The game is like Civilization in space. I'd say it's less complicated than SoaSE; it's turn based so you have more time to think, there's no resource gathering and overall less micro managing. In my opinion it's the best space game of the games I've played. It has all the ingredients I've always wanted in such a game; designing your own ships, very large and informative tech tree, planets that vary in type and size and they are very detailed overall. The only thing lacking is the space combat. You can't "control" the battle, but you can play cards that affect the outcome of it and fleets consist at most a dozen or so ships.