Space Colony: Steam Edition

Release Date: April 30, 2015

Strategy, science fiction, economic, RTS, in space, remaster/remake, singleplayer

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This is the second (after Space Colony HD) attempt to refresh a classic economic space strategy game, which was created by Firefly and released in 2003. This new edition was created with support from the Steam digital distribution platform. The game is set in a distant future and the player's goal here is to establish an efficiently working network of space colonies, on behalf of Blackwater Industries.

Plot & Mechanics
Game modes
Technical aspects

Space Colony: Steam Edition for PC is the second (after 2012's Space Colony HD) trial to refresh a classic economic strategy game set in space and once created by the Firefly studio, which is a developer popular mainly for the best-selling Stronghold series. Space Colony: Steam Edition was created by most of the team that developed the original game, with support from the Steam digital distribution platform.

Plot & Mechanics

The game is set in a distant future, when humanity begun free exploration of space. The world's largest corporations are competing against one another for the rights to colonize each discovered planet. Blackwater Industries gives an assignment to the player, who is supposed to establish a network of space colonies. In order to achieve this goal, one has to organize the work in the base, but also make sure that the staff is happy enough and efficient at the workplace. It’s not as easy to do, as it may seem however, for most of the player's colonists are different outcasts, who incessantly cause plenty of various problems.

The mechanics combine elements of strategies (such as the aforementioned Stronghold) with simulator games, such as the classic The Sims. What is typical for strategy games, the player will have to gather and process resources, as well as construct different buildings, for both military and recreational purposes. Thus the player not only has to earn money, but also take care of security-related issues. Apart from that, one needs to cater their workers’ needs, as each of them has a different personality and individual preferences.

Game modes

Space Colony: Steam Edition for PC offers three different modes. Apart from the standard career mode, one can compete against the AI in a series of single missions, but the game also brings a sandbox variant.

Technical aspects

In terms of the visuals, Space Colony: Steam Edition comes with enhanced graphics (present already in the HD edition) with increased field of view, allowing mainly encompassing one's entire colony on one screen. This time however, the creators were focused more on additional content, which resulted in the game's single-player campaign having over 80 missions. The original game's map editor was enriched here with support for Steam Workshop, thus the players can share their creations with others. Among the additions, the player will also find here achievements, collector's cards, and an ability to store one's save files in Steam Cloud.

Last updated on March 1, 2017

Videos and Screens

[1:34] Space Colony: Steam Edition trailer