Star Drive is the prestige system in Infinite Miner. It ends your current run, gives you Star Shards, and starts a fresh seeded galaxy with your permanent upgrades still active.
If you are new to prestige systems, the key idea is simple: you give up short-term run progress to become stronger in every future run.
That means Star Drive is not a punishment and not a failure state. It is how the game converts a slowing expedition into long-term momentum.
When you activate Star Drive, your current run is wiped and a new one begins. But not everything resets.
You keep
- Star Shards earned from the reset
- permanent Star Lab upgrades
- other long-term progression systems tied to prestige
- the overall benefit of having made future runs stronger
You lose
- current credits and ore
- temporary run upgrades
- current planet progress
- the specific shape of the current seeded galaxy
The important thing is that Star Drive deletes the temporary layer, not the permanent layer.
There is no single perfect reset point, but there is a practical rule of thumb: reset when the run has clearly stopped feeling efficient.
That usually looks like:
- new planets taking much longer than earlier ones
- upgrades no longer producing a satisfying jump in progress
- the next step feeling like a grind rather than momentum
Resetting too early can leave value on the table. Resetting too late can waste time on a run that has already reached its useful ceiling. The best timing is usually somewhere in the middle: push a bit, then bank the progress while it is still meaningful.
Star Shards are the reason Star Drive matters. They are the currency that turns one finished run into stronger future runs.
The exact best spend can vary as the game evolves, but the general principle is stable: invest in upgrades that remove friction from the parts of the game that currently feel slowest.
If early planets feel sluggish, early-run bonuses are strong. If scaling is the problem, upgrades that help your mid-run economy or automation may pay off better. The goal is not to hoard shards forever. The goal is to make the next expedition noticeably better than the last one.
A Good Beginner Mindset
Many players hesitate before their first reset because they focus on what they are about to lose: current credits, miners, and visible progress. That is understandable, but it is the wrong frame.
The better frame is this: a run is not your final destination. A run is one expedition through one galaxy. Star Drive is how you convert that expedition into future strength.
In other words, the reset is not the end of progress. It is progress.
Where to Go Next
If you want a more narrative explanation, read the Star Drive dev blog guide. If you want the broader beginner walkthrough, visit How to Play. If you want a plain-English game overview first, read What Is Infinite Miner?.