Aurora

Aurora (2009, Aurora team) is a spaceship simulator that treats you like a galactic CEO with a penchant for spreadsheet warfare. Build ships, manage crews, explore the stars, and survive encounters that often feel like cosmic paperwork nightmares. The depth is staggering: every decision has consequences, and every mistake is a lesson in interstellar bureaucracy. Complex, unforgiving, but endlessly rewarding for strategy and simulation fans, Aurora proves that even ASCII-inspired spaceships can be epic.

“Aurora is a 4X (eXpand, eXplore, eXploit, and eXterminate) science fiction strategy game. Players develop their interstellar empire from the humble beginnings on their homeworld to conquer the universe, or be pummeled into the ashes of history by opposing races. Some say it has the graphical charm of an income tax assistant software from the late nineties, but a playing depth that more than rivals any commercial 4X game. Aurora is different because it places emphasis on fleet operations and detailed tactical combat. The game is under constant development and there is an active and friendly player community in the forum that will help you with any question or problem you might encounter.” - Aurora team