Sid Meier's Starships

Game mechanics

Sid Meier’s Starships stands out from its predecessors not only with space setting, but also its gameplay. Instead of building an intergalactic empire, players must protect each planet and deal with constantly appearing threats. Battles are turn-based, and each task takes place on a completely separate map, mostly procedurally generated. After finishing a certain number of missions in current sector, it is incorporated to player’s’ intergalactic federation. This lets them build their structures to improve the empire’s economy.

Due to its space setting, there are no classic units in Starships, but titular ships. They can be freely modified, e.g. to improve their armor or speed or to enable stealth. Some units can be created from the scratch, adjusting not only their battle potential, but also their shape and look. As in Civilization series, there is a technology tree. Many branches of science and development are entirely fictional and based on futurologists’ guesses. Victory can be achieved in a few ways, including eliminating all opponents, conquering most of the galaxy, building a lot of the so-called wonders and or having a huge advantage in science.

Technical aspects

Sid Meier’s Starships for PC and iOS has been based on engine previously used in Civilization V and Civilization: Beyond Earth. However, since the game has been developed for both PC and mobile devices, creators decided to simplify visuals to allow playing on lower-end devices.