Reach for the Stars (2000)
Genres:Strategy
Themes:4X (explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate)
Game modes:Single player
Story:Reach for the Stars is a turn-based strategy game of epic galactic exploration, colonization, and conquest. The original RFTS released in the mid-1980s was wildly popular in its day, and maintains a loyal following. Reach for the Stars is considered to be one of the original 4X (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate) games.Show more
I love that it lets me design everything from scratch—custom alien races, starships, even the look and lore of the alien faction. On the surface it’s a very simple 4X game—basic UI, straightforward strategy—but for some reason I can’t stop craving it. I miss playing it terribly. Maybe it’s nostalgia, maybe it’s the fact that I never actually beat it, or maybe its just because I just want to command my own galactic empire in this game again.
I had this game on my old PC and it was amazing to start it and watch that cutscene of the ships fighting against each other. It was so great, but unfortunately I was too young to fully understand the game, so please, give me another chance to revisit and fully enjoy Reach for the Stars.
Still have the digital copy of this I bought from Matrix Games in Feb 03...and it still installs and runs on Win 8.1 Pro, although the video does have some problems and the intro will not play.
But would get a copy from GoG also.
Played the original circa 1984 on the Commodore 64 for years and it still works on my SX-64.
Honestly this is the first 4x game that I know of.
Game was done really well for its time.....and still enjoy it.
I sunk a lot of hours into this game at one time, and it led to a lifelong love of 4X gaming for me. Reach for the Stars really was the beginning point of the 4X genre in video gaming.
I had played the board game Stellar Conquest some years before which was the original inspiration for the game, and the one thing we always wanted was to automate the production and colony management of that game. Reach for the Stars did that, and added a whole lot more to the concept.
It really has a great deal of nostalgia for me, and it was so important in leading toward the many 4X games that came after it. So I, and the gaming comunity, owe a lot to this early title. And it was a lot of fun to play.
Needless to say, I would love to have the opportunity to play this game once again. I know its old and somewhat clunky compared to the games of today, but that's part of the charm, and in my mind well worth revisiting.
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