Stellaris

Stellaris took the proven skeleton of grand strategy games and moved it into space, where the player first builds their own civilization: choosing the species' appearance and traits, its ethics, form of government, and method of interstellar travel. The game then begins with a single planet and a handful of ships, and the first dozens of hours belong to exploration. Survey ships fly from system to system, stumbling upon anomalies, the wreckage of long-dead empires, and strange phenomena that trigger short story events. This phase, when the map is still dark and every jump might bring anything, is among the best the game has to offer.

Gradually, though, a second face opens up: managing a growing empire. Colonies need resources and labor, the population has opinions of its own and can rebel, neighbors form federations, and the galactic community votes on laws you might not like. Alongside ordinary wars lurk crises that can upend an entire game, whether awakened ancient empires or a threat arriving from outside the galaxy in the late game. The military side relies on designing your own ships, assembling weapons, shields, and engines based on what you know about the enemy.

The game has undergone an extraordinarily extensive transformation since release. Several major free updates fundamentally rewrote the way of interstellar travel and planet management, while paid expansions added entirely new ways to play, from machine civilizations to a focus on trade or espionage. Reception was very good, and Stellaris quickly became its studio's most approachable title, since it requires no knowledge of history, just a willingness to experiment. Today it's the best game for anyone who wants to experience a sci-fi story of their own civilization, from the first jump to the stars all the way to galactic politics, and doesn't mind that the most interesting things often happen off the battlefield. The slower mid-game stretch is often criticized, but the early exploration and the late crises rank among the strongest experiences the genre offers.