Sid Meier's Starships Critic Reviews

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 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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Starships condenses Sid Meier's knack for turn-based strategy into a short, two-to-five hour burst of board game-esque tactics that's as satisfying as it is approachable.

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.

It’s the same game on PC and iOS, which explains its simplicity and low difficulty level. It just wasn’t designed to steal months of your life, but works great in short, relaxing sessions.

Technically disappointing, we expected more from this new Sid Meier title, but is fun, with a classic hex strategic gameplay.

Sid Meier's Starships is a good game with some limitations that prevent it from a great experience. If you're looking for a slow-paced strategy game, this is a good choice.

More short-term play-friendly beast.

The first hours playing Starships is great fun, because it’s easy to get into and not that hard to learn the basics. After a couple of matches, though, it becomes obvious that the game is lacking complexity and depth, where it would be really needed: in tactical combat diplomacy and planet management. But even if Starships lacks long-term motivation, it’s a game you’ll be coming back to over and over again.

If you normally struggle with the multiple complexities of a 4x strategy game, Starships is a great introduction to the genre.

Even though the space ship combat is challenging and fun, I don't think it has a lot of long-term appeal. The supporting strategy elements in Starships are too shallow and there's no cohesive narrative holding things together.

Sid Meier's Starships is a quick and quite entertaining turn-based strategy game. Perhaps it's the beginning of a new sub-genre that might be called 5X with a fifth 'x' corresponding to eXpress. It is often said that brevity is the soul of wit but any regular follower of the Civilization series will remain hungry for more. It just has to be seen for what it is: fast food or something to snack on between meals.

A light and pleasant strategy game, with a slightly chaotic artificial intelligence and repetitive mission scenarios.

Sid Meier's Starships is a short and sweet companion game to Civilization: Beyond Earth that doesn't overstay its welcome.