Sid Meier's Starships

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.

55%Game Brain Score

gameplay, story

replayability, stability

53% User Score Based on 1,753 reviews

Critic Score 56%Based on 16 reviews

Platforms

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About

Sid Meier's Starships is a single player and multiplayer turn-based strategy game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Firaxis Games and was released on March 12, 2015. It received neutral reviews from both critics and players.

"Sid Meier's Starships" is a strategy game that puts you in charge of a fleet of starships in a procedurally generated universe. Complete missions to protect planets from hostiles, build a planetary federation, and engage in tactical space combat. The game features full customization of starships and offers cross-connectivity with "Civilization: Beyond Earth".

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53%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,753 reviews

gameplay64 positive mentions

replayability16 negative mentions

Fun and simple gameplay that is easy to pick up and play.
Tactical space battles are engaging and provide a satisfying experience.
Good for casual gaming sessions, allowing players to complete a game in a short amount of time.

Lacks depth and complexity compared to other Sid Meier titles, making it feel shallow.
Only allows for one fleet, limiting strategic options and gameplay variety.
Crashes frequently and has poor optimization, especially on higher resolution displays.

gameplay
316 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
75%
5%
The gameplay of "Sid Meier's Starships" is characterized by its simplicity and accessibility, making it easy to learn but often criticized for lacking depth and complexity. Players manage a single fleet, engage in straightforward tactical battles, and navigate a limited set of mechanics that can become repetitive over time. While some enjoy the casual nature and unique elements like ship customization, many feel the game falls short of the strategic richness expected from a Sid Meier title, often comparing it unfavorably to more robust 4X games.
- “The gameplay emphasizes controlling and customizing starships, where players can select various upgrades including weapons, engines, shields, and sensors, theoretically allowing for diverse combat styles and tactical approaches.”
- “Smooth, accessible gameplay that feels rewarding.”
- “Simple mechanics with a good variety of play options to keep it interesting game after game.”
- “The UI can feel cumbersome and unintuitive, especially given the game’s attempt to condense strategic and tactical gameplay into a single interface.”
- “The gameplay is incredibly shallow, and although the missions appear to be randomized, each game feels more or less the same because there are only a few types of missions.”
- “The gameplay is overly simple and limited for a Sid Meier game.”
story
296 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
84%
6%
The story in "Sid Meier's Starships" is minimal and lacks depth, primarily serving as a backdrop for the tactical gameplay rather than a compelling narrative. Players command a single fleet to complete repetitive missions across various planets, with objectives often revolving around combat rather than character development or plot progression. While the game offers a variety of mission types, the overall experience feels shallow and disconnected, leaving many players desiring a richer storyline akin to its predecessor, "Civilization: Beyond Earth."
- “The game sets players in command of a fleet of starships tasked with exploring a galaxy scattered with planets to colonize, threats to neutralize, and missions to complete.”
- “Together, starships and Beyond Earth tell the full story, which begins at the end of the space race that features in the Civilization games.”
- “This game is exactly what it's advertised and priced as: a space adventure game where you command a small fleet in exploring the frontier, putting down pirates, engaging in tense standoffs or small scale battles with the other players, establishing trade agreements, and bringing planets into your federation/empire/whatever, all through episodic missions with light storytelling.”
- “The missions scattered throughout the galaxy vary in objectives but tend to recycle similar tasks, lacking a compelling narrative thread or memorable moments to drive the player’s investment.”
- “The story is nonexistent.”
- “The game lacks that compelling desire its predecessors have to play and defeat it in all ways possible, or even explore the game or the world(s) within, because the interface is awful and the 'story' throws you into space to do unexplained busy work.”
graphics
180 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
61%
8%
The graphics of Sid Meier's Starships are generally described as simplistic and unremarkable, often likened to mobile game visuals rather than a full PC experience. While some players appreciate the clean and colorful aesthetic, many criticize the lack of graphical options, resolution settings, and overall polish, leading to a perception of mediocrity compared to other contemporary strategy games. Overall, the visuals are functional but fail to impress, with several users noting that they feel more suited for a casual gaming environment rather than a dedicated PC title.
- “The graphics are quite elegant and the whole package is very neat and tidy.”
- “The graphics are nice, and the tactical combat is all about smart movement.”
- “The graphics are absolutely stunning.”
- “Visually, Sid Meier’s Starships leans towards simplicity, with clean but unremarkable graphics that seem better suited for mobile devices than a PC experience.”
- “While the game performs smoothly and runs well even on modest hardware, the lack of visual polish and sophistication limits its appeal, particularly when compared to other contemporary strategy games with more elaborate aesthetics.”
- “The graphics are atrocious, worse than Sid Meier's Pirates, which is a game published over 10 years ago on computers slower than our current smartphones.”
replayability
70 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
60%
23%
Overall, the game suffers from low replayability, with many players noting its repetitive nature and lack of depth. While some find it enjoyable for a few sessions, the absence of significant variety in gameplay and limited options for customization lead to a quick decline in interest. Despite a few positive mentions of its casual appeal, it fails to meet the high replay standards set by other Sid Meier titles.
- “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.”
- “It's a great game with what looks like a lot of replayability.”
- “It is a shorter game, but highly replayable, and so much bang-for-your-buck at $15.”
- “I liked what I played, but I was ultimately disappointed in the lack of depth and replayability.”
- “The game is repetitive, has little complexity, has low replayability and no personalization whatsoever.”
- “After playing a few games, Starships fails to live up to either one of those titles; it is an unbalanced mess with very little replayability.”
stability
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
4%
96%
The game's stability is a significant concern, with numerous users reporting frequent bugs, glitches, and crashes that detract from the overall experience. While some players noted that performance can be stable on higher-end systems, many others found the game to be unfinished and frustratingly shallow due to its technical issues. Overall, the consensus is that the game requires substantial patches and improvements to address its stability problems.
- “Not one crash, no glitches, no weird anomalies (granted it's not a resource hog).”
- “The game is buggy and unfinished.”
- “I really, really, really wanted to be able to recommend this game.... I honestly did, but as it stands right now the game is far too buggy, its rules too simplistic, its tactical combat far too imbalanced, and that results in an experience that is frustrating and extremely shallow.”
- “It is very buggy, and very prone to random close outs during gameplay.”
grinding
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
5%
95%
Players consistently describe the grinding aspect of the game as tedious and repetitive, with many noting that it lacks meaningful progression and imposes limitations on play style. The requirement to manually check the technology tree and the slow pace of combat contribute to a sense of monotony, making late-game experiences particularly unenjoyable. Overall, while some elements of the game are appreciated, the grinding nature detracts significantly from the overall enjoyment.
- “It is tedious, lacks real progression, and has too many limitations in play style.”
- “The unlockables from Beyond Earth are kind of tedious to unlock and make the game incredibly easy once they are unlocked.”
- “Even the largest sized galaxy is tiny; you only get one fleet to move around, quests disappear only after a few turns once all the systems are explored, and what remains is a tedious mopup operation where you fight the exact same battle from system to system.”
music
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
37%
19%
The music in the game is generally described as generic and sparse, with some users noting it lacks variety and fails to enhance the gameplay experience. While a few reviews highlight the soundtrack as fitting for the sci-fi theme and capable of creating immersive moments, many players found it repetitive and ultimately turned it off. Overall, the music is considered adequate but not memorable, contributing to a mixed reception of the game's audio landscape.
- “The music is exciting & fits the bill.”
- “Audio and music is excellent, bringing home those peaceful space traveling moments only to be shattered by battle-inspiring music.”
- “Here's what it is: a simplified tactical space game with colorful graphics and impressive music.”
- “The soundtrack provides a generic sci-fi ambiance that rarely stands out or enhances the mood of exploration and conflict.”
- “As far as I could tell, the soundtrack consists of one song (I turned the music off after about an hour) and animations could be more detailed and varied.”
- “Graphics are okay, sound is a little sparse but okay, ditto for music and graphics and gameplay... all that okay but sparse is combined with no plot and simplistic gameplay.”
optimization
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
53%
20%
The game's optimization is a mixed bag; while some players report smooth performance and effective resource management, others experience significant slowdowns and high RAM usage, particularly after extended play. The UI/UX design is criticized, and despite some bugs being fixed, the game struggles on newer hardware, indicating a need for further optimization. Overall, while the engine shows potential, it lacks stability and depth, leading to varied user experiences.
- “According to the in-game manual, there is a crew effectiveness system that influences the ships' performance in battle.”
- “Gameplay is simple: you can spend metals to upgrade production on your controlled star systems, or to build wonders (which give one-of-a-kind advantages in combat); you spend science to increase how much starship improvements improve ship performance; you spend food to build cities on your planets (cities act as multipliers, basically you produce resources with the equation #ofimprovements x #ofcities); you spend energy to build new starships or improvements on existing ones; and you spend credits (if you have any) to buy any of the other resources.”
- “Game feels polished (noticed a couple tiny bugs but nothing anywhere close to game breaking, I'm just picky on this because I'm in game dev myself), and is really well optimized.”
- “It's not optimized, UI/UX is badly designed.”
- “Poor performance issues after 20 minutes of playing.”
- “It runs slowly and uses loads more RAM than its graphics could ever justify.”
humor
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is frequently highlighted as a redeeming quality, with players finding it amusing despite the game's numerous flaws, such as bugs and lack of depth. Many reviews note the comedic elements, particularly in the absence of a tutorial and the absurdity of gameplay mechanics, which contribute to a lighthearted experience. However, some players feel that while the humor is present, it does not compensate for the overall shortcomings of the game.
- “This game is terrible, underdeveloped, poorly balanced, and absolutely hilarious!”
- “Funny little game.”
- “Not very deep but funny!”
monetization
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
89%
The monetization aspect of the game has been widely criticized as a cash grab, with many reviewers expressing disappointment in its lack of depth and innovation compared to its predecessors. While some appreciate the absence of ads and find the game enjoyable for its low cost, the overall sentiment suggests that it fails to deliver meaningful content, leading to perceptions of it being a shallow, quick-money venture rather than a worthy addition to the franchise.
- “There are no ads, which makes for a seamless gaming experience.”
- “The monetization model is fair and doesn't disrupt gameplay.”
- “I appreciate that the game offers optional purchases without forcing them on players.”
- “A simple strategy game without the nuance of its Civ predecessors; this game is quick to play, but ultimately shallow and repetitive, a cash grab capitalizing on Sid Meier's name.”
- “Sometimes I wonder if Sid Meier even has anything to do with the things that bear his name anymore... I can't imagine any honest developer took a look at this and thought 'yeah, this is totally not just a half-assed cash grab!'.”
- “For some reason, I expected a little more than a quick cash grab out of Sid Meier.”
emotional
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express a mixed emotional response to the game, with some feeling a strong attachment to upgrading starship units and experiencing significant moments during final battles, while others find the overall narrative lacking compared to previous titles in the series. The emotional investment varies, with some players feeling a sense of accomplishment and importance, while others feel disappointed and conned by the game's execution.
- “These final battles as you attempt to capture homeworlds (or defend yours from an assault) often made me feel like I was actually doing something halfway important.”
- “I distinctly remember that combat was fun and that I became emotionally involved in upgrading my starship units, much as one does in any game where units grow.”
- “You know what, I like civ games but this one had some great emotional moments.”
atmosphere
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
The reviews indicate a mixed reception regarding the game's atmosphere; while some players appreciate its depth and strategic elements reminiscent of the Civilization franchise, others criticize it for lacking a distinctive audio identity and overall atmosphere. The game is described as having a mild atmospheric quality, but it fails to leave a lasting impression for many users.
- “Civ Beyond Earth is one of my favorite games, with a depth and mood/atmosphere that are delightful.”
- “It's a little atmospheric, which is kind of nice, and strategic like Civ and Beyond Earth and so on.”
- “This lack of audio identity further emphasizes the game’s broader issue of failing to carve out a distinctive atmosphere or lasting impression.”
- “Other than that, the elements of strategy that I've seen throughout the Civilization franchise are there, and it's hitting you harder than last time for a more challenging atmosphere.”

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56%Critics’ scoreBased on 16 critic reviews

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5h Median play time

7h Average play time

3-10h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 20 analyzed playthroughs

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Sid Meier's Starships is a turn-based strategy game with science fiction theme.

Sid Meier's Starships is available on PC, Mac OS, Phone, iPad and others.

On average players spend around 7 hours playing Sid Meier's Starships.

Sid Meier's Starships was released on March 12, 2015.

Sid Meier's Starships was developed by Firaxis Games.

Sid Meier's Starships has received neutral reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked this game for its gameplay but disliked it for its replayability.

Sid Meier's Starships is a single player game with multiplayer support.

Similar games include Galactic Civilizations III, StarDrive 2, Endless Space, Master of Orion, Endless Space 2 and others.

Sid Meier's Starships

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