14 DAY TRIAL // Neptune's Pride is a perfect example of how real time strategy gaming can evolve and expand to include ever increasing audiences. It's very simple to understand and complicated to play at the same time in part because of the way it stretches over quite a long time those well encapsulated gameplay events that can happen in a few minutes in other titles. It is fully played in a browser and the basic tier is free for anyone who logs in with a Google account. There's also an option to put some money in so that you can choose how the game plays out and who joins.
Neptune's Pride is based around galactic conquest. The player can choose how to develop planets using the money they have, where to send fleets of their ships and what technologies to research. But the most important thing you do while playing this strategy title is think and talk to those playing with you. Games are not lost in a day or two but since I began playing Neptune's Pride, I found that actually doing stuff in the game interface takes up less time than thinking about it while doing other things in real life.
I started my most recent match yesterday. I don't have the best position out there. I am Orange and to my North, I have a Green player that managed to expand pretty much at the same pace as I have. To the South, I have a bright Red player who is even quicker in gaining worlds and they seem to be focused on getting their speed tech as high as they can. Only to the East do I have some easy pickings in the form of a Yellow that does not appear to do much expanding at the moment. Turtling does not seem to be a viable strategy in Neptune's Pride, so I will probably expand in that direction. The only problem is that getting to their star sphere will probably take some two to three days, depending on the route.
Jay Kyburz, one of the men behind Neptune's Pride, says that “We don't believe strategy games need to be overly complex and in fact the games we most enjoy have simple mechanics and an emphasis on player interaction and diplomacy.” It might not involve much gameplay but Neptune's Pride managed to get me hooked in the 3 hours I needed to conquer my first star.