Stellaris

 PC
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 984 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 742 out of 984
  2. Mixed: 133 out of 984
  3. Negative: 109 out of 984

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  1. Darlf
    Dec 16, 2018
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. nowa aktualizacja dodała więcej chaosu i dysbalansu niż trudność wynikającej z dobrze zrobionej mechaniki bez aktualizacja najnowszej 6 bo gra miała mnóstwo głupich małych błędów ale tera to ledwie 3 bo gra to 1 wielki błąd… Expand
  2. Crimert
    Jun 18, 2020
    7
    At first, the gameplay was really exciting. But I got bored in time. Long story short, I had high hopes but left a bit disappointed. 26hrs on record.
  3. Ghost1069
    Dec 10, 2020
    0
    Stellaris was, until 1.9.1, a very good game. It was on the right track to become a masterpiece. All it needed was some more content and QoL updates.

    Instead, we got a "rework" that made the game a boring spreadsheet spree. You spend literally 95% of your time looking at the planet list and shuffling pops and induestries between planets.

    Just go play 1.9.1. It is much better than this crap.
  4. Mods789
    May 9, 2016
    10
    Le jeux est excellent, le seul défaut du jeux c'est quand on arrive en milieux de partie c'est assez ... monotone, les dirigeants n'ont aucune personnalité et la partie espionnage est pratiquement inexistante, mais bon le jeux sera mieux avec les maj connaissant Paradox
  5. saz
    May 21, 2016
    1
    Good game but the combat is bad. Non-interactive and it ultimately pulls the game down. I was bored after a day of playing. I'll check it out again in a few months.
  6. jpnole
    May 13, 2016
    10
    Just a quick 10 to balance out any sub 7 scores given by the trolls. Absolutely fantastic game and top 3 contender for GOTY. Only thing that comes close is Sins.
  7. Galverizer
    May 12, 2016
    10
    Something Stellaris do unlike any other strategy game is the way it offers a universe full of undiscovered mysteries and exploration opportunities . It is not only those factions who lives in space. Seemingly neutral species and other phenomena flying through space independent of what you are doing, and through certain projects these can be researched and mapped. You may learn somethingSomething Stellaris do unlike any other strategy game is the way it offers a universe full of undiscovered mysteries and exploration opportunities . It is not only those factions who lives in space. Seemingly neutral species and other phenomena flying through space independent of what you are doing, and through certain projects these can be researched and mapped. You may learn something new from these creatures that unlocks additional research opportunities .

    One of the coolest things I came across was when I colonized a planet and found out that it was inhabited by Titans - enormous creatures a la Hercules and Greek mythology. I was stupid enough to think that everything would go well. In a short while the planet was taken over by the Titans , and wave on wave of expeditionary forces were not able to take it back. A sad end there then, but the discovery was no less spectacular for that reason.

    Not only can you discover ancient mysteries or clues that will take you on all sorts of adventures, but you are lucky during exploring then you can come across intelligent creatures who are trying to evolve into an ordinary fractions. One of the most unforgettable I have done was to make an observation post of such a planet, that enabled me to pay attention to what these creatures where doing. Before I knew it I had kidnapped " copies " of this alien race . To my great surprise , this led to the nations on the planet gathered against me . It all ended in me , through advanced technology, infiltrated government on the planet , helped them with technological advances so that they became a full-fledged faction , and then I made ​​them to my vassal . That is long term strategy like nothing else! However if you just want war action and controlling ships in combat this game is nothing for you. I can't wait to play this in multiplayer against some friends:)    … Expand
  8. Ekras
    May 9, 2016
    10
    WOW - What a game! THIS is what GOTY material looks like folks. I just wish there was an "11" score I could save for when the DLC starts coming out - not that it's needed since there is already so much to do!
  9. Henrywiddas
    May 10, 2016
    10
    i'm still only 15 years in, i named a science officer after a colleague for a laugh and he is now bidding to be the next president of the united nations of earth lol

    loving the music and vibe of this game so far :)
  10. notTheRadBrad
    May 20, 2016
    7
    Well, the game surely is a bit stale in terms of combat. But damn the graphics are so good and the story has so many twists and turns that you get hooked to this game instantly . Any space-game seeker should definitely try this game , Have fun!
  11. K1ller
    Feb 27, 2018
    1
    Patch 1.9 and earlier - 8 / 10, patch 2.0 and later 1 / 10. Nice example of how to kill a good game with a totaly moronic gamechanges. Good job Paradox, you are now another company on my "Never buy their games" list.
  12. Tytos
    Jun 10, 2016
    7
    The good:

    - Accessibility
    - Diversity, Content
    - Graphics

    The bad:

    - Performance (uses only 1 CPU !!!)
    - Balance
    - Midgame lack of content
  13. Fokstrot
    May 18, 2016
    4
    If you're expecting the depth of EU, CK, Vic, etc., then this is not much present, diplomacy, trade in gameplay not affected and exist in very primitive form. Race each other do not differ, except for the exterior, with a completely formulaic behavior, their attitude towards to you is divided into - positive and negative... which in principle, does not matter. I got the strong impression,If you're expecting the depth of EU, CK, Vic, etc., then this is not much present, diplomacy, trade in gameplay not affected and exist in very primitive form. Race each other do not differ, except for the exterior, with a completely formulaic behavior, their attitude towards to you is divided into - positive and negative... which in principle, does not matter. I got the strong impression, after wandering through the styryl desert space Stellaris that from the game carefully cut 90% of content to the publication of a couple of dozen DLC.I don't mind DLC that make the game do something new, but in this case, decided not to bother and just cut all that is possible.
    On the background of the above mentioned games, this product looks not very convincing and lowers the bar set by the developer.    … Expand
  14. meiscritic
    May 22, 2016
    4
    Just played Stellaris and I have to say, very very disappointing. The game has tons of mechanics but so less usability that you'll hate it. I adore games with complex mechanics but this one absolutely messed up the execution. This game is way too bureaucratic. The graphics are lacklustre and soundtrack is bad, but those are just addendum. There is little strategy involved and almost no innovation.
  15. TimW001
    May 16, 2016
    8
    If you want an expansive strategy game that is slow paced, then this is a great game. It is challenging, often you will have to decide on where to spend your resources while. It will challenge you, and the game doesn't baby you either. A great strategy game, you will lose hours in it.
  16. bladex
    May 15, 2016
    3
    this is the most boring space sim i have ever played. all you will be doing the whole time is staring at a screen and waiting!

    you never get enough influence meaning expanding will be slow and long. the battles are a joke all you do is a build a fleet, click on another fleet and than sit back and watch you don't have ANY control of the battle once it starts! most of the time you    this is the most boring space sim i have ever played. all you will be doing the whole time is staring at a screen and waiting!

    you never get enough influence meaning expanding will be slow and long.

    the battles are a joke all you do is a build a fleet, click on another fleet and than sit back and watch you don't have ANY control of the battle once it starts!

    most of the time you will be sending ships out to survey and nothing much else.

    you will also have to constantly hire new scientists etc because they will die and this will use all your influence points always!

    bad design, bad system, bad battles bad game all round! you nailed it with skylines paradox but you failed miserably with this!    … Expand
  17. mojitsu
    May 29, 2016
    3
    As of 1.0.3 the game is not finished... after 100+ hours I don't recommend buying it. Late game bad performance even on high end PC, retarded AI and stupid combat system. The good thing is game support mods and chances are it's gonna become a fully grown title in 1-2 years with the support of mod creators.
  18. DMT
    May 30, 2016
    10
    Just wait until the 3 main free content & fix patches are done... Then we have greatness. Right now we have all the ingredients, just need more of them which we know are coming.
  19. CiaranJ
    Jul 29, 2016
    9
    Very engaging, rewarding and fun. Customization and progression is a welcome addition. I have always found 4X games very frustrating to 'get into', so to speak. I was not disappointed with Stellaris.
  20. Robobob
    Oct 31, 2018
    10
    Best 4x space strategy game of all time at this writing. I used to give that title to the very dated Masters of Orion 2 but this game now takes the title. It has so much depth it is ridiculous and I can see how it might be intimidating to some. However I loved that I was learning more and more the further I played. Even though I rarely do it anymore, it's fun to zoom in completely toBest 4x space strategy game of all time at this writing. I used to give that title to the very dated Masters of Orion 2 but this game now takes the title. It has so much depth it is ridiculous and I can see how it might be intimidating to some. However I loved that I was learning more and more the further I played. Even though I rarely do it anymore, it's fun to zoom in completely to see the beauty of the planets of space battles. No complaints about this game. It's worth the learning curve.… Expand
  21. SH1
    Dec 25, 2016
    4
    I am in two minds about Stellaris so I settled for a score of 4. I feel that it is a good concept, but it is somewhat ruined by the implementation.

    The good points: * Very addictive concept * The science ships remind me of Star Control 2 and could have been a separate game. The bad points: * Badly optimized: I get stuttering on my new cutting edge computer, and this is    I am in two minds about Stellaris so I settled for a score of 4. I feel that it is a good concept, but it is somewhat ruined by the implementation.

    The good points:

    * Very addictive concept

    * The science ships remind me of Star Control 2 and could have been a separate game.

    The bad points:

    * Badly optimized: I get stuttering on my new cutting edge computer, and this is months after release. In a way it feels like I am playing on a WPF interface.

    * Cheating AI: When I wanted to fight my first battle, the computer had more resources than it could have had with the available infrastructure.

    * The science ships: Science ships requires constant babysitting. Sometimes it encounters a hostile fleet. Instead of flying around it, it just stops. It is not uncommon for me to have science ships sitting idle.

    * The game pace: I am not sure if I should play Stellaris "offline" by setting up science ship exploration/research/build queues, and then come back later, or whether I should look after it all the time. When I look after it all the time, entire months go by where nothing happens and it is a waste of my time. If I leave it running in the background while doing other things (ex. go outside for exercise) I will come back to find that a bunch of stuff happened that needs my attention.

    * Game stagnation: It is possible to loose a game in Stellaris, but the computer will never tell you that you lost. This could happen through a combination of things, for example there are 4 empires left on the map. They are all in alliances. There is no way to further grow your empire. You can build ships and do research indefinitely and never win.    … Expand
  22. ShapeLayers
    Jun 5, 2017
    4
    +
    1. Крутые возможности по созданию своей империи.
    -
    1. Ужасная анимация в UI
    2. Дизайнер UI точно ничего не курил перед тем как создать это детище?
    3. Очень посредственные 3D модели

    Вывод: Хочется бэкнуть игру.
  23. DiogenesLaertys
    May 23, 2016
    5
    I have to admit, I'm really pissed at all the Paradox fanboys that make this game to be something more than it is. The most important thing you should know about this game is that it is incomplete. There are huge gaps in gameplay. In it's current state, the game deserves around a 5 or 6.

    Let's start with the pros: - Decent UI. In the early game, it's easy to respond to in-game    I have to admit, I'm really pissed at all the Paradox fanboys that make this game to be something more than it is. The most important thing you should know about this game is that it is incomplete. There are huge gaps in gameplay. In it's current state, the game deserves around a 5 or 6.

    Let's start with the pros:

    - Decent UI. In the early game, it's easy to respond to in-game events and inactive units by clicking the icons that pop up.

    - Good enough game skeleton that maybe with a year of dlc it will become an 8.

    - Big multiplayer games are something new and fun for the genre.

    Negatives -

    - Exploration/research quests are too powerful relative to how you manage your empire. Makes the game more of an RPG than a 4x game.

    - Expansion is boring. You have to build frontier outposts rather than colonies because of the resourcing early game only you can't tell what territory the outpost will cover so you end up getting like 2 systems covered by your outpost when you thought you would get 4.. When you finally colonize a planet, you don't have a lot of meaningful strategic options: it's just more power plants or mineral plants. You need enough food too but its not hard to get the minimum amount. Other strategic resources are hidden until you research the relative tech so you can't plan and make meaningful strategic choices.

    - Research is too RNG. You have 3 types of techs and 3 options for each tech that change every game. This is to stop min-maxers according to the designers, but why stop min maxing? That's part of the reason play the game. Just adds more RNG to the game and makes your decisions less meaningful. In other 4x games, it's fun to pile all the research into attack or into more research or into industry and make your empire specialized.

    - Combat is on-rails. You just build enough ships so that your number is bigger than theirs. There is some technological rock, paper, scissors but it's not that well-fleshed out. Feels like abuse when you do it to the AI since they don't adapt well.

    - Leaders is another RNG element. Your leaders die and get replaced. So instead of working towards leaders that lend themselves to your strategy, they level up with random traits and then die. Not a fun mechanic at all. I don't want realism in a 4x game, I want fun and for my decisions to be more meaningful.

    - Influence is an irritating and stupid mechanic. Your empire generates only low single digits of influence and it is used to recruit leaders and build critical infrastructure like outposts. It is also used for edicts which give small planet-wide or empire-wide bonuses. Because generation is so low, it is basically a way to make all empires limited in their ability to grow early leaving a feeling of sameness between all empires.

    - AI is bad. All 4x games do have bad AI but Stellaris doubles down on it because you HAVE to use sector governors (basically friendly AI) when you have more than 5 planets. This will never be a feature to me. I want to control my planets and eke out what small edges I can. Hopefully they improve AI especially sector AI. There are many bugs atm. This may be a forever negative to the game. I despise the AI in every 4x game I play. They do too many stupid things.

    TLDR version: There's a lot of layers to the game but many aspects aren't quite fleshed out yet. Also the overall design of the game makes it feel like your decisions really don't matter which is damning for a 4x game. RNG is too prevalent for my liking. It can be a good game eventually with some tweaks, but it's not a good game right now and doesn't deserve the high scores it's been getting.    … Expand
  24. Leeeeeeeel
    Dec 8, 2018
    0
    is relativ whack joa... fragt mario ich tu echt nicht haten.... aber das spiel ist halt legit einfach nur bullenpisse!
  25. Erlioth
    May 9, 2016
    10
    Im going to die playing this game. Here i go! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
  26. fernando8biondi
    Oct 20, 2019
    0
    Build just ONE army, conquer the whole galaxy!
    This game is a piece of s¨¨¨¨¨¨, period.
  27. Combiner
    Nov 15, 2020
    10
    One of the best space games for me, with so many detail. I actually never finished any run (I have around 200 hours in it) because every run is different and you want to play it again and again.
  28. VitaminK
    May 28, 2016
    8
    Great at first, but you soon realize how shallow the game is. I love the devs and I hope they continue to add to the game and I can come back in a year and give it an 8 or 9, but where it sits at release is just not good enough.
  29. dragon0085
    May 28, 2016
    5
    I oringinally gave this a 9 when I wrote it for a professional review. Initially, this game is awesome, the exploration is cool etc, let me get into the problems:
    The scope is so huge, and you are forced into 'diplomatically' killing people instead of blowing away planets. Let me explain, in EVERY other game, you can bomb a planet dead, or invade and take over - not here. You invade,    I oringinally gave this a 9 when I wrote it for a professional review. Initially, this game is awesome, the exploration is cool etc, let me get into the problems:
    The scope is so huge, and you are forced into 'diplomatically' killing people instead of blowing away planets. Let me explain, in EVERY other game, you can bomb a planet dead, or invade and take over - not here. You invade, and 'hold' the planet, and if you go enough of these, you reach a diplomatic goal and they give you a planet. The universe is so big, and so slow to fight, that you will almost never finish a game. Its disappointing, and I've played nearly all 4X games out there.    … Expand
  30. axxiusdecius
    May 29, 2016
    6
    It is a 9/10 game before you are forced to form sectors (the -1 because of the unrealistic surface system), but a 2/10 with the sectors. I hated the idea andthe fact it is forced on me and unavoidable. Hope they will make a patch to let players choose not to use sectors. till then, it is unplayable for me and i uninstalled it
  31. SubaqueousDream
    Jun 19, 2020
    8
    One of those game that will consume 1000's of hours before you even realize. Then doubles it once you realize you can play with friends in multiplayer!
  32. telefoonboek
    Aug 25, 2016
    5
    The reviews detail how accessible this game is. For me personally, newcommer to this genre, I was overwhelmed with menu's and options and too.

    Also the lack of waging war the way I want too puts me off from giving this a good score. It might be a good game for others, but that was a nay for me.
  33. SharkTankGamer
    Oct 7, 2016
    9
    Paradox always delivers and they delivered again with Stellaris. It's a semi-story driven completely sandbox empire building game! As you explore and grow your empire beware of fallen empires since they start out much more advanced and much stronger to simulate them reaching the stars way before your empire. I simply cannot wait for dlc to customize the game play even more.
  34. Shawndroid
    Feb 26, 2018
    10
    This game takes sci-fi conventions from across the broad history of books, television and movies for a great sci-fi experience. A great experience that really gets the imagination going.
  35. umbershap
    Feb 2, 2020
    8
    I play Stellaris time to time. When start to play it I put it at least 70 hours. This is a great game with every expansion, dlc game becomes much bigger. I hope they continue to support the game and release bigger dlc's .
  36. ShadyAlligator
    Apr 27, 2022
    10
    Has been made into the best space strategy game ever crafted, especially with the expansions. Even without the expansions, the free patches have made the game really deep and replayable, either as a sandbox (on easy) or as a hardcore strategy experience (on hard).
  37. Sandro86
    May 17, 2020
    9
    Must have for every sci-fi nerd who loves Real Time Strategy games. I has everything,
  38. flecso
    Jul 17, 2022
    0
    Достойна гра, не все ідеально але дуже класно
  39. Nerevarinho
    Feb 2, 2020
    9
    This is science fiction porn.
    It has a steep learning curve but you will have a great time.
  40. alanwaketan
    May 2, 2020
    9
    这是第一款让我非常满意的类星战题材的大战略游戏。当然本类游戏其实市场上一个巴掌都数得过来，其他几款年代有些久远已不可考就，而且各有各的优缺点。所以说本作可以说是这个类别里头唯一一款全面没有尿点的游戏。玩这款游戏就是为了实现征途是星辰大海。强烈推荐给每一个喜欢星战的玩家。这是第一款让我非常满意的类星战题材的大战略游戏。当然本类游戏其实市场上一个巴掌都数得过来，其他几款年代有些久远已不可考就，而且各有各的优缺点。所以说本作可以说是这个类别里头唯一一款全面没有尿点的游戏。玩这款游戏就是为了实现征途是星辰大海。强烈推荐给每一个喜欢星战的玩家。
  41. Baltifru
    Apr 19, 2020
    8
    The following was written by a newcomer to the 4X genre.

    Like other Paradox games, it takes a lot of time to learn how to play Stellaris and how to enjoy it. There is a guide (personified by a robot) to help getting started, but the interface seems so rich for new players that it still takes a lot of time to get used to it. At one point I was almost discouraged to go further because it    The following was written by a newcomer to the 4X genre.

    Like other Paradox games, it takes a lot of time to learn how to play Stellaris and how to enjoy it. There is a guide (personified by a robot) to help getting started, but the interface seems so rich for new players that it still takes a lot of time to get used to it. At one point I was almost discouraged to go further because it was taking so long for me to understand the mechanics of the game. But passed a point around 50 hours, I started to fully enjoy the possibilities offered by Stellaris.

    The gameplay includes the management of resources, the expansion of your territory and your planets, politics, diplomacy, wars and research of better technologies. All these aspects have their own importance in the development of your empire. Explaining every function of all these aspects here would take way too much time; let's simply say that whatever aspect of the game you prefer, you can dedicate a lot of time to it and make it count to empower your empire. I praise the devs for coming up with such a complex, yet balanced and enjoyable gameplay. The only element that is not totally on point in my opinion is diplomacy. Interactions with other empires are often chosen from a rather rigid set of possibilities, and all the nuances between brotherhood and total hate are hardly represented in the game. But let's be honest, I have yet to see a videogame where the full complexity of human (or alien) relationships and communication is represented.

    Sound-wise, Stellaris is a masterpiece. One of these games that you want to play just to listen to some of its themes.

    If you are a noob to the genre like me, make sure to change the parameters before starting your first games. Playing against a lot of fallen empires/advanced empires or facing an early crisis can feel very cynical and very discouraging, especially when a typical game lasts between 20 and 30 hours.

    My personal conclusion: the game is totally worth the initial effort required to understand its complex gameplay. A great game with a great personality that fans of strategy can enjoy at its best.    … Expand
  42. dlbin7
    Jun 22, 2020
    9
    the game has many questions but it still give us a vast and strang world ，I think it will be better.
  43. ARando
    Jun 23, 2020
    10
    A very fun game by paradox. Gameplay is fun and engaging, anomalies are fun, but the best part about this game is that it is an amazing story driving experience. A must try for those who love sic-fi, fantasies about future societies, or simply love a good story in general.
  44. Pumpk1n_
    Jun 28, 2020
    9
    Played the game for over 300 hrs, with all of its DLCs.

    The game was great in early-mid game when exploring and became a challenge to one's patience towards the end game. Partly because of the high PC requirements for pops as well as the crisis. I love the game for its backgouend stories written and hidden as anormalies waiting to be discovered, loved how you build the universal    Played the game for over 300 hrs, with all of its DLCs.

    The game was great in early-mid game when exploring and became a challenge to one's patience towards the end game. Partly because of the high PC requirements for pops as well as the crisis.

    I love the game for its backgouend stories written and hidden as anormalies waiting to be discovered, loved how you build the universal empire and dealing with different spieces as the leader, loved the great content and variety in the empire management, loved the music, the music was awesome.

    Also , mods would add quite some fun to the game.

    The main issue for the game is the poor late game experience. And I doubt it could be solved in the forseeable future.    … Expand
  45. crocro27
    Oct 5, 2020
    10
    Stellaris is by far one of the best strategy games out there. It has a perfect balance between politics, management, and warfare. With patches and DLCs the game has only become better, and I really wish they added some other improvements to the game like changing like the army where it would be nice if you could make your own divisions like in hoi4 and on the political side something likeStellaris is by far one of the best strategy games out there. It has a perfect balance between politics, management, and warfare. With patches and DLCs the game has only become better, and I really wish they added some other improvements to the game like changing like the army where it would be nice if you could make your own divisions like in hoi4 and on the political side something like a parliament where if you are a democratic empire you need to get support of the majority to pass your laws similar to te galactic senate in the federations DLC, but other wise this game is perfect… Expand
  46. 113
    May 16, 2023
    1
    Look, All I wanted to do was take over the galaxy like a normal teenager. However for some damn reason, those damn turtle people wont leave me the hell alone. I never did anything to you. We even made an alliance and then you betrayed me. We were supposed to enslave the jellyfish people together and now we will never know. Mark my words, I will end your Civilization.
  47. MrTusks
    Nov 29, 2022
    0
    For the life of me, I can't figure out what this game wants me to do. The tutorial gives you tasks but doesn't tell you why it matters. If you transfer some knowledge from games like Civ you can figure out things like the resource management, but beyond that I am not given a reason to care.
  48. clayesterling
    Nov 26, 2018
    10
    Best space strategy game available hands down. More accurately it's a simulation game like other Paradox titles. Lots of tweaking and adjusting small variables, seeing how it plays out, trying to predict what will happen and prepare for the worst. Lots of long term planning required.
  49. akarnokd
    Jun 12, 2017
    8
    I pretty much enjoyed this 4X space strategy game, despite a few game and UI shortcomings.

    Pros: Scanning, mining, building, auto-polulate ship designs. Semi-voiced tutorial. So-so: research being random (may take some time for the auto-explore to show up) Cons: - Lack of a few conveniences, such as the need to select a ship then right-click on a system to get it scanned/mines    I pretty much enjoyed this 4X space strategy game, despite a few game and UI shortcomings.

    Pros: Scanning, mining, building, auto-polulate ship designs. Semi-voiced tutorial.

    So-so: research being random (may take some time for the auto-explore to show up)

    Cons:
    - Lack of a few conveniences, such as the need to select a ship then right-click on a system to get it scanned/mines built; I'd like to right click on the system (no ship selected) and issue "scan this..." or "build mine & research stations here" and the nearest capable ship to do the tasks. Same is true for special projects.
    - Message boxes break the flow, sometimes pausing the game (sometimes not). Also messages are too verbose and with large galaxy and long game time, they tend to repeat. I'd really like an option that only shows a bare minimum about them in a non-intrusive way when no decision has to be made in the situation.
    - Less clicks when researching. There are limited research options per category and I have to click twice (once on the "select research" and once on one of the options) to start the new research.
    - Reduce anti-expansion measures upfront. One of the design decisions often taken by such games is the introduction of approval or anti-expansion effects into the gameplay to "balance" out the possibility of exponential expansion. For example, having a couple of frontier stations drains the approval, preventing colonization of planets that happen to be in that station's range. I consider this a systematic flaw in such games and I don't know how the underlying issue could be solved by other means.    … Expand
  50. Klewer
    Jun 2, 2017
    7
    Overall I really enjoyed Stellaris, fans of other Paradox games of Grand Strategy will as well. The theme and settings is enjoyable, solid game play and nationempire management. It just lacks some of the event interaction, probably just due to it not being historically based and that for me just made it grow a little tired and a touch repetitive.
  51. Helmenkalastaja
    Jan 27, 2018
    10
    After palying several 4X games i do like this the most. There is still some things that are way to simple, for example diplomacy. Graphics looks good to me and the fleet battles is great. Goes with the same style as all other paradox games.
  52. ChikatiloZ
    May 17, 2017
    9
    Review version 1.6.1
    Game was an 8 at release, it's a 9 now because more content.
    Would have been a 10 if there was more balance to endgame crisis, events & great wars. Because right now, if you're unlucky on your playthrough, the endgame content can (RNG) end your game. Example, if the unbidden spawn early, in your nation and the great war starts at thesame time, you lose all your    Review version 1.6.1
    Game was an 8 at release, it's a 9 now because more content.
    Would have been a 10 if there was more balance to endgame crisis, events & great wars.
    Because right now, if you're unlucky on your playthrough, the endgame content can (RNG) end your game. Example, if the unbidden spawn early, in your nation and the great war starts at thesame time, you lose all your vassals, you're wiped out by the unbidden and the AI fights a silly war while unbidden consume the galaxy.

    Basically endame content is hit or mis, it can be interesting, or frustrating because it's unwinnable. Depends on your luck, too much luck involved in endgame.

    Everything else is brilliant.

    I suggest you turn OFF endgame crisis to avoid the unbidden spawning in your capital and ruining your game, also limit the amount of fallen empires to ONE, so you can get their tech but they can't start silly war. Crank the difficulty up to high to compensate and give you a challange that way, it'll be a fair challenge.    … Expand
  53. xxxSMDxxx
    Jan 26, 2017
    8
    The game is amazing. It's really immersing you in a galactic emperor's perspective. And the interaction between the different empires is very clever made. The graphics are very well made. The empire builder and the way each empire acts differently depending on traits was brilliant although there is room for improvement. The 2 things that this game fails are victory types and the combatThe game is amazing. It's really immersing you in a galactic emperor's perspective. And the interaction between the different empires is very clever made. The graphics are very well made. The empire builder and the way each empire acts differently depending on traits was brilliant although there is room for improvement. The 2 things that this game fails are victory types and the combat system.

    The victories limit you to an aggressive play. And the combat system makes it worse. The combat system often feels like smashing a vase with either a hammer or a brick. "It doesn't matter the vase will end up smashed anyway" which makes the 2 current Victory types just a big chore. And said victory types are of little diversity. The only way you can actually win the game is play aggressive which makes non-aggressive plays dead on pointless. And with the well made diplomatic and research system. It really is a shame.

    If Stellaris was a book. It would be that story that is really well made, with interesting characters and a good plot, but has a poorly executed forced ending.    … Expand
  54. Heraldofmyself
    Jan 11, 2018
    5
    The development of this game can be summed up thusly:

    Completely remove features that were awkwardly implemented from previous cycles.
    Add more magic power buttons.
    Never revise the core gameplay.
    Entice casuals with pretty(ish) graphics and trailers without gameplay.

    Repeat.

    Seems like Paradox has a weird idea about who wants to play a highly detailed space empire builder .
  55. Ivan9173
    Dec 9, 2021
    10
    Сначала я долго не мог разобраться в механиках игры, а позже стал абсолютно от неё зависим.
  56. BGM
    May 24, 2018
    8
    Its nothing special, boring at times, but there are no other games like it. It also recives constant free updates with actually good content. Ai is bad but with mods its way better. Grab it at sale and enjoy. But it is even worth it at full price.
  57. SomeName
    Dec 31, 2016
    5
    It starts with a great early game, continues with an uneventful midgame and an ends with one of the grindiest numbercrunchers in gaming history. Would I recommend this game? Maybe after many many content enhancements (played version 1,4.1).

    EARLY GAME +You get to design and configure your own space race with a good range of appearances, names, traits and ethics. +You start on a    It starts with a great early game, continues with an uneventful midgame and an ends with one of the grindiest numbercrunchers in gaming history. Would I recommend this game? Maybe after many many content enhancements (played version 1,4.1).

    EARLY GAME
    +You get to design and configure your own space race with a good range of appearances, names, traits and ethics.
    +You start on a single planet with an initial mission and are free to explore/expand as you choose.
    +The early expansion is a balancing of resources and risks to achieve good growth, making for fun play.
    -The developers thought it was great to /always/ spawn you with multiple AI opponents around you, to force interactions (which are pretty boring, but more on that later).

    MID-GAME (you met most of the other AI players and have a dozen planets under control)
    -Very few new quests, with the exception of leviathans (where most of these are just a really powerful mob).
    -Your interactions with the AI are limited to trades, insults and forming alliances. They don't really do anything other than grow. (100+ hours and it has never once declared war on me, even if they /really/ hated me).
    -The game tries to avoid micromanagement by forcing you to make sectors (which are AI-controlled areas in your empire). Not only does this rob of you of things to do, these are also impossible to manage truly efficiently.

    LATE GAME
    -Your victory conditions require either the endless colonising of planets in the system (which is neither efficient, nor enjoyable) or to defeat all other players. The problem with defeating them is that combat is flat and dull, with the only way being to win is literally to have the stronger army and nothing else.
    -You can only become stronger by constantly researching repeatable technologies that add minute stat bonuses to your production and fleets. There is literally no point in doing anything else.

    MISC
    -There is no "strategy" in combat. While you can design and customise ships in your space fleet, you have no control over them in combat. They engage with an enemy fleet, fire lasers and the likes and all you can do is watch their number and yours shrink. Also having a better fleet pretty much just requires having more combat power.
    -Due to the above, the success of expanding and conquering is pretty much dictated by the above: is your military stronger or weaker. Strategy or tactics play no role.

    CONCLUSION
    The game just has too simplistic mechanics to stay enjoyable. While there is the initial breadcrumb trail of scripted quests, it eventually becomes obvious that diplomacy, combat and empire management are far too simplistic to provide entertainment for any prolonged period. I don't even understand why they made some of these design decisions as they clearly do nothing for the player.    … Expand
  58. Maverik
    Jun 14, 2017
    7
    El juego es muy adictivo al princpio y la estetica musica y la interfaz estan muy cuidadas, se nota que han puesto empeño en eso pero cuando llevas un tiempo con el juego te das cuenta de que se vuelve monotono y plano, y se convierte en una tarea mecanica en la cual repites siempre lo mismo y desaparece todo el interes. El juego me a dado unas horas entretenida pero esperaba mas.
  59. openworlds
    Dec 14, 2020
    8
    One of the best recent space strategy experiences out there. It's not the best Paradox game and abuses of too many sci-fi cliches, it's really more oriented to "space fantasy" that a "science prediction and simulation", the options, micro and macro management, could be better, the notification system is annoying, the art, music, ethics system and events are great.
  60. Mxm0
    Apr 12, 2018
    10
    I've played a lot of 4x and RTS (those are prerequisites to not sooking when this game floors you for not thinking ahead).

    This is my 4X of all time. There's not a lot of games that make you come out and look at the real world with more wonder, feed your imagination, and develop so many areas of brain cognition.
  61. Domy_re
    Nov 29, 2016
    10
    Il massimo, peccato per l'assenza della localizzazione in italiano, ma quelli di Bop hanno sopperito. Forse un pò da migliorare la parte della guerra, ma è comunque un prodotto talmente innovativo da non fra gli strategici ambientati nello spazio da non potergli meno di 10
  62. Jaehaerys61
    Dec 31, 2016
    9
    Franchement ce jeux est énorme même si je ne maitrise pas tout ce qui est conquêtes.

    Le jeux s’étoffe avec les différents DLC qui sont sorties et sans doute les prochains.

    JE RECOMMANDE POUR LES STRATÈGES
  63. Laer
    Mar 14, 2017
    7
    Y después de varios meses, por fin se puede analizar este juego de una manera correcta, ya que, esto es lo que en un principio tenia que haber sido.

    Empecemos por comentar que en su salida, el juego tenia huecos bastante grandes en cuando a jugabilidad (sobre todo en las fases finales de partida), pero tras varios parches, por fin han solucionado parte de estos huecos. Por supuesto aun    Y después de varios meses, por fin se puede analizar este juego de una manera correcta, ya que, esto es lo que en un principio tenia que haber sido.

    Empecemos por comentar que en su salida, el juego tenia huecos bastante grandes en cuando a jugabilidad (sobre todo en las fases finales de partida), pero tras varios parches, por fin han solucionado parte de estos huecos. Por supuesto aun tiene rango de mejora, y ello me recuerda mucho a EU4, una base solida dispuesta a ser ampliada para llegar casi hasta la perfección (veremos si con el paso del tiempo, queda como un buen juego, una obra maestra, u, ojala no pase, como un pozo sin fondo donde tienes que tirar la cartera para poder jugar, cosa que le esta pasando a EU4).

    Pasemos a "analizar" todo ligeramente:

    Personalización de imperio: Bastantes opciones, tanto en aspecto (lo menos importante), como en formas de gobierno, ideologías, características, etc. Todo esto te dará una forma de jugar distinta, sobre todo si eres rolero y tiendes a cumplir aquello que te propones como raza. Puedes ser agresivo, comerciante, amistoso, liberal...

    El comienzo es sin duda donde más brilla esta obra, comenzaremos como una civilización que ha conseguido poder viajar entre estrellas, explorando los nuevos sistemas, averiguando más de todo aquello que nos rodea y expandiendo nuestro imperio a nuevas fronteras. Los primeros eventos, como extraños sucesos en planetas, la aparición de piratas, el contacto con razas milenarias, otras que se están alzando a la misma vez que tu y algunas en edades inferiores (como la edad media), son sin duda espectaculares, y dan muchísimo juego.

    Cuando las fronteras se hayan mas o menos establecido en la partida, la cosa seguirá siendo interesante, pues es cuando comienzan las primeras riñas fronterizas, la declaración de rivales, la búsqueda de aliados, la posibilidad de formar o unirse a una federación, la expansión dentro de tus fronteras (asegurando tus dominios), son algunas de las cosas que te mantendrán ocupado en esta fase. He de añadir, que aun que la diplomacia se haya mejorado bastante desde la salida del juego, creo que hay ciertos puntos a mejorar, pero se podría decir que apenas tienen importancia.

    El final de las partidas fue muy criticado tiempo atrás, pues era de lo más vació, y he de decir que lo han solucionado bien, y a día de hoy no es injugable/aburrido, pero sin duda es la parte que más sigue cojeando del juego. Hay varios eventos interesantes, la formación de grandes bloques federados monta verdaderas guerras frías, donde cualquier chispa puede ser el inicio de una guerra donde se perderán montones de vidas, materiales, naves, aliados, planetas... Ademas de que siempre hay algún evento importante que pone en serios apuros la galaxia (no nombrare ninguno, pues parte de la gracia es no saber cuando ni que sera lo que se vendrá).

    Y de toque final, las formas de victoria es sin duda de lo mas soso que tiene este juego, Conquista, dominación o diplomacia, son los tres únicos modos que hay de finalizar una partida, y ambas se basan en lo mismo, tener controlados mas planetas que los demás. Deberían añadir alguna victoria científica (avanzar tanto que puedas llegar a otras galaxias), cultural (ser la civilización mas influyente de la galaxia), religiosa (expandir tus creencias por todos los rincones), inmortalidad (que tu raza se haya expandido tanto, que cubra un montón de planetas, propios o no, y por ello seas la más numerosa de la galaxia)... hay muchísimas posibilidades a explotar, pero solo se han centrado en la expansión pura y dura.

    Ademas, estaño un sistema de logros más elaborado, parte de mi amor por EU4 es buscar un reto interesante en los logros he intentar conseguirlo, pero en esté, todos, son extremadamente fácil conseguirlos (solo son "difíciles" los tres últimos logros, y en general su reto consiste más en llegar al final de la partida fuerte, tener suerte/que te toque ese evento, y conseguirlo antes que nadie).

    Añadir también que yo sigo esperando una buena expansión/dlc, pues los actuales me han parecido bastante flojos.
    Uno añade razas en forma de plantas, puramente estético, y otro añade dragones, que a pesar de que he leído algo de su historia y no parece mala.. ¿Dragones? ¿En serio? Con la posibilidad tan inmensa que te da la ciencia ficción, ¿Y metes dragones? Razas errantes, otras que se aprovechen los huecos ocupados de los planetas de una manera distinta (selvas, animales salvajes, etc.), la posibilidad de jugar con una facción guardián del universo, ampliar las facetas rebeldes, nuevas investigaciones, más eventos... tantas opciones.

    En definitiva, un juego con buena base, pero con amplias opciones de mejora, muy recomendado para los amantes de la ciencia ficción/estrategia.    … Expand
  64. MrsHjort
    Apr 13, 2017
    8
    A great game once you get the hang of it, though, I have to admit it's a bit tough on newcomers such as myself, who haven't played the developer's games before. It has a lot of customizable options though (which makes for great replayability), and it's well balanced. It's one of those games that you can get back to over and over again to try new things and tweak the setup in various waysA great game once you get the hang of it, though, I have to admit it's a bit tough on newcomers such as myself, who haven't played the developer's games before. It has a lot of customizable options though (which makes for great replayability), and it's well balanced. It's one of those games that you can get back to over and over again to try new things and tweak the setup in various ways to get closer and closer to that one "perfect game". It's extremely addicting too, you can always play one more hour, and it's very hard to stop. I only wish for a bit more story missions to make it a bit more interesting.… Expand
  65. Roger1868
    Feb 28, 2023
    10
    I have to give Stellaris a 10 out of 10 for this masterpiece. This is the greatest 4X strategy game I have played so far. BTW- Paradox makes other great games. With all the DLC, this game without question, is infinitely replayable. The many options of alien character creations are mind boggling. If a game is too long for you, just make a smaller galaxy. Great stuff here. Get this game.
  66. Haveaseatson
    Jun 20, 2019
    8
    One of a kind space 4x game built with passion, let down by the engine which cant handle the calculations mid and late game, and way too many bugs introduced with each patch, but the game itself is really a gem, i've got over 500 hours which is a saying something for me because most games i enjoy i burn out on or get bored with after 50-100 hours
  67. WCM320
    Feb 6, 2021
    9
    Stellaris is a great example of players not knowing what they want.
    The 8 it has is fair, but it should be a bit higher, there is nothing better then it right now and most likely wont be fore awhile.

    The only real issue with it is that it feels very much like a "Live service" With the company constantly tinkering with it.
  68. toxyk
    Jan 13, 2019
    9
    Mezcla de RTS y 4X, que me encanta, de lo mejores juegos espaciales que puedes jugar, muy bien hilados las minihistorias con un cierto ``realismo``
  69. ILoveCraftBeer
    Mar 15, 2019
    10
    Отличнейшая стратегия с прекрасным стилем, красивой графикой, отличнейшими сценариями и сюжетами и НАИКРУТЕЙШЕЙ музыкой.
  70. yobrotom
    Dec 12, 2018
    10
    This game keeps going from strength to strength. The developers are actively improving with quarterly updates that always improve the game, never take away from it. I've been playing this game for 2 years straight with few complaints, only a lot of good memories.
  71. Analyst77
    Dec 12, 2019
    5
    This review is for version 2.5.1 with all DLC up to Lithiods. I only play in Single Player - I do not play MP. This is a nice game actually, and very much 'influenced' by the old Masters of Orion 2. With 'influenced' I mean there are a lot off things (like Space Amoebas, Space Dragons, ...) from the old MOO2, which is actually a good thing. Lets say Stellaris is MOO2 on steroids. It looksThis review is for version 2.5.1 with all DLC up to Lithiods. I only play in Single Player - I do not play MP. This is a nice game actually, and very much 'influenced' by the old Masters of Orion 2. With 'influenced' I mean there are a lot off things (like Space Amoebas, Space Dragons, ...) from the old MOO2, which is actually a good thing. Lets say Stellaris is MOO2 on steroids. It looks nice, the UI is not too bad, and playing is fun, up to a point...
    The problem with this game is that it has a lot of new ideas and is stuffed with 'features', some of them quite unnecessary. Yet it cannot hide long periods of boredom, except if you want play very aggressive and attack all your neighbors. And it ha neither an end nor a victory condition. It all goes over time, and at a certain year (configurable) victory is just declared, if no 'crisis' is active. The end game crisis is sometimes too long in coming, and the awful micromanagement makes the game in later stages a chore.
    Paradox tried to make this better by 'quests' and 'stories' which you can find and solve, but most of these do not help for long. What this game would need is an end game condition (the game does not need to forcefully end at this point). In MOO2 you always were free to attack the 'Masters of Orion', which were very strong, but beatable. Then you were declared the winner. The game did end at this point, but this would not be necessary in Stellaris.
    Also the game would need more 'crisis' events, i.e. attacks from an unknown source, which you must find and eliminate. The end game crisis (there are several different types, but only one will happen) is mostly OP, and hard to beat. This is fine, but during the game, especially in the second half of the game, there should be smaller crisis events and attacks, scaled to the Galaxies average strength.
    It does not help that I am able to declare my Empire as 'Defenders of the Galaxy' if there is nothing to defend against until the end game crisis.
    The game feels somewhat shallow and becomes boring, since all too soon there is no real threat for your Empire. If you are strong, other (AI) Empires will come to you and ask you to protect them. If you agree, war is impossible for them, and if you are strong (you will be at this point) nobody will attack you, not even one of the 'Fallen Empires', which are inactive until the later game, where they often 'awake' and are set to massive OP. The are gifted fleets and strength which in itself is a bit peculiar, since they mostly have 3 or 4 systems. They have OP technology which you cannot develop, even if you have all things developed. But often they are not very aggressive, and if you come near them in fleet strength they will do nothing. As I stated, the game would need better threats during play, not OP, but during normal mid game, from time to time. The raids in MOO2 gave you the chance to defend your systems and to capture enemy ships which could you bring technology. Stellaris does not allow the capture ships but you can analyze the debris after a battle.
    The game, IMHO, is just not really optimized for single player, and it is very DLC heavy, with features you have to pay for despite them being in the game already. Nowadays they want to part the players from their money for years, and are stinging them along with drops of 'features' which are nice to have, but nothing important.
    The game is quite buggy, there was a storm of complaints lately because of old bugs, never fixed. Also the game has no manual at all! None. There is a Wiki, where players are invited to document Paradox' game. There is a built in help, which is only annoying and no real help at all. Without external sources (posts and the Wiki) you will never understand all game mechanics, which is rather bad for a game like this. This also becomes more frequent and is an affront to the players/buyers of a product.
    So while the game is actually nice and has potential I subtracted stars for:
    +No documentation at all
    +Bugs which I found in the first hours of play, which are long known and unfixed
    +Long boring sequences where you have to micromanage your planets(*) and nothing else
    +AI enemies with unexplained and unattainable technology
    (*)There is an automatic planet management offered, but you have to configure it in a rather silly way, and it does not work very well. You are better off doing it per hand.
    All in all the game sadly has massive flaws, but a lot of potential. It seems to suffer from features which they want to sell as extra DLC, and also suffer from things not well thought through as it often is with such money grab systems. So think well and read a lot before buying!    … Expand
  72. rezo_21
    Feb 15, 2023
    9
    ====================IIIIIIIIII GAME SCORE : 88 IIIIIIIIII====================
  73. ChumaGG
    Jun 9, 2022
    9
    Debe ser uno de los mejores juegos de estrategia que he jugado. Altamente complejo, divertido y con un alto nivel de rejugabilidad.
    Los únicos puntos negativos que tiene, están relacionados con la forma en la que esta comercializado y con el late game del juego. Si quieres la experiencia Stellaris completa, tienes que gastar bastante dinero en DLC. Mientras que el late game del juego, se    Debe ser uno de los mejores juegos de estrategia que he jugado. Altamente complejo, divertido y con un alto nivel de rejugabilidad.
    Los únicos puntos negativos que tiene, están relacionados con la forma en la que esta comercializado y con el late game del juego. Si quieres la experiencia Stellaris completa, tienes que gastar bastante dinero en DLC. Mientras que el late game del juego, se puede convertir para algunos, en un infierno de micro gestión.    … Expand
  74. Inari_Acolyte
    Apr 1, 2021
    8
    A good sci-fi 4X game with a wide breadth of mechanics, playstyles, and replayability. This game is enjoyable despite the regular changes to its base mechanics, prevalent tech issues, and mediocre AI.
    Unfortunately, the game is woefully incomplete without some of its DLCs: namely Utopia and Megacorps. I only recommend buying this game if you can get it on sale with DLCs.
  75. CountCristo
    Jul 19, 2019
    8
    aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
  76. tobivv
    Nov 26, 2019
    9
    Nothing beats seeing your first galaxy and taking your first steps as a space-faring civilization. Learning all the intricacies of ruling a galactic empire of xenophobic religious purists is an absolute joy, but the game does lose a lot of its magic in consequent playthroughs.
  77. ZetaJiffils
    Dec 21, 2019
    7
    El que no tenga logros estando en modo offline, es lo que me ha tocado los cojones.
    Eso le ha restado puntos...
    También aburre con el tiempo.
  78. Serevok
    Apr 22, 2022
    10
    Have been playing this game since the very start and I still love this game! There is just something so special and unique about this game that I just have not found anywhere else.
  79. Scalzo98
    Apr 16, 2021
    9
    Its a fantastic game that has depths that require quite the learning curve. But once you master it you can become what ever kind of empire you could ever dream of. It does have its flaws and particularly when in online matches glitches will tend to crop up, but they are rarely ever game vreakimg .
  80. apokalipto
    Aug 11, 2023
    9
    Very good game. I enjoyed playing this game a lot. I strongly recommend this.
  81. Fallconex
    Dec 17, 2020
    8
    A great strategy with great style, beautiful graphics, good scenarios, and lots of content to explore. Replayable for many many times
  82. aap4ixx
    Apr 27, 2023
    10
    10 и не меньше. Я в неё наиграл часов 100 и каждый раз при выходе нового DCL я к ней возвращаюсь :D
    + Мод сообщество крайне мощное (сейчас без модов я в игру больше не играю, но это не говорит что игра не доделанная, просто всегда можно внести что то новое для души).
    От меня игра заслуживает твёрдую 10 :D    10 и не меньше. Я в неё наиграл часов 100 и каждый раз при выходе нового DCL я к ней возвращаюсь :D
    + Мод сообщество крайне мощное (сейчас без модов я в игру больше не играю, но это не говорит что игра не доделанная, просто всегда можно внести что то новое для души).

    От меня игра заслуживает твёрдую 10 :D
  83. Nikitosss95
    Feb 13, 2021
    10
    If you mix Sci-fi with Europa Universalis and Star Wars/Star Trek, you will get an extraordinary and exciting game called Stellaris! I love how in the beginning you have to explore and to colonize as many planets as possible until you encounter neighboring empire/realm; I love the well developed economic system of this game as well as the technology tree, kudos to creators of this game!
  84. enro
    Feb 19, 2021
    8
    Really good space strategy game that gives you customization options. Recommend
  85. whatname
    Jun 7, 2021
    10
    I might change it later, but for now I give a ten.
    I played for 50 hours.
    This game is amazing. And it works on Linux without doing anything. The only bad thing is that it is difficult to start playing it. I left it there for two months before finding the time and motivation to dig into it. Now, after fifty hours playing it, I really am amazed. It is deep, strategic, with the    I might change it later, but for now I give a ten.
    I played for 50 hours.

    This game is amazing.
    And it works on Linux without doing anything.
    The only bad thing is that it is difficult to start playing it.
    I left it there for two months before finding the time and motivation to dig into it.

    Now, after fifty hours playing it, I really am amazed.
    It is deep, strategic, with the emotion of exploring the stars and building a civilization that I did not have since Galactic Civilizations (one and two).
    Stellaris is much better of course, given how old that game is now.
    Although less important to me, it also has great graphics, music and sound effects.

    You cannot control almost anything during the battle.
    At first I thought that was a limitation, coming from Sins of a solar empire, but now I like it because the fun is being able to build the fleets and defenses, and to decide where to employ them.

    Besides, this game is much more strategic than Sins of a solar empire, and I am not sure anymore that manually controlling the ships would be a plus.    … Expand
  86. kamil0101
    Oct 26, 2021
    4
    An interesting game to play on the Xbox Game Pass for a few afternoons, but not much longer than that. It was fun figuring the game out, peeling off more and more layers of the game mechanics, then managing planets, assigning planets' "pops" to jobs in order optimise various outputs. But after working this out and winning a few systems in my first ever war, I did not see a reason why IAn interesting game to play on the Xbox Game Pass for a few afternoons, but not much longer than that. It was fun figuring the game out, peeling off more and more layers of the game mechanics, then managing planets, assigning planets' "pops" to jobs in order optimise various outputs. But after working this out and winning a few systems in my first ever war, I did not see a reason why I should keep on playing. I already knew what the game would be like: a "rinse and repeat" cycle of optimising resource output, upgrading fleets, waiting for the truce to expire before winning a couple more meaningless systems in another meaningless war.

    A major problem with this game is its theme: there is none. The sci-fi veneer is quite poor.

    We know nothing about the species that are available to play, there is no story, they are completely random (in fact, I believe they *can* be randomised). Which makes interaction with AI opponents a dull affair, in which you only care about their strength relative to yours.

    The systems are all pretty much identical except for their resource output and the colour of the star, so I explore them only because I have to, not because I'm genuinely interested to find out what's round the corner (first encounter events were fun though). It is different from other comparable games: in Civilization, for instance, discovering edges of the continent, strategic resources, natural wonders, city-states all matters and makes exploration interesting. In Europa Universalis or its spin-offs like Crusader Kings you don't really discover anything but you play on the real world map, which adds meaning to your conquests: it's more fun to say "I conquered France" than "I won 6 star systems, all identical and randomly generated". It doesn't help that planets suitable for colonisation are fairly rare and a great majority of systems are empty points on the map which you can't do anything interesting with, other than mine them for resources.

    The game is horrifically time consuming. I did not finish my game, I abandoned it in what I believe was early mid-game, to which point I got after spending maybe 15 hours. You could finish a infamously lengthy RPG game like The Witcher 3 or watch all 11 seasons of Modern Family in the time at this rate it takes to finish a single game of Stellaris. And you'd have way more fun doing so.    … Expand
  87. Harpmen
    Oct 29, 2021
    9
    Plants that survive in the nuclear world and feed on radiation, enslaving mushrooms, necro-democrats. It's all there for you.
  88. Yannig
    Aug 26, 2023
    7
    This game is pretty hard to get started with, but it keeps you interested ...
  89. Rnoviok
    Dec 4, 2021
    10
    Good game from Paradox with lots of good dlc's
    great gameplay in my case is fun for hundreds of hours
  90. marsmelon24
    May 7, 2022
    10
    Stellaris is the best strategy game I ever played it is so Sc-fi and science fiction it should be in the history book
  91. EngineerGamin
    Mar 29, 2022
    9
    Very fun strategy game. War and destruction on a galactic scale are fun! :D
  92. BrotherBrent
    Jul 15, 2022
    6
    Thought this was a 4x but it's not. It's OK but don't expect something like MoO.
  93. Andrew_P
    Aug 28, 2022
    10
    Великолепная космическая стратегия. Это отличная песочница для создания разных рас и отыгрыша интересных сценариев. Великолепно!
  94. jacybfb
    Sep 3, 2022
    10
    Great game! Fun! You can play a lot of different games! Really recommend it!
  95. Smiler78
    Nov 6, 2022
    2
    First impressions of a game I had very high hopes for. Love strategy games with a passion so I was excited to play this. I loaded it up, chose my empire and was met with a massive array of icons and options. I have NO IDEA what to do! Just flicking through lots of upgrade trees and options. I don't get it thus far. I have given up for now. I feel like I would have to study it for weeks toFirst impressions of a game I had very high hopes for. Love strategy games with a passion so I was excited to play this. I loaded it up, chose my empire and was met with a massive array of icons and options. I have NO IDEA what to do! Just flicking through lots of upgrade trees and options. I don't get it thus far. I have given up for now. I feel like I would have to study it for weeks to even grasp the basic principles. I'm tired and can't be bothered trying to figure it out. To be continued...… Expand
  96. sara9420
    May 14, 2023
    10
    just one of the best RTS games out there, the sheer amount of time I've spent in this game on the pc and the xbox edtions is crazy, it keeps me drawn in.
  97. Medus
    Sep 7, 2023
    8
    Pretty good game duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
  98. thethethe4
    Jul 26, 2023
    8
    Stellaris offers the player a unique experience to manage a galactic wide civilisation. You have resource too mange as well as a government to mange. You also have to be weary of a range of threats. You must also compete with other empires for new star systems and wage war if you must. The game has a lot of mechanics that are all very refined and fun to use, however there is a lot ofStellaris offers the player a unique experience to manage a galactic wide civilisation. You have resource too mange as well as a government to mange. You also have to be weary of a range of threats. You must also compete with other empires for new star systems and wage war if you must. The game has a lot of mechanics that are all very refined and fun to use, however there is a lot of seemly basic things looked behind DLCs. For example you can't build megastructures or use super weapons unless you get two separate DLCs. When playing the game you get reminded that you don't have DLCs by the game allowing you to see the options the DLCs offer but not allowing you to use them, a bit like dangling a carrot in front of a rabbit but never allowing the rabbit to get the carrots unless the rabbits pays a further few hundred. All these features getting locked behind a paywall is really annoying though you can still have a enjoyable experience without them if you use mods.… Expand
  99. HydrophobikFish
    Jun 9, 2023
    9
    Unbeatable space strategy game. So much going on, so many ways to play, so many things to do, so many stories to discover and create. Soundtrack is S tier ambience. Only downside is certain technical limitations, balance choices, and expensive DLC catalogue for full experience.
  100. stellarissucks
    Aug 17, 2023
    0
    Great game, awful developers.

    This game is great mechanic wise, it is so much fun, but the sheer incompetence and greed of the developers is definitely what is driving this score. If you dare to uninstall this game and then try to reinstall it on the same system, there will be a myriad of hurdles you will have to go through to play it again. Nevermind that you have to literally buy    Great game, awful developers.

    This game is great mechanic wise, it is so much fun, but the sheer incompetence and greed of the developers is definitely what is driving this score.

    If you dare to uninstall this game and then try to reinstall it on the same system, there will be a myriad of hurdles you will have to go through to play it again. Nevermind that you have to literally buy DLC to make this game enjoyable, there's quite a bit of DLC features that should've been in the base game.

    Unfortunately, this devolved into a Paradox review, rather than a Stellaris review. But trying to play this game can be so frustrating at times, that I feel it is warranted.

    Thank you for coming to my TED talk.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

99
#99 Best PC Game of 2016
23
#23 Most Discussed PC Game of 2016
31
#31 Most Shared PC Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 57 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 46 out of 57
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 57
  3. Negative: 1 out of 57
  1. Games Master UK
    Jul 25, 2016
    90
    A stunning first step into space for strategy's superstars - and a great gateway to their other games. [July 2016, p.76]
  2. CD-Action
    Jul 21, 2016
    85
    It was really hard for me to break away from Stellaris’ grip to write this review. It’s one of those gems you launch in the evening for a moment but quit at dawn. [07/2016, p.50]
  3. Riot Pixels
    Jul 11, 2016
    65
    Stellaris feels like two games of completely different quality. One game offers boring linear stand-offs against a tame AI, the other is an excellent multiplayer platform.
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