Universe Wars: Addicting Online Strategy Game

Universe Wars is a free multi player game of conquest and diplomacy that is played through your web browser. Starting with a small empire, you must manage your resources, research new technologies, and maintain an army capable of defending your people (or is capable of going out and attacking other empires). The game features a robust, active community and the game play is constantly evolving as new features are added.

The game is turn based, meaning that every 15 minutes, the game progresses. Players who want to purchase a plus account can gain a few extra "ticks" every hour, allowing them to build units and perform research faster than players who are playing for free. Players also have the ability to acquire "tokens", either by purchasing them outright or by fulfilling some special offers. Tokens allow you to simulate a tick for your empire, which can help if you need to rebuild your army in a hurry or want to leapfrog over your opponents.

Combat is simple (overly simple some would say). As you progress along the research tree, more and better units become available for you to build, ranging anywhere from a lowly trained attack dog all the way up to stealth bombers. Once you have an army, what you choose to do with it is up to you. You can sit at home and horde resources and perhaps make a little profit buying low and selling high on the trade board, or you can send your army out to try and plunder weaker empires.

Although the universe is big, you don't have to fight alone. Universe Wars also features an alliance system where players can band together. Alliances currently have access to their own message boards and chat rooms, and more alliance specific features are on the way. There are many alliances to choose from, but gaining entry into one is not always easy as they are strictly run by other Universe Wars players. While at this time alliance members cannot combine their armies, there is still a lot of protection to be found when you have a large group of players watching your back. In the coming months combined attacks and defense are going to be introduced, making the choice of an alliance even more critical to your success in the game.

Universe Wars is a game that is still in active development, and a new developer was just added to the team, so new features are currently being finalized for testing. Some of these new features include spying and the ability to combine attacks and defense with other empires. Once combined arms are put in (very soon), the game will take on a whole new dimension as even smaller empires will be able to join in with their more powerful allies to confront their enemies. Combined defense will allow larger alliances to share in the defense of their weaker members as well.

In addition to being a very fun and addictive game with a great community, Universe Wars also gives out prizes at the end of each round (approximately 3 months). The current prize lineup includes an XBOX360 and a SONY PSP. These prizes go to the players who manage to get into the top 3 spots on the worth chart, and competition for these slots is fierce indeed.

Finally, in addition to being able to play the game for free on the normal server, the game also features a beta server where new code and game changes are tested. This server is also free to play on but moves at a highly accelerated pace. Rather than turns coming in 15 minute increments, they occur every single minute, meaning that the action can be fast and furious.

While many people will poo-poo a game that is played entirely through your web browser, Universe Wars offers a fun diversion for players looking for a game that is a bit slower paced than your usual online game, and is a great distraction for people who have a few spare minutes at work.