after you’ve felt the game click, not before.

If Starfend already grabbed you, this is me making sure it grabs the next person too.

Come along

The best way to follow this is to wishlist Starfend on Steam — you’ll get pinged when the onboarding update and the next sale land. And if you want to try it right now, the free demo runs deep (all the way to level 25).

More soon. Thanks for being here early.

— Ranieri