How Stardust works
Stardust is the just-for-fun collectable at the heart of Retro Space Cat. You earn it every day by visiting the six space stations, and it's never spent: your total only ever goes up. It has no cash value and can't be bought, sold or exchanged.
The six stations
Each station has its own mini game and can be claimed once a day. Everything resets at midnight UK time.
| Station | How it pays | Payout | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch Pad | Fire the boosters for a random roll. | 1–20 | 10.5 |
| Asteroid Mine | Pick one of three asteroids. Most hold 5–25; a 5% chance of a 50 jackpot. | 5–50 | 16.75 |
| Cosmic Wheel | Spin the wheel. Every segment is equally likely: 5, 10, 5, 15, 10, 20, 5, 30. | 5–30 | 12.5 |
| Cat Quarters | Feed or pet Space Cat. Pays 10, plus 10% for each level of Space Cat's mood. | 10–15 | 12.5 |
| Mystery Signal | Answer today's space trivia question. A right answer pays 25; a wrong one still pays 5. | 5 or 25 | – |
| Star Decoder | Guess today's 5-letter space word in six tries. Solving it in one pays 30, down to 10 in six; not solved still pays 5. | 5–30 | – |
Space Cat's mood
Mood goes from 0 to 5. It rises by one each day you look after Space Cat on consecutive days, and drops by one for every day you miss. At full mood, Cat Quarters pays 15 instead of 10.
Full Orbit bonus
Claim all six stations on the same day (UK time) and you complete a Full Orbit, worth an extra 20 Stardust.
With the bonus, a typical day is worth around 105 Stardust. The best possible day, with top rolls everywhere, is 190, before any streak bonus.
Streak bonuses
Your streak is the number of days in a row you've completed a Full Orbit. Miss a day and it starts again from zero. Reaching each milestone pays a one-off bonus:
| Streak | Bonus |
|---|---|
| 3 days | +25 |
| 7 days | +75 |
| 14 days | +150 |
| 30 days | +400 |
| Every 30 days after that | +400 |
Streak titles
Long streaks also unlock rank titles to show on your profile and Space Cat card. They can't be bought, and once earned they're yours for good, even if your streak later ends.
- Orbit Rookie 3 days
- Week-Long Voyager 7 days
- Fortnight Flyer 14 days
- Moon Cycle Master 30 days
- Deep Space Regular 60 days
- Century Orbiter 100 days
- Solar Year Legend 365 days
Weekly medals
The weekly leaderboard starts fresh every Monday. Just after Monday midnight, the top three from the week before win a permanent medal and bonus Stardust:
- Gold +250 Stardust
- Silver +150 Stardust
- Bronze +100 Stardust
Prize Stardust counts towards your total, but not towards the next week's score. If two players tie, the one who reached the score first ranks higher.
Moonstones
Moonstones are what you spend in the shop. You earn one Moonstone for every 100 Stardust you collect, and that includes all the Stardust you've ever earned. For example, 1,859 Stardust has earned 18 Moonstones.
Spending Moonstones never touches your Stardust, so shopping never lowers your total or your place on any leaderboard. Shop items cost from 3 to 500 Moonstones, and anything you buy is yours to keep.