Sid Meier's Starships

 PC
Metascore
64

Mixed or average reviews - based on 58 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 58
  2. Mixed: 40 out of 58
  3. Negative: 7 out of 58
  1. 4P.de
    Mar 13, 2015
    48
    What do you associate with the name Sid Meier? Epic strategy. What do you get in Sid Meier’s Starships? A simple conquest game that can satisfy your appetite for 4X about as much as a cheeseburger.
  2. DarkStation
    Apr 23, 2015
    40
    My first thought as soon as I opened the game was “wow this feels cheap.” The feeling never went away, and just got even deeper.
  3. Games.cz
    Apr 7, 2015
    40
    Space warfare in Sid Meier's Starships is meaningless. Although the game could develop the theme of Civilization: Beyond Earth, the game is trapped in a boredom and superficiality. Cutting the strategic part for the not-so-detailed action didn’t (and couldn’t) work at all.
  5. Kill Screen
    Apr 1, 2015
    40
    Had the realization of that universe been more fully fleshed out—expansive and deep rather than restrictive and boardgame-like—Spaceships could have found success as a kind of post-human strategy game. Instead it feels lifeless. But not in the existential, gazing-into-the-void-of-space way. More in the way that an aging child realizes that her blanket is just a blanket, and promptly stops caring about it.
  6. GameSpot
    Mar 30, 2015
    40
    Its sci-fi galaxy is mostly abstracted, and its unit models are simple and blocky. It's not those issues that really put me off of Starships, but rather the way it seems to aspire to that narrow, dated idea of what makes a "good" mobile game. I can turn aside the quick and obvious assaults on PC sensibilities--the rough graphics, the lack of options--but it's the cynical design that guts me, in the end.
  7. Impulsegamer
    Mar 19, 2015
    40
    Ultimately Sid Meier's Starships feels like a game that might have been great in VGA back in the 90s.
  8. Riot Pixels
    Jul 16, 2015
    25
    This awful strategy game is not worthy of even a single playthrough neither on PC, nor on tablets.

Awards & Rankings

98
#98 Most Discussed PC Game of 2015

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
4.4

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 126 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 126
  2. Mixed: 31 out of 126
  3. Negative: 69 out of 126
  1. DarthPadme
    Mar 12, 2015
    3
    Pretty space graphics can't save this game from its boring, repetitive, uninspired gameplay. This Civ: BE offshoot might share its roots withPretty space graphics can't save this game from its boring, repetitive, uninspired gameplay. This Civ: BE offshoot might share its roots with other Sid Meier games, but it's clear that very little work and inspiration was put into this title. The fact that it's out on both PC and mobile should be indicative of that. Don't get this game expecting a full game experience. I've paid less than $15 and gotten far more for my money with other games than this one. $5 might be a fair price.… Full Review »
  2. hurleybird
    Mar 12, 2015
    3
    It's simple, repetitive, and boring. A bit fun at first, but after one play session you've seen it all and won't feel a need to return toIt's simple, repetitive, and boring. A bit fun at first, but after one play session you've seen it all and won't feel a need to return to Starships.

    The tactical combat would be fun, but there is not enough on the strategy layer so you end up spending 90% of your time with tactical battles and it quickly gets tiring. You (and your enemies) can't ever actually lose ships, so you just end up fighting the same battles with and against the same fleets over and over and over and over again.    … Full Review »
  3. Stormcloud72
    Mar 15, 2015
    5
    This game is not 100% horrible but it being pitched as a PC game is laughable. The only options you have in the menu, volume control, no videoThis game is not 100% horrible but it being pitched as a PC game is laughable. The only options you have in the menu, volume control, no video settings, no sound settings, no actual fullscreen unless you hide the taskbar and then hit f11, f11 like you would with a internet browser. Strategy? What Strategy, you fly around with a single fleet of ships that you fly about and shoot at other ships. This is 100% a Tablet Game and should have been pitched as such on the PC instead of tacking Sid Meier's name to this game and pretending it was a full fledged game. This game is not worth $14.99 and should have been sold at mobile game prices.… Full Review »
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