In a typical play session, you must balance your attention between exploring the galaxy, managing your economy, funding technological research and manipulating diplomatic relationships with other intelligent players (whether those intelligences are human or artificial is up to you).

But that’s too simple to encapsulate what it’s like to play Sins of A Solar Empire. Ostensibly, it’s a real-time strategy game set in space. If you’re unfamiliar with Sins of A Solar Empire, thanks for clicking on this headline! You’re clearly an adventurous soul, which suggests you may enjoy exploring the many spaceships, tech trees and diplomacy options Sins places at your disposal for the sole purpose of conquering a galaxy. While the average match remains the same (you’ll still spend hours conquering planets and blasting pirates), the division of each side into Loyalist/Rebel factions and the addition of four new victory conditions make playing Sins of A Solar Empire: Rebellion feel like a new adventure. The second phase of the Sins of A Solar Empire: Rebellion beta went live this week, so I spent some time playing with the new units and factions to figure out how Rebellion changes the slow, strategic pace that the space-based RTS Sins of A Solar Empire is famous for.

Sins of a solar empire advent