Designed by Gérald Cattiaux, Jean-Louis Roubira
Release Year: 2021 Complexity: Low
👥 3-6 Players ⏰ 30-45 min 💸 ~$40 🔗 Buy
Overview
In Stella, players look at a shared grid of fifteen dreamy, whimsical illustrations. Each round, a word is revealed, and everyone secretly marks the cards they think match it. Then, one by one, players reveal their picks—scoring points if others chose the same card. But if you name a card that no one else picked, you're out for the rest of the round. After four rounds, whoever has the most points wins.
Game Feel
Naturally, you’ll want to pick as many cards as you can to maximize your chances of matching. But there’s a catch: if you select *more* cards than anyone else, you’re considered “in the dark” and only score half points—*unless* you match on every single one. So there’s this constant push and pull: go big for more matches, or play it safe to avoid the penalty.
Then comes the second half of the round, where players reveal their picks. This part becomes a fun little mind game—deciding which of your choices you’re most confident others picked too. Since calling out a card no one else chose knocks you out of the round, you’ll want to save your riskier picks for last. However, it only takes one match to score, and matching with exactly one other person triggers a “super spark”—resulting in an extra point, and often a celebratory high-five.
FAQ
Player Counts - Stella plays better at lower player counts than most party games, with 4-6 players being the sweet spot.
Abstract vs. Thematic - There’s no theme linking the mechanics or illustrations—and that unpredictability keeps things interesting.
Luck vs. Skill - Skill in Stella isn’t about deep strategy, but it is still very present. It’s about interpreting strange illustrations, reading people, and managing risk.
Multiplayer Solitaire vs. Highly Interactive - The game is highly interactive—every point you earn depends on connecting with other players.
Short Setup vs. Long Setup - Setup is simple: just hand out player boards, shuffle the deck, and lay out fifteen cards.
Easy to Teach vs. Hard to Teach - While easy to teach, as you would expect from a party game, the “in the dark” mechanism and the flow of each round can take a round or two for new players to wrap their heads around.
Low Setup Variability vs. High Setup Variability - With fifteen random illustrated cards and a random word each round, the variability is really high with every round being unique.
Things to Like
✅ Shared Interpreting of Illustrations - Much like Dixit, Stella’s biggest strength is in its dreamy, abstract illustrations that are wide open to interpretation. Just looking at the cards is fun—but trying to figure out how others interpret them adds a unique twist. Matching with other players, especially when you land a “super spark,” is exciting and gives the game a rewarding, almost celebratory feel. It’s also nice that players can study the cards closely without giving anything away—avoiding that issue Dixit had where scrutinizing an image could reveal it wasn’t your card. And since only five of the fifteen cards change each round, players start to build familiarity with the images, helping subsequent rounds run more smoothly.
✅ Tension in Number and Order of Selections - At first, Stella might seem like an unnecessarily complex spin on Dixit, but the added mechanics work really well to create tension and group dynamics. You’re constantly tempted to pick more cards for more scoring chances—but are you picking too many and risking going “in the dark”? It becomes a bit of a mind game as everyone gauges how bold others are being. And if you do end up in the dark, there’s still the fun challenge of trying to “shoot the moon” by matching on every pick. We also love that the resolution phase isn’t just a passive reveal—it asks players to think about the order of their reveals, saving riskier picks for later to stay in the game longer and maximize points.
✅ Appeals to Competitive Party Gamers - A lot of party games treat scoring as an afterthought, focusing more on laughs than gameplay. But Stella strikes a great balance between fun and competition. Players can actually try to win, and that competitive edge ends up enhancing the experience rather than getting in the way of it.
✅ No Requirement to Think of Own Clues - Unlike Dixit, Stella doesn’t require you to come up with your own clue each round. For some players, that’s a huge plus—especially those who don’t love the pressure of being creative on the spot. Having a shared word lowers the barrier to entry and keeps things moving, which is exactly what you want in a party game. And while we do enjoy crafting clues in Dixit, we might like Stella even more for how streamlined it feels—it keeps the focus where the fun is: interpreting wild illustrations and syncing up with each other’s thinking.
✅ Cross-Compatible with Dixit - One of the coolest features of Stella is that it’s fully compatible with all Dixit cards. If you already own Dixit, you can use your whole collection here—and if you’re starting with Stella, you’ve instantly got access to a whole pool of Dixit expansions. Adding new cards into the game goes a long way in keeping it fresh and fun.
Things to Dislike
❌ "In the Dark” Can Confuse New Players - This is a small issue, but the flow of the game—especially how selections work and the risk of going “in the dark”—can take a round or two to click with new players. It’s not overly complex, but the rules aren’t quite as intuitive as some of the more instantly accessible party games. That said, we think the extra learning curve is well worth it for the depth and interaction it adds to the experience.
❌ Limited to 6 Players - While Stella actually plays better than Dixit at lower player counts, the six-player cap does feel a bit low for a party game. We get why they made that choice—more players would probably lead to too many matches, which would take away from the tension of unique picks. But it does mean there are a lot of larger game night scenarios where Stella just won’t be an option.
Our Ratings
Ryan (10 Plays) - 8 Daniel (6 Plays) - 8
🎬 Watch Extended Final Thoughts
Is It For You?
If you’re looking for a party game that works with a big group, don’t enjoy the fuzzy connections between words and images, or love Dixit specifically for the clue-writing aspect, then Stella might not be the right fit. 👎
But if you’re into imaginative artwork, trying to read other players’ minds, and want a competitive party game that really works at lower player counts, then we think Stella: Dixit Universe is a fantastic pick. 👍