We Love It's Guide to…
Lead a spacefaring civilization in turn-based galactic strategy, colonizing planets, researching technology, and pursuing victory.
Released 14 May 2015
Design Custom Starships
Colonize Alien Worlds
Spy on Rival Worlds
Build a civilization that will stand the test of time in the largest space-based strategy game ever! Choose from dozens of unique races and make a name for yourself across the galaxy through diplomacy, espionage, technological advances, and more.
Developed by Stardock Entertainment · Published by Stardock Entertainment






Choose a civilization and guide it from a starting world into a galactic empire. Each turn, expand across a changing map by scouting and colonizing planets, gathering resources, and developing your economy.
Research a broad technology tree, improve your worlds, and design starships for exploration or combat. You can also negotiate with rival civilizations, trade, form alliances, wage war, and use espionage to disrupt opponents.
Set up sandbox games with different map sizes, planets, resources, and events, or play story campaigns. Pursue military, cultural, technological, or political victory; faction and civilization customization, citizens, and other systems add further choices.
Players who enjoy the game often praise building a civilization across a large galaxy, the range of strategic choices, and the freedom to design ships or customize factions. Several describe its turn-based pace as approachable and relaxing while still offering depth and replay variety. Criticism frequently targets AI behavior and difficulty balance, with some players also finding conflict hard to avoid; others mention unclear systems, bugs, or a weaker campaign compared with sandbox play.
| Platforms | Windows |
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| Achievements | 102 |
| Age ratings |
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| Players | 1–101 |
| Play modes |
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| Other modes |
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| Multiplayer | Galactic Civilizations III supports single-player and online multiplayer. The store page states online PvP and online co-op, and says players can play online with friends, including support for custom civilizations and saved multiplayer games. Multiplayer is described as letting players face fellow players instead of only AI opponents. Reviews indicate multiplayer is turn-based, not simultaneous-turn, and commonly played with friends, but often reported as unstable. |
| Multiplayer & mods | Steam Workshop is supported. The game supports custom civilizations in multiplayer. Reviews mention workshop ships and modifications, and one review says hosts cannot play with friends who do not own the expansions. User-made races can affect balance. No explicit statement confirms all mods are multiplayer-compatible. |
| Controller required | No |
| DLC / extras | 17 listed on Steam |
| Content notices |
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| Metacritic | 81/100 View on Metacritic |
| Website | Official website |