The Actual Game is a mixture of tactics and strategy. While managing the economy, planets, trade and constructing on a planet fall into the 4X strategy games category (explore, expand, exploit, exterminate - you know... games like Master of Orion or Civilization), building structures and ships in space and the fight style get that classic real time strategy look and feel (closest I can think of is Warcraft III).

Then there are a few other tricks one can use to make his stellar empire more... stellar. The huge upgrade tree is split into two major sections: one helps improve your combat abilities and one brings economy benefits. Each of the two contains around 40 abilities (though some have two or even three tiers of upgrades), and is split further into three categories. These abilities vary enough for each race to make the difference. And I say that because I am a bit disappointed with the ships and buildings that even though have a different model for each race, don't vary too much in functionality.

Let us start from the planetary level, and build our way up to those stars and far away galaxies, shall we?

Clicking on the planet icon (green thing) brings up the menu that allows you to construct things on your planet. You can build additional civilian infrastructure, emergency facilities to shelter the population when the planet is being assaulted or expand the logistics or tactical structures slots around the planet. You can also investigate the planet's surface in order to find artifacts or you can change a planet to be your empire's capital.

Clicking on your planet and selecting either the logistics or tactical buttons, you can construct various buildings in orbit. Basic logistic buildings are the extractors that bring resources to your empire, shipyards to construct your army and your capital ships and upgrade structures that allow you to research new abilities with the help of the research menu. Add to that any specific buildings that each race has, but must be researched first in order to be built.

Resources consist in Credits, Metal and Crystal. While the first ship designs and buildings use credits, you will need crystal the more you progress in the game for more advanced stuff.

Don't worry about having ships that collect resources or construct buildings. Two of these are always constructed automatically, and if they are destroyed they will be replaced without your intervention. You can select them, but they are really small, and there is no point to really. Just click on the planet and you'll see everything you need there.

Building a trade port around each planet brings your empire greater income, and additional trade treaties can be signed with other competing empires to benefit both economies. Just use the diplomacy menu to share resources, offer a cease fire, ship or planet vision, and so on and so forth.

Going further up the later, we find the ships and shipbuilding. Three sections are available: Frigates are the bulk of your army, small and cheap ship for any situation. Cruisers are more powerful ships, but they will cost you more. Finally, Capital ships possess unique abilities, gain experience and can level up. Ship control and battles are very similar to Warcraft III. Your "hero" (read "capital ship") has passive or offensive abilities, gaining the most powerful one at level 6. Some capital ships are good for support offering auras like Concentration, or Vampiric, others are more direct damage oriented or planetary assault. Mana is called antimatter by the way.

Initially you can only build one capital ship. The situation can be "fixed" by accessing the Fleet Logistics menu and upgrading your fleet size or number of capital ships you can have at one time, but at the cost of a higher upkeep (lower resource income).