You already know what’s fairly nice? Good video video games. You already know what makes good video video games even higher? Not having to pay a penny for them. Effectively, I come bearing nice information for lovers of excellent video video games you’ll be able to play with out paying a penny: Planet S is completely free and by all accounts fairly darn good.
Planet S plonks gamers in a photo voltaic system made up of 14 procedurally-generated planets, every various of their terrain and useful resource availability. As a spacefaring ship, you’ll have to land on one of many planets and use the supplies it’s a must to begin settling it, build up your presence to draw extra inhabitants and preserve your economic system rolling.
This can be a technique sport about interplanetary colonisation, so naturally one planet gained’t fairly be sufficient. When you’ve claimed a planet by constructing a spaceport, you’ll then have to stake your declare to a different planet, including its provide of assets to your rising economic system to maintain your inhabitants rising and stage going up. Should you’ve performed basic technique collection Anno earlier than, you’ll be proper at residence with the best way that Planet S approaches its economic system system, inhabitants satisfaction and development. (And sure, I do know Anno 2205 was technically ‘Anno in house’, however Planet S goes a bit farther out than the Moon.)
There are two totally different paths to victory, which come by in the way you determine to spec your planets’ expertise. Should you put money into scientific tech, you’ll be aiming for a peaceable win by scientific development. Dropping your assets into army tech, in the meantime, opens up the flexibility to combat along with your rival gamers and win by domination of the galaxy.
![The research tree screen in free RTS Planet S](https://assetsio.reedpopcdn.com/planet-s-gameplay-research-tree.jpg?width=690&quality=80&format=jpg&auto=webp)
As you’d anticipate, every analysis kind comes with its personal expertise tree full of recent buildings and bonuses that can be utilized to advance your civilisation. You can too commerce along with your fellow space-civs, with as much as 4 gamers in a position to play collectively in on-line PvP.
Planet S has simply emerged from a 12 months of early entry, and its full launch reveals a number of indicators of being a bit barebones nonetheless – the tutorial is a bit restricted, as are choices for CPU opponents. Builders TeamJA have plans for extra patches and quality-of-life enhancements within the close to future, together with a much bigger replace so as to add help for mods subsequent spring.
That stated, it is a free RTS you’ll be able to play with mates, and its Steam critiques are a glowing “Very Constructive”, with reward for its deep-yet-approachable technique, satisfying gameplay loop – particularly in multiplayer – customisable maps and rock-solid providing. Plus, it’s utterly free – have I discussed that? Go and check it out on Steam.