Galactic Civilizations II has just been released. Outside of Civ, the epic turn-based strategy game market has been pretty small this decade, so it’s good to see another successful franchise in the space. Brad Wardell, the lead designer, gave me a chance to play-test the game late last year, and I had fun with it. It’s certainly a step up from its predecessor, which was a good game that was probably put together on a wing and a prayer.

This version should hold a lot of appeal for fans of the Civ series. Unlike MOO, it sticks pretty closely to the turn-based, tile-based game mechanic of Sid’s original game. However, it definitely falls on the “more complex” side of the spectrum (it has more “stuff” in it than Civ4, for example…), but it starts small, which is key.

At any rate, turn-based fans should give it a look!