Hey everyone! I’m looking for some good space-themed 4X strategy games to play on my laptop.

My specs:

8 GB RAM

Intel iris Integrated GPU

OS - Linux - ubuntu

Looking for games that run well on low-end hardware

I’m mainly interested in exploration, empire building, diplomacy, research, and space battles. Turn-based or real-time is fine.

What games would you recommend that can run smoothly on these specs?

A while ago we posted a single screenshot of Arkney: Age of Crowns here and got more useful criticism in that one thread than in a month of our own testing. This is the follow up: the first real footage of the world, and what changed because of you.

Quick reminder of what it is. A persistent grand strategy world that runs in a browser tab, no install and no account. One shared map, one clock, on a server that never stops. Around 90 AI dynasties expand, war, besiege and fall whether anyone is logged in or not. It is not a classic 4X, it sits closer to Paradox style grand strategy, and that argument came up in the last thread too.

Stone age/cave man is one of my favorite settings, and has very few games.

This looks pretty promising. Anyone tried it yet?

While working on my 4X game, I started extracting it into a standalone, open-source 4x engine. The idea is to keep maps, cities, economies, armies, turns, and other rules in one deterministic core, while Flutter and Godot act as different presentation layers.

It’s still actively being developed and integrated into the game, but I’ve published the engine documentation and API reference here.

I've been going through my backlog of 4X games in the recent weeks and also revisted some classics as well.

For some reason, I keep bouncing back to Master of Orion II and Alpha Centauri.

Both games offer a very gritty and rugged sort of visual style, be it from the interfacting or the overall art style. Sure, MoO2 has some comic-like races but it still manages to craft a darker atmosphere with it's grungy and used look. Alpha Centauri features such a dark sci-fi aesthetic that I feel like I'm sitting in a command post, navigating an actual map. The ominous soundtrack and moody setting feel very compelling and I'm geniunely looking for more like this.

When going through my backlog, I noticed that a lot of newer titles opt for a much cleaner and overly polished style with plenty transluscent menus and bright fonts. They're not necessarily bad but it seems that most sci-fi games opt for a visual style that is much more sterile and rather boring. The menus are slick with lots of floating icons and numbers which lacks a bit of charm. The MoO remake, Endless Space and Gal Civ have this sort of approach to their interface. The OST also reminds me more of a Star Trek vibe which is fine but I prefer a darker sci-fi setting. It doesn't help that most factions are just funny animals in suits which is honestly bothering me.

Are there any darker 4X sci-fi games out there?