14 DAY TRIAL // 
Imogene Pugh rules seven-star systems, one personally, the others via trusted vassals who like her. She can also conquer two more but is not yet willing to accept the reputation drop involved before some claims are fabricated. She also has a sister, married off to a distant duke, that regularly tries to draw her into wars without merit. But the biggest problem in Imogen’s life is that her family is getting too big, a major faux pas in a universe of limited resources. So she needs to deal with an unhappy son, who she needs to lead her fleet. A fleet that will be a major part of a rebellion that should make her a powerful Archon.
Star Dynasties was developed by Pawley Games and published by Iceberg Interactive on the PC. The game is a strategy title with a science fiction theme that is more focused on characters and their actions than in massive battles or careful industry management.
The premise on which the game’s world is based is elegant: Earth has started colonizing space, but the home planet was lost. Now colonies, regressing to a feudal system, battle for power and prestige, unable to fully use, repair, or develop the tech of their ancient home. Intrigue and diplomacy are important. War has the potential to shatter colonies and render planets lifeless, a huge loss given the precarious foothold humanity has among the stars. It’s a great setup. The game has plenty of interactions and events, with good if not spectacular writing.
Star Dynasties is a clever take on classic space-based strategy. The game has planet management, space battles, diplomacy, and tech advances. But the focus of the game is on the characters of the house the player creates. Developing a planet means choosing who’s best at management and assigning that person to work on something. Diplomacy involves characters talking to each other, attending feasts, or engaging in seduction. Everything is filtered through characters, which limits the number of things one can do. Players need to set priorities and accept that their resources are limited. They also need to deal with the powerful rulers around them and see how their own agenda will affect plans.
Gamers inhabit the customized persona of the leader of a feudal family spread among the stars. Each turn action points are used to direct family members to act, shoring up the defense of a planned, getting some more taxes from subjects, assassinating a rival, or leading a fleet to war. Players need to pay attention to their family’s reputation because a strong honor system governs relations between rulers. Break too many rules and you have a lot fewer people willing to come and help in a war. But family heads also have a happiness level and sometimes a rule needs to be broken to make sure that they don’t become depressed.
Combat in Star Dynasties is very abstracted. Maintaining surprise is important, planning attacks is almost a requirement, making sure that allies like you are crucial. Once an assault has launched both defender and attacker can call on other rulers to help them. Innate military power is often less important than keeping allies close and motivated.
The game also features narrative events and a lot of interactions between characters. It’s never too much to keep track of. Nonetheless, there were things I tended to ignore when my own fiefdom was not directly involved, simply because I did not know those characters or cared about their story.
It does take time to get all the nuances of Star Dynasties. All the information a player needs is in the game but there’s plenty of reading to do to make sure that you are fully informed about the cost of breaking an oath versus the advantage of keeping a family member happy.
Star Dynasties does not shine like a massive star with habitable planets when it comes to its graphics. It looks solid for a strategy title but has little in the way of flourishes. The developers have managed to create a good user interface, with plenty of info available at all types and a system that offers more details on hover. The soundtrack contributes, unfortunately, little to the overall atmosphere. I suggest your favorite space rock band or the soundtrack to the various Dune adaptations as a better option.
The Good
- Star spanning strategy
- Complex interactions
- Unique combat system
The Bad
- High abstraction layer
- Has a learning curve
- Limited soundtrack
Conclusion
The expectation of a traditional 4X structure is probably the biggest obstacle most players will encounter on their road towards enjoyment. Pawley Games does offer a good tutorial and extensive documentation to make the transition easier and failure in the first few games is to be expected. But Star Dynasties is the only game that currently combines Crusader Kings and Dune in an interesting way and I plan to spend a lot of time with it, finding new ways to rule over humanity’s beleaguered colonies.
Review code provided by the publisher.
