Galax

"Simple Strategy Game, Nothing Too Exciting"

Welcome to the world of Galax, the interstellar struggle among the humans, the Gubrus, and the Czen. You will compete with your fearsome opponents for galactic domination!

Ok, so it's not quite that exciting. The ''galaxy'' is just a small grid of planets and mostly empty space. You and each of your rival civilizations start by occupying one planet, while the other 37 are independent.

As the game progresses, your planets will produce more ships, which you sent out to conquer independent planets. Your enemies will do the same. Finally you will fight your enemies and, if you are good enough, take over the galaxy. Obviously, you will want to have more planets so you can produce ships faster. And you will want to keep your planets well defended, as you never know when they will be attacked. Due to the large size of the galaxy, there is a time delay between when you send your ships out and when they reach their destination, and that time delay depends on how far the planets are from each other.

There are several other interesting features incorporated into the game. Although you can usually predict the outcome of a battle by looking at the defender's advantage, sometimes the attackers will get lucky and strike first. You also cannot see how many ships a planet produces each year or how many ships are stationed there at first, but you can find out by attacking a few times and getting scouting information.

Sounds simple, and it is. I have really told you all there is to know about playing the game. Winning is quite easy too; I managed to conquer the galaxy on my first try, and without much sweat. The challenge comes in trying to conquer the galaxy as quickly as possible, which admittedly requires a good strategy, but isn't nearly as fun.

Galax is fun the first few rounds, which will go quickly. It gets boring very quickly. There is simply very little to do, your opponent's strategies will make you shake your head in sadness, and conquering the galaxy quickly just isn't that satisfying.

The graphics are as simple as can be, unsurprising because this is a rather old game. Planets are little symbols representing who controls them, and ships are represented by a small ship icon. There is no color and no sound.

In summary, Galax is a simple and somewhat boring strategy game. It appears to have been thrown together in a short amount of time and for no real purpose. Perhaps the programmers were bored. At any rate, give this game a chance only if you are truly desperate for a strategy game to keep yourself amused.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 04/06/02, Updated 04/06/02