

And we can also stop the action any time we want if one of us needs to deal with something important in the game. Everyone playing has something to do all the time, even if it’s just taking stock. Not only is space a pretty backdrop, but the graphics and ambient atmosphere hold up excellently after five years.

We like it because it’s absolutely gorgeous. Much like Civilization VI, you’ll be controlling an entire empire but in Stellaris you’ll move beyond a single planet to conquer the stars. The point of the game is to manage your civilization by choosing and enforcing government policies, building and directing your military, deciding what to research, and slowly expanding its influence across the game maps. But, in this case, Civilization VI was our gateway drug. It marks our first foray together into something close to a title in the grand strategy genre.

Why Stellaris? My fiancee and I have been gaming together for years but this one’s a bit “advanced” for us. We’ll be focusing on the vanilla game for the purposes of this article. Stellaris launched to critical and player acclaim in 2016 and has picked up numerous free patches and DLC expansions since.
