This game is quite possibly the best strategy game I've ever played and one of the best sci-fi games out there. Aliens arrive in our solar system and you play one of the factions that arise on earth as a result of this event. The mechanics are somewhat reminiscent of Paradox games - that is while you're still on Earth. Once you zoom out you get to play in an accurate and moving simulation of our solar system. All the planets and their moons, the planetoids and all the large, known meteorites are there, moving on their orbits. This rendering is so true to life that you can use a real Delta-V map of our solar system to calculate to which planet the ship that you're designing will be able to travel to. Not that you need them - they are nicely worked into the game and you get a handy slider. There are launch windows to mars and other planets that can save you time and fuel if you want to send your fleet there. Fans of Alpha Centauri will appreciate the developing story behind the game and the way it's told with spoken quotes from different characters from each faction. Fans of the Expanse series will like the way ship combat is represented. Fans of the Three Body Problem books (Rememberance of Earth's Past) will like just about everything in the game - the whole idea seems to draw much from those books. Each tech, each project and event is described in detail and very well written. Most of the science is based on actual theories. Of the different time speeds available you can choose the slowest time - where the game pace is 1:1 with real time. This way when a country your faction controls launches nukes you can wait those few minutes and watch the ICBMs hit in real time. This game is crafted with care. I have said this about only 3 other games in my 25 years of gaming: this game is a perfect 10 in its genre.
