Game review

There's a lot to like about the game, but I keep stopping after a few turns.

I have no idea what I should be doing.

When should I build that second city? Never? When I have 2 armies? When I have an alliance? No idea. No hint. No clue. So hard to play like this.

Basically I've built a stack of death and just focusing on wandering around aimlessly. Good for a few turns but...I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Should I try to seek out all the "neutral" factions before expanding? Focus on getting just one ally? No idea.

I want to like the game, but...man, I have no idea what I should be doing, when. Knowing the the punishment for building that second city is basically "game over" if I do it wrong, really cuts into the fun. I just don't know how to play a 4x game when you can't expand.

I definitely don't see it as that severe of a punishment. It's a conversation with Mirdoth, like any other - you might take a hit to Threat, but it's probably early enough in the game that one point of Threat isn't the end of the world. (If it IS the end of the world, you probably need to handle other parts of your early game differently, but I ain't the boss of you.)

My advice would be to get serious about building your second city a little before you are running dry of Logistics - which, if nothing else, will happen when you build Outposts to claim Shards.

I don't think I've ever seen a 4X that DID tell me when I should build my second city; my answer is usually "absolutely as soon as possible," but I am by no means a top 4X strategist.

Well, I sure died fast the first time I did it...so now I have no idea when. Definitely could use some clues. You can build things to up your logistics. I have 4 crystals controlled...can I use that to get a clue?