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The substructure of the universe regresses infinitely towards smaller and smaller components. Behind atoms we find electrons, and behind electrons, quarks. Each layer unraveled reveals new secrets, but also new mysteries. - Academician Prokhor Zakharov It's probably fair to say that this quote is a pretty good representation of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri; a game that's so complex, with so many layers, but at the same time so amazing that uncovering its many mysteries a joy each time. I have probably played this game for tens of thousands of hours over the years, ever since it was released back in '99. This is one of the few games that I always install on all of my PCs. SMAC isn't only one of the best 4X titles of all time, but it's also one of the most unique. It masterfully weaves a narrative, in a genre where this was not commonplace, further augmented by some superb voice acting. It's no surprise that several books were written based on this game. It's also full of charm, lore and some of the most fun and complex mechanics, being in some ways ahead of its time. Faction leaders aren't just some portraits with slight bonuses, but they are fully fleshed out characters with deep personalities that you get to discover a little bit more with each quote when completing a base facility, secret project, or discover a new tech. And the sheer amount of mechanics and features in the game is mind blowing. From a lot of terraforming options (to the point where you can include them in your offensive, by raising or lowering the terrain into the ocean), to a rich unit customization system (in addition to unit types, weapons and armor, there's also a large number of special abilities that can change the gameplay quite a lot), to a pretty complex diplomacy system, and a ton of base facilities, secret projects, and technologies; many of which have not been seen in any Firaxis game since. It's one of the few games that I will always come back to from time to time.