Card backs?

We know what card is next in the deck. :) Since it is a co-op game it isn't much of an issue. Also kepe in mind, your starting 8 cards have a back, only the Station cards don't.

EDIT: When I shuffle, I don't look at the cards, so that they would be shuffled. You would still know what card is on top of your deck though.

EDIT2: Well I guess I was wrong this whole time:

Quoting Megatone from this link:

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/963503/my-experience-playing-an-early-prototype

"At the stage the game was at when I played it, yes. I asked Christopher about that specifically because I felt like I was cheating at first and was trying to shuffle under the table. He confirmed that it was by design."

So, at all times you know which three station cards are in play and which will be in play next once a spot opens up, yes?

Yes. you know the top card of the Station deck at all times.

EDIT: This is an important part of the strategy. There are only ever 3 cards availabe to purchase from each Sector. However, once you purchase a card another card moves into the Sector (so you always have 3). Knowing what card comes next is very important, because once it is inplay it is inplay.

Shuffling the station deck seems fine to me. I've played other games where you can see the top card of a deck. In Eminent Domain, for example, you can know what type of planet is on top of the planet deck, and how much it takes to settle or attack. And that doesn't feel that strange.

If station cards get shuffled into your own deck, that seems like it would feel really weird. You can know where cards are in your deck, and the temptation to shuffle until the order looks good to you (or at least you have what you need in your next hand) would be immense.

it is however, an expected part of the design.

it is however, an expected part of the design.

Why is it an expected part of the design?  Is it just that it's unavoidable, or is there a benefit to it being this way?

I've pitched in the pt forums that instead of Shuffling you construct and stack your deck each time it needs to be reset. This allows you to plan how things are going to turn out, which when you get into the guts of the game is what it's all about - planning for the optimal play.

that said the way it is now let's you do so on a limited scale. I think it's just part of the game because of the two sided card design choice. There is no way to really prevent it, other than asking your buddy for a random cut, and it is somewhat emphasized by the aspect of turn planning that's involved.