Hi all, over the last few months with all the GOG package deal discount sales, I went a little berserk and now I have several space empire / battle games and I don't know which one I should play. I don't really want to play them all, maybe eventually but not at first. What I am hoping for is some consensus about which one is best so I can focus on it. Of all the games, this forum is the most active so that is a clue I am sure. Actually "Alpha Centauri" is also pretty active. Here's the list of my GOG space games. Please comment on which one you feel deserves the most attention.

Faster Than Light
Master of Orion
Master of Orion 2
Galactic Civilizations I Ultimate Edition
Fragile Allegiance
Alpha Centauri
Space Empires IV Deluxe
Tyrian 2000

Thanks for your help. I never played any of these games. Several years ago I used to play a space empire game called "VGA Planets" and I liked that a lot.

I don't know about Fragile Allegiance or Tyrian, but Alpha Centauri is not a space empire game - it's a Civ-clone set on an alien planet. You never leave it to engage in anything interplanetary.

As for the others... it really depends on what you're after. Between MOO and Space Empires IV, I'd go with MOO, simply because I find Space Empires' management relatively sluggish. I haven't enough experience with the others to recommend one over the other, though.

Of space empire building games, MoO 2 is probably the best. Some like the simplicity of the first game in the series. Repeat with me: MoO 3 did not exist! MoO 3 did not exist! MoO 3 did not exist! ;-)

Alpha Centauri is interesting and popular Civilization clone. Some even think it's (one of) the best.

In Fragile Allegiance you build mining bases on asteroids. I played it's predecessor on Amiga and it was fun.

FTL is going to get big free update sometimes next year. I found it fun (if tad too random) until I beat it once. As the ending is always the same, I found no interest in replays (don't care to try with different ships or trying to get achievments).

Could not get into GalCiv 1 so I quit after about hour of play and moved to GalCiv 2. Still neither beats MoO 2.

I have not played SE 4 but SE 5 was bland.

I think each of them has its own charms, so it's hard to say what you'll like best. MoO, MoO2, or Alpha Centauri would be my suggestions for which ones you should play first.

OK so Alpha Centauri is a Civ type game. I used to play a lot of Civ 2 back in the day and I really liked it. Looking at the Alpha Centauri screenshots, it looks like a Civ player would be right at home with it. So I'll keep that game in reserve for when I feel like a space based Civ game.

But really I'm in the mood for a 4x game. Right now I'm torn between MoO2 and SE4. Leaning towards MoO2. Need to make a decision....

Fragile Allegiance is a great little strategy game. It's a follow up to an Amiga game called K240 where you set up a base on an asteroid, import tech blueprints and defend against alien invasions.

I personally prefer it to games like Alpha Centuri an the Civ games as I find it to be a bit more "fun", but that is just my personal taste and the other games are great too.

On the other hand, I just got MOO2 too so that's the game I'm going for :)

Master of Orion 2 is THE yardstick against which all other space 4x games are ultimately measured.

Play it.

I like SE4 a lot, but I think MoO2 sounds like the right choice at this moment. It's a classic.

Tyrian's like one of the best shooters on here, it shouldn't take you long to beat it

I keep hoping to find something decent compared to MOO2 but could never get into anything else as much. I enjoy returning to MOO1 occasionally and am also a big fan of Master of Magic (which is like fantasy civ and done by the MOO devs - fyi I never liked Civ very much). It seems like Galactic Civilizations 1 & 2 get the most respect from MOO fans but I couldn't get excited about 1 and haven't given 2 a shot yet.

I'd have to say I enjoyed Sword of the Stars the most of all the space 4X games that have followed MOO2 that I've tried. The RTS battles get a bit tedious at times but each race getting it's own very distinctive style of FTL was a brilliant and difficult-to-balance choice and I'd say it's the only 4X game I've played that actually surpasses MOO2 in terms of making ship design and ship tech choices a critical aspect of the game.

FTL is fun but not a 4X game. It's a rogue-like where you're more likely to fail than succeed but it's easy to jump in and start playing and has a surprising amount of depth in terms of upgrade strategy. The combo of exploring and running away from a pursuing fleet was a very clever design IMO.