Master of Orion 1+2

The best 4X game you can play. 25 years old and no one else managed to get even close.

Any space 4X game I've ever played, I've had to compare with Master of Orion 2. So far, nothing has measured up. In some areas, it's probably simplistic, but everything just hangs together well, and the focus of play is always where I want it to be. Stomping your enemies in the turn-based battles is a nice payoff to managing your empire and designing your fleet well. So grab a death ray and some assault shuttles, and go subjugate an alien race. Or just cut their planets apart while building new ones of your own.

LOVE this game. Now available on GOG? Buying soon; here's why: Playing levels from Easy to Impossible Galaxy size from Small to Huge Opponents from 1 to 7 (Opponents selected randomly; you never know who you are up against until contact made.) Multiple game play options at start-up Race selection unlimited. Customize your selected race anyway you wish within reasonable limits. Great diplomats to belligerent xenophobes, smart scientist to hapless developers, mighty warriors or spy-heavy tacticians. You select the trade-offs - play with the consequences. Technical advancement - where to specialize, what to sacrifice? Or start the game as a "develop-everything" race but at the cost of . . . well, you decide. Replayability? UNLIMITED!! Re-read the above PLUS every game starts with a randomly generated galaxy map. The only constant are the star names; their planetary systems are always different. Example, Humans always start on Sol; but, Sol changes locations in the Galaxy at start up and the number and type of planets in the system varies. Your home planet can change based on your starting options (rich planet, larger planet, more/less population etc). Opponents for each game vary, as do their start locations. No game is ever the same. Never! Ways to win: Grind your opponents into dust. Win the Galactic Council vote. Interdimensional travel to the Antarian homeworld to defeat the Antarrians. (Note, this is the only battle where the attacker, you, does not go first so attack with a massively strong force.) Cons: Graphics are a bit dated, but still good considering the age of this game! Turn based combat (there is another way to resolve combat during set-up; however, I have never used it), which means the aggressor gets to shoot first while the attacked race waits their turn. A strong force attacking a weak force may never suffer losses. Summary - an older game but after 20+ years and literally months of playing time it never gets old. Highly recommended!!

The defining and still the best game of the genre. Unlike its many imitators, the ship design process is neither overcomplicated nor shallow, there's tactical combat, and unlike the Endless Space series the fleet and system management never bog down to the point where it takes 20 minutes to take one turn. Also, it processes AI turns quickly, once you take your turn you go immediately to the next turn (again, unlike games like Endless Space where there's upwards of 30 seconds of dead time between turns)

MOO1 The Game that started it all. A great 4x game with a good space combat. Very fun to play. MOO2 Greatly improved visuals from MOO and a new Interdimensional enemy: the Antarans. More technologies and races. Hireable leaders to help your fleets and planets to perform beyond their abilities. Arguably one of the best 4x games ever made. Very addictive and fun.