Old Light

Old Light is a persistent multiplayer space strategy game played in a web browser. Each player starts with a single star system on a hex map of a shared galaxy and grows it into an empire by upgrading its structures and capturing nearby stars. Builds and fleet movements run on real-time timers lasting from minutes to days, so the game is played in short check-ins a few times a day while the galaxy keeps moving offline. Ownership and borders of every empire are visible across the whole map, but what a rival has built stays hidden until it is scouted with probes. Fleets combine four ship classes: probes for reconnaissance, marauders for attack, sentinels for defense and vanguards for capturing systems. Battles are resolved by the server without manual control. Computer-controlled empires spawn around each new player and follow the same rules as human players. Players can message each other and agree deals that exchange systems and credits or set up a 14-day peace treaty.