Zomb's Lair

Alien Legacy is a criminally underrated game. It bears some similarities to games like Starflight and Star Control (and, to a lesser extent, some childhood favorites on the Commodore 64 - Psi-5 Trading Company and Supremacy). Personally, I like it more than Starflight and put in the same neighborhood as Star Control II; which, if you're familiar with Star Control II, you'll understand is a pretty astounding statement considering there's a good chance you've never heard of this game.

 

It combines exploration and colony management overlapping a very interesting, albeit slow burning, story. You take the role of the commander of a long-range seed ship called The Calypso, which carries a cryogenically frozen crew who may just be humanity's last hope for survival given that things on Earth aren't going so swell. No pressure.

 

Things start slowly in Alien Legacy but get progressively more and more complex as you expand your colonies across multiple planets. You’re able to use transportation vehicles to explore the surface of planets to find resources and remnants of past civilizations and various anomalies. It may not sound that enthralling on paper but it really is - exploring and making various discoveries on these alien planets and using them to research advanced technologies is really great stuff.

 

Alien Legacy really makes you feel like a stranger in a strange land, on your own and far removed from home. Thankfully, you're surrounded by helpful advisers that can give you suggestions to better improve your colonies. I think Alien Legacy does a better job than many games in this genre in helping you have a good idea what you should be doing at any given moment; especially in the beginning where they really help ease you into your role.

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If you have even a passing interest in games like Starflight or Star Control, or just strategy and management games in general, you should really check out Alien Legacy. It's thoroughly engrossing and absolutely worth your time.