Astro Protocol

A very nice, compact take on the Space 4X genre. Games can be customized to play very quickly, and the victory conditions keep even larger games from becoming stalemate slog-fests. I like that many of the starting conditions can be set to random to keep the games fresh, and minor factions care a great wildcard! The team has been very quick with updates, improvements, and balancing changes. My only request would be for some more starting groups to choose from!

This is such a fun game. It has that "one more turn" hook. The new custom factions are a hoot, and the random maps makes every new game exciting. You can complete a game in an hour but there is a lot of strategy going on for each turn. Highly recommend this game for those 4X fans that want something fast and furious when taking a break from the real heavy strategy games.

I actually don't really enjoy this type of game, as it's not my cup of tea, but it is so brilliantly well done that I must go out of my way to recommend it. Games are short, 1-2 hours at the most, and the gameplay is what I'd call "tight" in that you are somewhat constrained in how you expand, making this closer to a chess-like tactical game than an open-ended strategy game where you expand at your leisure and sit on your expansion. The downside of a tight tactical design is that it can get or feel "solved" and thereby stale, which is resolved in this game via randomized game end conditions and techs. Thus, each run promises to keep you interested and engaged by offering a different strategy, both in terms of what goal you're aiming for (victory conditions) and how you're going to get there (different tech options and combat approaches therefrom). Now for the great. The sci-fi feel is captured magnificently through the music and sound effects. I can still hear them in my head right now, and they are so cool. The underlying [i]story[/i] [e.g. of the Protocol] is brilliant and really gets you to think of sci-fi (and spacetime) in a new way. This type of innovative storytelling is what I dream of experiencing in my sci-fi games, shows and movies, and I get to have it in this game. The devs market this as a "high-stakes" game and they are right to do so, as this is one of the innovations this game brings to the table (and to the genre). Most of your important stuff is located on your tiles, even research. So you have to really think about where you're going to place what, because everything lives out there. You don't get any invincible fortresses or bonuses like tech is in other 4Xes or XP/character level is in RPGs [i.e. in those games, nobody can take those away]. Here, all your hard work is placed on the screen for you to see, as well as to strategically position and defend. The same is true of the enemy, as you can capture [i]their[/i] techs and artifacts, and so on. I prefer a longer, slower burn in my games, but if you're interested in fast-paced, high-stakes, deeply tactical gameplay, you'll find no shortage of enjoyable elements and gameplay with Astro Protocol.

Truly something else. 10/10

I've played all the 4x's this is by far the best short duration 4x I've ever played!

Astro Protocol is a game that hits all the spots for me. I'm a big fan of Master of Orion (the original from 1993), and I'm always searching for something that harkens back to that perfect formula of emergent complexity that was MoO1. In Astro Protocol, there is no end game monotony nor time wasted with diplomacy. The victory conditions are as tight or tighter than in MoO1. The games are quick (and quickly decided), so there is no time to get bored. Games are high stakes and there are very few turns that "don't matter" in each game. The fact that games play out so quickly makes it easy to iterate and try new strategies or experiment with new things (like the new custom factions feature). The AI being excellent, thanks to Xilmi/AIL's contribution, also helps make this game endlessly replayable for me. One extra thing I would like to mention is I really love how techs are physically present on the map inside the research labs. So, if you manage to capture an opponent's research lab, they lose access to all the techs and artifacts stored in it, and they all become available to you instead. The same is true of opponents capturing your own research labs. So, it really changes how you think about strategy in this game compared to your usual 4X game. This is one 4X game I would bring on a desert island with me.

Fun "quick" space 4X with a lot of board game vibes (in a good way). Production quality isn't super high but that doesn't get in the way of some fun gameplay. The map is a little hard to read at first (kind of cluttered) but once you get in the swing of things and realize you want to "fill" the map it gets a little easier. Combat is simple but enjoyable, and the game is true to its word that you can play a full run through start to finish in a couple of hours. Unlike a lot of lower-end space 4X games I see out there, this one communicates its rules effectively and feels like a complete game experience. Definitely recommend if you're in the mood for something a little lighter than Stellaris.