''Space Empires'' is a series of 4X

turn-based strategy Strategy video game is a major video game genre that focuses on analyzing and strategizing over direct quick reaction in order to secure success. Although many types of video games can contain strategic elements, the strategy genre is most commo ...

games by

Malfador Machinations Malfador Machinations was a small game company based in Santa Rosa, California. They were best known for their ''Space Empires'' series. Brief history Malfador Machinations was created by Aaron Hall to publish '' Space Empires II'', the sequel ...

that allow the player to assume the role of the leader of a space-faring civilization.

Gameplay

In ''Space Empires'', the player assumes the role of the single leader of a race of intelligent beings that has recently acquired the technology required to build large fully space-based ships for interplanetary and interstellar travel. Starting out with only a few possible

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

sizes for their ships, on which they can place any number of components to essentially create a unique ship, the player can research new hull sizes and components to use with them, eventually being able to build ships ten times the size of his original hull size. The components available to the player can vary greatly, from ship bridges, long-range scanners and shield generators to emergency supply components that, when used, will be destroyed but will allow a ship to continue moving for a longer time, and of course, weapons of various kinds,

boarding Boarding may refer to: *Boarding, used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals as in a: **Boarding house **Boarding school *Boarding (horses) (also known as a livery yard, livery stable, or boarding stable), is a stable where hor ...

parties,

cloaking device A cloaking device is a hypothetical or fictional stealth technology that can cause objects, such as spaceships or individuals, to be partially or wholly invisible to parts of the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum. Fictional cloaking devices have been ...

s right up to

Dyson sphere A Dyson sphere is a hypothetical megastructure that encompasses a star and captures a large percentage of its power output. The concept is a thought experiment that attempts to imagine how a spacefaring civilization would meet its energy re ...

construction material and star-destroying devices. The player can meet extraterrestrial races (which will inevitably happen as the player expands their realm) and conduct diplomacy with them.

Treaties A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

can be signed between two empires, varying from the basic

trade agreement A trade agreement (also known as trade pact) is a wide-ranging taxes, tariff and trade treaty that often includes investment guarantees. It exists when two or more countries agree on terms that help them trade with each other. The most common tra ...

to full-blown

partnership A partnership is an agreement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments or combinations. Organizations ...

s and even

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over ...

s. The player can also conduct intelligence operations, from simple information gathering missions, to ship bombs, to inciting

rebellion Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

on a planet. Interstellar travel in ''Space Empires'' is not

faster-than-light Faster-than-light (superluminal or supercausal) travel and communication are the conjectural propagation of matter or information faster than the speed of light in vacuum (). The special theory of relativity implies that only particles with zero ...

drive based, but instead relies on anomalies called " warp points", essentially wormholes between two

star system A star system or stellar system is a small number of stars that orbit each other, bound by gravity, gravitational attraction. It may sometimes be used to refer to a single star. A large group of stars bound by gravitation is generally calle ...

s. Warp points are naturally occurring but a player can open and close these warp points if she or he has the appropriate technologies.

Games

* ''Space Empires'' (1993) * '' Space Empires II'' (1995) * '' Space Empires III'' (1997) * '' Space Empires IV'' (2000) * '' Space Empires: Starfury'' (2003) * ''

Space Empires V ''Space Empires V'' (''SEV'') is a 4X turn based strategy game that was released in 2006. It was developed by Malfador Machinations and published by Strategy First Strategy First Inc. is a Canadian video game publisher based in Montreal. Fo ...

'' (2006)

Later development

In 2006,

Strategy First Strategy First Inc. is a Canadian video game publisher based in Montreal. Founded in 1988 by Don McFatridge, Steve Wall and Dave Hill, the company filed for bankruptcy in 2004 and was subsequently acquired by Silverstar Holdings in 2005. Initia ...

acquired Malfador Machinations and the Space Empires intellectual property prior to publishing ''Space Empires V''. Strategy First still owns the Space Empires intellectual property and has not developed another PC game. In 2011, Strategy First released a RPG board game named ''Space Empires: 4X'', based on the digital model of the Space Empires computer games, utilizing sprites and mechanics from Space Empires IV.

References

{{Reflist

External links

''Space Empires Universe'' site
community homepage (offline) via

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

Developer website
company homepage (offline) via

Interview with Aaron Hall
the creator of ''Space Empires'' 4X video games Multiplayer hotseat games Science fiction franchises Space opera video games Turn-based strategy video games Video game franchises Video game franchises introduced in 1993