PC Gamer - UK (2022-04)

Stellar Monarch 2

EARLY ACCESS PREVIEW

Like its predecessor, Stellar Monarch 2

puts you in the role of emperor, while

stripping away much of the busywork that

you really think would be beneath them. Is

it really the emperor’s job to move

individual ships around and fight tactical

battles wherever they crop up?

So, battles are automated and

off-screen, while settling new worlds

will happen even without your input,

thanks to AI that defends your

interests and expands your empire, on

your behalf. If enemies attack a colony,

one of your fleets will move to defend it.

Likewise, uncolonised planets will

gradually be bolted onto your empire.

It can be hard to see that these things

are happening, as you stare at a 2D star

map. Instead, you have to hover over lots

of tiny icons, and read pop-up tooltips to

get a sense for the events going on behind

the scenes. Thankfully, major occurrences

• newly discovered worlds, or alien
  invasions – are brought to your attention
  at the start of every turn.
  If you would prefer to stick your oar in,
  you can prioritise certain planets by
  ‘encouraging’ colonisation there, or tell

your admirals where to send their fleets.

But your decisions are mainly high-level:

declaring war and proposing trade

agreements, and holding court for the

houses that comprise your empire.

COURT SHORT

Before I go on, I should make it clear that

this is in Early Access – very Early Access.

There are features as yet unimplemented,

and a paltry bundle of repeated narrative

events, making the central court business

less involving than it should be.

Every few turns, you get to sit on your

big space throne and listen to the requests

of the various nobles of your empire.

There might be a dispute between two

houses, or an incident that must be

exposed, or covered up. Your decisions

will influence house standings, augment

your coffers, or spark future events.

However, these scenes repeat too often,

and lack meaningful repercussions.

Silver Lemur Games is open about the

state of the game; there are even

on-screen stats keeping you abreast of

progress. Still, I was looking forward to

some courtly intrigue, and it’s barely here.

What is here is a skeletal, but robust

4X strategy game.

I feel encouraged by the depth of

it. I enjoyed just scrolling the star

map, hovering over those little icons

to get a sense for the systems whirring

under the hood. And there appears to be

plenty happening: fleets moving around,

planets being won and lost, and alien

empires... though those feel a bit static.

We’re promised alien civilisations who

“play by different rules” than our human

empire. And that’s true for insectoids the

Hive. But the other civs – there are quite a

few – seem fairly inert in this version. I’ll be

interested to see if, and how, this

asymmetry will play out in a later build.

The Steam page isn’t clear on how this

is different from the previous game, but it

features revamped battle mechanics,

while there are plans for more high-level

management systems. There are also

additional game modes teased, which will

focus more on internal politicking, or your

entanglements with the aliens around you.

But I wouldn’t buy this yet, if you’ve not

played the previous game. Play that first,

then circle back to this later if you’re a fan.

Tom Sykes

W

ith Stellaris not quite being Crusader

Kings in space, it’s fallen to indie devs to

make games about Dune-esque space

feudalism. We’ve had Star Dynasties, and

the upcoming Alliance of the Sacred Suns. And,

garnering a lot less attention, there are the Stellar

Monarch games, quietly expanding while the bigger

empires hog the limelight.

The empire strikes back

S T E L L A R

MONARCH 2

MAJOR OCCURRENCES ARE

BROUGHT TO YOUR ATTENTION

AT THE START OF EVERY TURN

EXPET TO PAY

£19.50

DEVELOPER

Silver Lemur Games

PUBLISHER

In-house

LINK

bit.ly/StellarMonarch2

NEED TO KNOW

PLAYED

IT

The blue lines
mark the extent of
your empire.