Caltrops - Galactic Civilizations





	[quote name="Mischief Maker"]...have you tried Startopia? Many people haven't, probably because of the lame boxart, and it's a real pity because it truly is a delightful game. It's the spiritual successor to Dungeon Keeper, ditching not only its fantasy setting, but also its most glaring gameplay flaws, creating a competitive management game where every piece fits. Essentially, the game takes place after the end of a devastating galactic war. You are a manager rennovating a gigantic torus-shaped space station into an intergalactic tourist trap for 9 different alien races and their assorted tastes. You have your nuts-and-bolts engineering deck, where your power reactor sits, along with factories, sick bays, security, and cheap coffin motels, then there's the entertainment deck, where you build discos, shops, fountains, rides, and yes, Space Hotels. Finally there's the biodeck, which you can shape and mold, creating mountains and lakes and valleys, adjusting the warmth and moisture of the nanosoil to create environments that suit the spiritual needs of your guests, before hiring farmers to plant a wide variety of alien flora that look nice up on the biodeck, can be rendered into free resources, or can be potted and used to freshen up the engineering and entertainment decks (with actual gameplay effects). As you build your little paradise in the stars, rival managers are building their own tourist traps in other parts of the ring, and your goal ultimately is to force them out and take sole ownership of the entire station. There are plenty of strategic options, but in the lulls you can just glide around your station, taking in the 2001 slope of the decks, and watch your guests and employees interact in various humorous ways. It really feels like a bustling space bazaar. GOG has it cheap. Pollyanna, Bitches![/quote]