Sid Meier's Starships

Sid Meier's Starships lacks the strategic depth of Civilization, but the added tactical layer, and shorter game times make it a fair substitute, especially if you're looking for bite-sized strategy.

It’s a game you can complete, and when you do, you’ll want to start playing again immediately, perhaps bumping up the difficulty level or increasing the map size. That’s exactly the same kind of replayability spark that Civilization had all those years ago.

Although the price tag is much more reasonable than your average console title, $14.99 may lead other gamers in a different direction. That said, players who opt for a fiscally healthier expenditure will be missing out on a solid Sid Meier experience, since Starships is a space odyssey that’s definitely worth your time.

For gamers not wanting to dedicate their entire beings to the Civ games, this might be a worthy substitute.

Starships may lack the complexity and nuance of other strategy games, and it feels a bit rough around the edges in places, but its accessibility, terrific turn-based combat, and bite-sized duration combine to create a tempting alternative to a multi-evening marathon campaign.

Humble and solid. Each game is different and requires reading the everchanging environment and learning to take advantage of the aleatory features. The perfect strategy game to play in short sessions.

Sid Meier's Starships is a good and replayable turn based strategy experience that will certainly appeal to lovers of classic science fiction franchises and to those who appreciate the way the leader of Firaxis managed to make player choices relevant.

Sid Meier’s Starships does away with all of the research tree and diplomatic hard work that often comes with a 4X title, replacing them with some brilliant turn-based strategy combat and just enough world conquering to keep any evil genius happy. This is the sort of game the Romulan Empire would love.

Sid Meier's Starships takes a stab at space empire building with a light, turn-based tactical combat. It ends up too light though, with a very straightforward and simple strategic layer, and a decent but repetitive combat. It would have done well to take a step in the direction of classic Starfleet Command games to deepen the combat system. It's worst problem is though lack of feeling and chrome: you are not building your own eponymous Starships that you care about with the sterile and clinical technology system of the game. [Apr 2015]