This Strategy Game Lets You Build A Mighty Space Empire In 60 Minutes

thegamer.com:

Confession time: I've never finished a grand strategy game. I've played a lot of them over the years, totaling hundreds of hours, but haven't once made it to any kind of victory screen. Not in Total War, not in Stellaris, not in Crusader Kings. Hell, I've never even won a game of Civilization. It's weird, because I love these games. I just never seem to be able to stick it out till the end.

That's why I love Slipways, an indie strategy game for PC and Mac that lets you build a colossal space empire in an hour. There's no micromanagement, no time investment, and no overwhelming complexity. It squeezes the essence of what makes grand strategy so much fun into 60 minutes, and does it with class and style. It's one of the best strategy games I've ever played.

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Start a new game and you emerge from a wormhole into an unexplored, randomised galaxy, then launch probes into the void to reveal nearby planets. Depending on their natural resources, climate, terrain, and other factors, you can then establish industries on these uncharted worlds—including agriculture, water production, mineral mining, and robot manufacture.

Once you've settled on a few planets, the system at the heart of Slipways—and from which it takes its name—comes into play. By clicking and dragging lines between planets, you create slipways, which are essentially interplanetary shipping lanes. Resources are then ferried back and forth, creating supply chains that are key to the growth and success of your new empire.

But what makes Slipways tricky, and a satisfyingly challenging strategy game, is making sure these supply lines are functioning efficiently. If a planet produces workers, you can create a