Eight floating realms, six one-trick heroes, 121 levels each proven to an exact par.
Hero Star Saga is the full campaign of the Daily Brains puzzle Hero Star: 121 hand-paced levels across eight floating realms, played on the same 3D toy islands with the same rules. A party of chunky heroes stands among crystals, water, goblins, dragons and trees, with one gold star for each hero. Move one hero at a time and get every hero onto a star in as few moves as you can. Each hero has exactly one trick, each realm teaches one new hero or trap with a few gentle boards and then turns the screw, and every level has been solved by computer for its exact par. Solve in par for three stars; stars open new realms. A hero-party block puzzle in the tradition of Order of the Sinking Star.
STORY & LORE
From daily to saga
Hero Star gives everyone one board a day, a realm per weekday. The saga takes the same engine, the same six heroes and the same seven realms and lays them end to end as a campaign, then adds an eighth realm, the Last Star, for the hardest three-hero boards. None of the saga's levels appear in the daily book: they were generated afresh with the daily's generator and proofs, and picked for a steady climb inside each realm.
The road across the realms
Each realm is an island with a winding road on it, and every other stone of the road is a level. The realm's hero walks the road to whichever level you choose. On a wide screen the island turns on its side so the road runs left to right.
CHARACTERS & ENEMIES
WarriorPushesHEROWalks into a line of things and shoves it all.
ThiefPullsHEROEvery step drags what is behind her.
WizardSwapsHEROTrades places with the first thing ahead.
PriestShieldsHEROGuards herself and her neighbours.
BardLeadsHEROEverything near her copies her step.
DruidChangesHEROTurns what blocks her: tree, crystal, beast.
HOW IT PLAYS
Goal
There is one star per hero. A level is won the moment every hero stands on a star (any hero on any star).
Moving
Tap a hero or their card (or press 1 to 3, or Tab) to choose who moves. Swipe, tap the square next to them or use the arrow keys or WASD; tap a farther square to walk there by safe steps. Undo (Z, U, Backspace or Ctrl+Z) and restart (R) are free and unlimited. Esc or P pauses; M goes back to the map. The keys work straight after load, and How to play has a page listing them. Each level opens with a short camera move from far over the realm down onto the board; any key or tap skips it, and it is left out under reduced motion and on the lowest quality tier.
The heroes
The Warrior pushes a whole line of things. The Thief pulls whatever is behind her on every step. The Wizard swaps places with the first hero, crystal or monster he sees. The Priest shields herself and her neighbours from goblins and dragon fire, and lets a hero under attack stand over water or a gap. The Bard leads every crystal, monster and hero within two squares. The Druid turns trees, crystals and beasts into one another. Heroes can be lost: a hero who ends a move beside a goblin (unshielded) is clubbed, one in dragon fire is burnt, and one who steps onto water or off the edge sinks or falls. The move happens, a little ghost floats up and a banner says what happened; the level waits for Undo or Restart, and the fatal move counts until it is undone.
Stars
Par is the proven fewest moves. Three stars for solving in par, two for solving within par + max(2, a quarter of par), one for any solve. Your best is kept; replaying never loses stars.
The map and unlocking
Clearing a level opens the next two on the road, so one stubborn level never blocks the rest. Realms open by total stars (see the table). The How to play deck only shows the heroes and traps of realms you have opened, and a dot on its button marks new pages.
Score and leaderboard
The saga score is stars x 1000 minus the sum of your best move counts, so stars come first and fewer moves break ties. It is sent to the leaderboard each time you finish a level.
Saving
Progress, best moves and the level in progress are saved on the device after every move and to your account, so Continue on the title screen takes you back to the exact move you left. The save format is unchanged from version A, so all progress carries over; a level left right after a hero was lost comes back that way, and Undo recovers it.
THE PIECES
Rendered by the game itself.
Object
Object
Monster
Monster
Object
ObjectLOOKS
Bought with Tickets in the quick shop on the game page; the game paints the one you equip. Cosmetic only.
250 TIX
500 TIX
1000 TIX
1000 TIX
1800 TIXGALLERY
THE REALMS
121 levels. The first three of each realm (but the last) teach its hero or trap; after that par climbs level by level. Par is the proven minimum for every level, re-proved by scripts/test-hero-star-saga.mjs.
| Realm | What it teaches | Parties | Elements | Size | Par | Levels | Opens at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Red Hall | The Warrior alone: push crystals into water to make stepping stones. | Warrior | water, gaps | 4x5, 5x5, 5x6, 6x6 | 5-24 | 16 | open |
| Teal Courtyard | The Thief joins and pulls what the Warrior cannot reach. | Warrior + Thief | water, gaps | 5x5, 5x6, 6x6, 6x7 | 7-24 | 16 | 18 stars |
| Moon Library | The Wizard swaps across gaps, alone and then with a partner. | Wizard, Wizard + Warrior, Wizard + Thief | water, gaps | 5x5, 5x6, 6x6, 6x7 | 5-23 | 16 | 40 stars |
| Goblin Wood | Goblins bite; the Priest shields herself and her neighbours. | Priest, Priest + Warrior, Priest + Thief, Priest + Wizard | water, gaps, goblins | 5x5, 5x6, 6x6, 6x7 | 6-27 | 16 | 64 stars |
| Sandstone Temple | Dragon fire down every line; the Bard leads crystals into its path. | 5 parties | water, gaps, goblins, dragons | 5x5, 5x6, 6x6, 6x7 | 5-26 | 16 | 90 stars |
| Autumn Grove | Trees, and the Druid who turns them, and beasts, into crystals. | 5 parties | water, gaps, goblins, dragons, trees | 5x5, 5x6, 6x6, 6x7 | 7-28 | 16 | 118 stars |
| The Sinking Star | Buttons and gates, first with one hero, then with parties of three. | 10 parties | water, gaps, goblins, dragons, trees, gates | 5x5, 5x6, 6x6, 6x7 | 6-30 | 12 | 148 stars |
| The Last Star | Three heroes and everything at once: the hardest boards in the saga. | 10 parties | water, gaps, goblins, dragons, trees, gates | 6x7 | 29-38 | 13 | 180 stars |
ACHIEVEMENTS
| Achievement | How | Tier |
|---|---|---|
| Keeper of the Red Hall | Solve every level of the Red Hall. | bronze |
| Courtyard Thief | Solve every level of the Teal Courtyard. | bronze |
| Moonlit Scholar | Solve every level of the Moon Library. | silver |
| Through the Goblin Wood | Solve every level of Goblin Wood. | silver |
| Temple Song | Solve every level of the Sandstone Temple. | silver |
| Turn of the Leaves | Solve every level of the Autumn Grove. | silver |
| Gatekeeper | Solve every level of the Sinking Star. | gold |
| The Last Star | Solve every level of the Last Star and finish the saga. | legendary |
| Masters of the Six | Three stars on eight levels with each of the six heroes. | gold |
| Goblin Proof | Three stars on eight levels with goblins. | silver |
| Fireproof | Three stars on eight levels with a dragon. | silver |
| No Second Thoughts | Three stars on a level of par 12 or more without a single undo or restart. | bronze |
| A Hundred Stars | Hold 100 stars across the saga. | silver |
| Starfall | Hold 300 stars across the saga. | gold |
| Monster Wrangler | (secret) Push, pull or swap a goblin or dragon into water or a gap on a level you solve. | bronze |
TIX
Each reason pays once per level or realm, never again on a replay. Per-session cap 100.
| Reason | TIX |
|---|---|
| First clear of a level | 3 |
| First three stars on a level | 3 |
| Every level of a realm solved | 12 |
| Every star of a realm | 25 |
| The saga finished | 60 |
VERSION HISTORY
- Character restyle from the shared renderer (daily version D): every hero, goblin and dragon is now a simple painted toy figure with small dark bead eyes and at most one prop, and every figure fits inside its own tile. The shop looks still recolour every outfit. Character and monster pictures re-shot.
- Heroes can be lost, as in the daily's version C: a move beside a goblin, into dragon fire, onto water or off the edge happens, the hero is clubbed, burnt, sinks or falls and a little ghost floats up, and a banner with a big Undo waits until you undo or restart. Every level's par is unchanged and every stored answer is re-proved to lose no one.
- Keys: plain Z undoes (the old binding list had no Z; Ctrl/Cmd+Z, U and Backspace still work), arrows or WASD move, 1 to 3 or Tab choose a hero, R restarts, Esc or P pauses, M goes to the map. They work straight after load; How to play has a Keys page and desktops show a quiet key line under the buttons.
- Each level opens with a short camera move from far over the realm (islets, clouds, birds) down onto the board, heroes hopping as it lands; any key or tap skips it.
- The heroes and monsters gained detail from the shared renderer: the Warrior's cloak, pauldrons, axe and braided moustache, the Thief's patched hood, daggers and spilling coins, the Wizard's starry robe and buckled hat, the Priest's book, beads and glowing halo, the Druid's leaf cloak, leafy antlers and shoulder mushroom, and a Bard in pink from cap to boots; goblins with spiked clubs, dragons with plated bellies and flapping wings. The Midnight Party look recolours the new pink Bard.
- New sound from the shared soundscape: richer realm pads, new move, death, whoosh and win sounds, and a limiter on the output.
- Saves: the format is unchanged, so all progress carries over.
- First version: 121 levels in eight realms (16 / 16 / 16 / 16 / 16 / 16 / 12 / 13), generated with the daily's generator (scripts/hero-star-saga/generate.mjs) and every one re-proved for exact par, a stored par line, the need for every hero's trick and the realm's element, and a steady ramp (scripts/test-hero-star-saga.mjs). No level repeats a daily board.
- Plays on the daily's own engine, realms, renderer and soundscape, loaded from public/gamedata/hero-star/; the renderer gained an optional recolor hook for the looks.
- World map on each realm's island, stars, realms opening by stars, resume, cloud save, 15 achievements, TIX for first clears, three-stars, realms and the saga, a leaderboard of stars and moves, and five looks for the quick shop.
- Tested with Playwright at 390x844, 360x740, 700x900, 1280x800 and 844x390.