Master of Orion 1
I played this game when it first came out kids. That’s right. I played on DOS. My CPU was so slow in late game you’d hit ‘next turn’ and go grab lunch and PRAY it was done when you got back. Games took a while.
Back then you kept your games on a shelf, in boxes like freakin' board games. Back then you went to a physical store and walked around trying to decide what to buy because the gaming magazines with reviews lagged behind the release of games so you had to decide what was good by the box art.
– Real player with 4370.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best 4X Strategy Games.
Minimal micro-managing. Multiple choices: play one of 10 species; 1-5 opponents; 4 “galaxy” sizes; 4-5 levels of difficulty; up to 15 random events, positive or negative that may or may not occur. There is usually more than 1 choice, often 2-4 of next level of technology to focus research on (computer, construction, force field, planetology, propulsion, weapons) and options via sliding bars to apportion research points among categories; likewise choices @ ea planet to apportion among shipbuilding, missile bases, industry, ecology, tech. You have shipbuilding choice features (size/ propusion/weapons/special features); espionage/sabotage/limited interactive communication choices; ship/fleet combat. Graphics limited (2D). If you want to spend less time learning the game and just playing, this is an easy game to learn and can readily be made more challenging by your selection of species, level of difficulty and size of star domain. If current tech-graphics and very detailed management are more to your liking, you will want a more modern version of MOO or one of the more recently developed similar themed games.
– Real player with 1154.0 hrs in game
STAR WARS™ Rebellion
This is and will remain one of my favourite games of all time, I still play it now and the game time I have logged is a fraction as I’ve only had the it in my steam library for a 3-4mths, I’ve been playing it for years.
It costs less than a pint of beer, infact you could buy a copy for you and a mate for the price of a pint.
Is it for everyone, no.
People who want modern graphics, walk away. (for the old skool SW fans, you’ll see some unique artwork.)
People who want fast paced, walk away.
People who think their Jedi are going to be a super weapon, walk away.
– Real player with 224.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best 4X Strategy Games.
Star Wars: Rebellion is a classic grand strategy game that’s almost as old as I am, and it shows. A word of warning; many of the negative reviews here (rightfully) deal with issues regarding graphics and loading the game, which can be resolved with a bit of tweaking.
I played this game to death as a kid, even though a lot of my success in it was the result of endless hours of trial and error; the learning curve is perhaps the steepest in video game history, there’s no tutorial, and everything that’s thrown at you can be overwhelming even for people who are familiar with grand strategy titles (a PDF scan of the old instruction booklet can be found in the folders, though). Likewise, while the graphics might have been cutting-edge in 1998, they’re… lackluster nowadays.
– Real player with 161.3 hrs in game