Expansion Empire Play the open beta

Expansion Empire

A turn-based grand-strategy 4X. Guide a nation from industry to interstellar power in one unbroken campaign, 1800 to 3000.

Play the open beta Zoom through the game

Open beta, free. Sign in with Google or GitHub. Desktop browser, 1600×900 or larger.

One game, three maps

The galaxy map: a hex field of nebulae with the player's home system marked and unexplored sectors shown as question marks.
Galaxy. Galaxies of 4, 8, or 96 systems. Sectors you haven't reached are marked with a question mark.
A star system map: a hex field around a yellow star with outpost sites between nebulae.
System. Star systems of 37, 61, or 91 sectors, with the same Command, Military, Economy, Outposts, Claims and Explore lenses.
A planet map: islands of forest, desert and ice across a hex sea, with units and settlements marked.
Planet. Planet maps in four sizes. This is where armies march, cities grow, and plans pay off.

A galaxy to cross

Galaxies of 4, 8, or 96 systems. Sectors you haven't reached stay marked with a question mark until you do.

A system to claim

Star systems of 37, 61, or 91 sectors. The same command lenses follow you across every scale.

A world to build

Planet maps in four sizes. This is where armies march, cities grow, and a plan finally pays off.

One save, one empire, no sequel break. The galaxy and system maps open when you research Spaceflight, or when you start in a later era.

The diplomacy panel listing three neighboring nations, each with its peace status and integration progress, over the planet map.
Each neighbor shows its integration progress and the next legal step.

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 legal trust, alliance and integration gates you do. Our rule: a win you can't trace back to your own plan is a failed win.

Four ways to win

  • Objective victories, with a score fallback
  • Score at the turn cap
  • Last nation standing
  • An endless sandbox
The technology workbench: six research domains with progress bars, a research queue, and recommended technologies with their effects.
The technology workbench: six domains, ten eras, and what each recommendation actually does.

Six domains. Ten eras. Nothing hidden.

Military, Science, Industry, Statecraft, Infrastructure and Spaceflight each advance on their own track. Exhaust the tree and perpetual Mastery research opens, at +10% per level, so a long campaign never runs out of advancement.

Our design rule: anything the game automates is visible, attributed to your decisions, and overridable.

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

Start in any of nine eras.

Begin in 1800 with line infantry and sail, or jump ahead and meet the stars sooner.

  1. 1800Industrial DawnE0
  2. 1900Mass IndustryE1
  3. 1950Atomic FoundationsE2
  4. 1980Global SystemsE3
  5. 2000Information AgeE4
  6. 2050Near FutureE5
  7. 2100Space AgeE6
  8. 2200Interstellar AgeE7
  9. 2500Stellar DominionE8

Screens

Captured from the open beta at 1600×900, unretouched.

Trailer. 39 seconds of real captures from the open beta, 1800 to the stars, and the bundled After the Blight mod. Sound on.

Play the open beta.

It runs in a 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. You can switch it off in Settings. Expect rough edges; this is a 0.9 build.