A Structs game has a clock even when nobody is shooting. Early game is survival: get a planet, get power, get a mine and a refinery running before ore sits in the open. Mid game is expansion: a second struct, a guild, a defended home, maybe a raid. Late game is dominance: you already have a pipeline, and the question is who keeps theirs.
These three cards assume things are going roughly as planned. If you are offline, under attack, or the planet is emptying, switch to a situation card instead of forcing a phase plan.
Pick the phase that matches your board, not your calendar. A player who joined late can still be in early game; a lucky first day can skip you into mid.
Early game fails by going offline or leaving ore unrefined. Mid game fails by expanding into a raid window. Late game fails by treating the map as solved while someone else still has a fleet. Each card lists what to build, what to ignore, and what “done” looks like for that phase.
Open a phase card at session start, after you have confirmed you are online and not under attack. Re-read it when you catch yourself building the next struct because you can, not because the phase needs it. If the last three actions were all emergency responses, you are not in a phase — you are in a situation. Re-enter the phase card only after the situation card’s diagnosis is green. Early, mid, and late are states of the board, not badges you unlock.