New Stellaris DLC Astral Rift will take you on a journey to other dimensions

rockpapershotgun.com:

Paradox's space 4X strategy game Stellaris is getting a new Astral Planes expansion, in which you send ships through rifts to "completely different realms of existence, where fundamentals that were certain at home may not always be true". I've read a few sci-fi novels in my time, and have come to the conclusion that tunnelling into other dimensions is seldom a wise move, but there's no turning back at the threshold when you're nurturing a mighty galactic empire, I guess. Find a trailer below in which some poor science ship pilot gets his brain fried by a crackling window of purple impossibility.

A collaboration with Faeria studio Abrakam Entertainment, The Astral Planes expansion is a smaller, narrative-focussed, mid to late-game add-on which adds over 30 types of Astral Rift to the universe, each with its branching storyline. That's in addition to 30 new relics, four civics, a new origin and some mysterious "Astral Threads and Astral Actions".

The Youtube blurb contends that "Astral Planes offers you the chance to chart your own path, navigating an array of wonders and dangers alike. Travel through Rifts in space and time for a glimpse of strange, new realities. What will you discover, in a universe beyond limits?" I'm going to say: hideous tentacle monsters. But I would love it if the DLC were grander than advertised, and we ended up managing multiple empires in different dimensions, each dedicated to a different resource. I'm going to store all my golf clubs in Astral Plane #471.

There's more info to be gleaned from screenshots. Amusingly, it appears the process of navigating the Rifts involves researching giant, ball-shaped observatories on chains, which are then dipped into the rift by the aforesaid science