This one enough people seem to know of, but no one ever says anything about it so maybe not . . .

1) It's a PC game
2) It's a 4x game set in space
3) Second in a series of three
4) Space amoebas and dragons! D:
5) I can frame other races when I spy on people.

My hints suck.
Any ideas?

Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares - SimTex / MicroProse - 1996 - Turn-based 4X



There have been some pretty great offerings in the space 4x genre, and everyone has their own favorites. Some of my friends are solidly behind Alpha Centauri, some behind Sins of Solar Empire (which some people debate is a 4X game), and a few are behind the Galactic Civ series, but Master of Orion II is still my favorite. There's something about the depth its simple exterior holds I love, from my diplomatic options to the leaders I can hire for my systems and fleets, to the sheer customization I have over my ship designs, to taking over other races and breeding them for ideal tasks. This game is on one of my flashdrives and is one of the only PC games that goes with me pretty much everywhere I go.

Starting the game, there are 13 unique races to pick from, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as the option to make a custom race with player selected bonuses and penalties. Not all of the races are equal, of course, so the game isn't perfectly balanced, but seeing that I always play as the Darlocks, who are generally considered one of the worst races in the game, and do well enough, the gap is never insurmountable. It's a lot of fun learning what each race can do and how to play them. Spying is also super satisfying in this game, even if it usually ends up with people quite unhappy (see also: at war) with you, but that's fine because then you can just use your spies to sabotage their defenses.



<3

Most of the game plays out on three screens: a spacemap where you can see the placement of all of the systems (though the details of them are hidden to you unless you send a ship to explore them), colony screens where you can assign what is being built and what people are doing, and war screens for combat. There's also diplomacy, ship design, and research screens to manage, but significantly less time is spent in those.



As you juggle your research, production, and economy you spread across the galaxy reaching for one of several victory conditions: eliminating all other races, being voted galaxy leader, or taking out a 14th race that periodically invades and menaces the galaxy. You can also uncover the Orion star system the game is named after, which contains an excellent planet defended by a powerful guardian that must be defeated to claim it, also netting you a special ship and bonus technologies in the process. Though not required for victory, the Orion system is almost always extremely helpful in taking control of the game.


(pewpewpew)

I'm not especially great at explaining why I like games, or even why they are good, but I know what I enjoy and this game is awesome. It is extremely basic to look at now, and it takes some time to learn, but there is plenty of depth to the experience and I've always felt everything was done right in the title. The game can be picked up (with the first game as well) on GoG for 6 USD, and it's hard to go wrong for that price, especially if you enjoy 4x games. It was actually one of (if not the) first games I got on the site, and you should grab it too because MoO2 is absolutely . . .
an awesome game you should know about!