Expansion Empire Play free

Twelve centuries.
One unbroken campaign.

Play the open beta

Free. Desktop browser, 1600×900 or larger.
Sign in with Google or GitHub.

Expansion Empire

A commander in an 1800s greatcoat stands by a cannon above a harbor of sailing ships, while a fleet of brass starships crosses the sunset sky toward a ringed planet.

Start with muskets.
End among the stars.

Turn-based grand strategy · 1800–3000 Plays in your browser

Free open beta Play now

One empire. Three maps.
No sequel.

Lead a nation from line infantry and sail to an interstellar empire, with no sequel and no genre change. Unify your homeworld by conquest, or win your neighbors over. Then take it to the stars.

  • 1800: line infantry, a cannon and a sailing ship on a forested homeworld.1800 · the homeworld
  • A star system map: a hex field around a yellow star.2200 · a star system
  • The technology workbench with six research domains.Six research domains
  • Three maps, one empire. Planet, star system and galaxy, in one save.
  • Incorporation, not just conquest. Absorb a neighbor before a rival does.
  • Six domains, ten eras. Then Mastery research that never runs out.
  • Design your own units. Land, sea, air and space.
  • Four ways to win. Objectives, score, conquest, or no end at all.
  • Mod it. Data-only packs that travel inside your saves.

System requirements

Platform
Desktop web browser
Display
1600×900 or larger
Input
Mouse and keyboard
Account
Free Google or GitHub sign-in
Play the open beta

Open beta 0.9. Free. Expect rough edges.

Thirty-nine seconds. Twelve centuries.

Real captures from the open beta, from 1800 to the stars, and the bundled After the Blight mod. Sound on.

Player’s manual

Expansion Empire · Player’s manual

The three maps

Your empire lives on three maps at once, and they are one save. Switch between them whenever you like; the same Command, Military, Economy, Outposts, Claims and Explore lenses follow you down and up.

The galaxy and system maps open when you research Spaceflight, or straight away if you start in a later era.

2

Fig. 1.1 The galaxy.
  1. Map scale: galaxy, system, planet
  2. Command lenses
  3. Your home system
  4. A sector you haven’t reached yet
  5. Galaxy overview
Fig. 1.2 A star system.
  1. The star
  2. Back up to the galaxy
  3. System overview
  4. An outpost site
Fig. 1.3 A planet. Where armies march and cities grow.
  1. Your army
  2. Back up to the system
  3. Planet overview
  4. End the turn

3

Expansion Empire · Player’s manual

Fig. 2.1 Diplomacy.
  1. Coalition readiness
  2. A neighbor: peace status, integration 0/3, and the next legal step

4

Win a neighbor without firing a shot

Conquest is the direct route. Incorporation is the contested one: trade, align, ally, then integrate a neighbor before a rival power integrates them first.

Rival nations play by the same trust, alliance and integration rules you do.

Four ways to win

ObjectivesObjective victories, with a score fallback
ScoreHighest standing at the turn cap you chose
ConquestLast nation standing, no turn cap
SandboxNo end at all

5

Expansion Empire · Player’s manual

Six domains. Ten eras. Nothing hidden.

Military, Science, Industry, Statecraft, Infrastructure and Spaceflight each advance on their own track, and every recommendation tells you what it actually does. Exhaust the tree and perpetual Mastery research opens at +10% a level, so a long campaign never runs out of road.

Anything the game automates is visible, attributed to your decisions, and overridable.

The design rule

Also in this box

  • A component-based unit designer
  • Naval, air and space domains
  • Data-only mod packs, embedded in saves
  • Save, close, pick up where you left off

6

Fig. 3.1 The technology workbench.
  1. The six domains
  2. Current research
  3. Research queue
  4. Recommendations, with their effects
  5. The ten eras

7

Nine starting eras. Pick any one.

Begin in 1800 with line infantry and sail, or choose a later starting era in Advanced settings and meet the stars sooner. Later starts grant the technologies of the eras before them.

Columns, cannon and sail on a young homeland at dawn.
1800 · Industrial Dawn
A hand moves a piece across a painted map table of islands and ships.
Every era · your table
Brass starships over a living world, centuries on.
2200 · Interstellar Age
  1. 1800Industrial Dawn
  2. 1900Mass Industry
  3. 1950Atomic Foundations
  4. 1980Global Systems
  5. 2000Information Age
  6. 2050Near Future
  7. 2100Space Age
  8. 2200Interstellar Age
  9. 2500Stellar Dominion

Quick reference

Keep by your keyboard
WASD or arrows
Pan the map
+−
Zoom in and out
Space or N
Next idle unit
T
Technology
U
Unit designer
I
Ledger
M
Market
Esc
Cancel

Mods. The open beta ships with After the Blight, a full conversion set in 2100. Build your own from the base pack. How mods work

Insert disc 1.

Or don’t. It runs in your desktop browser at 1600×900 or larger, with mouse and keyboard. Sign in with Google or GitHub and you’re in.

Play the open beta

The beta sends anonymous play stats: which screens and turns players reach, never your name, email or saves. Switch it off in Settings. This is a 0.9 build; expect rough edges.