Alliance of the Sacred Suns – Everything We Know So Far

It was easy to have preconceived thoughts about the space 4X game Alliance of the Sacred Suns before I even started playing it in my demo.

As a result of over-saturation in the past decade, this specific niche – which frequently looks to Masters of Orion 2 or Alpha Centauri as the poster child – has been over-saturated.

Alliance of the Sacred Suns

Endless games that promise some variant of ‘Civilization in space' have made me a little cautious about what is to come.

Because Iceberg Interactive's Star Dynasties had already done the ‘Crusader Kings in space' thing, I was skeptical that the final of Hooded Horse's trio of strategy games could offer me anything new that I hadn't already seen. It turns out that I was mistaken (mostly).

What is Alliance of the Sacred Suns?

Alliance of the Sacred Suns is a turn-based strategy game in which the player takes control of an intergalactic empire as the ruling emperor or empress.

As opposed to playing as an abstraction of a collective, you play as a person, who has a number of different attributes, the most important of which is health.

Alliance of the Sacred Suns Gameplay

When it comes to this specific game, you only have one life – and only one chance – to prove yourself to be the greatest king the galaxy has ever seen. Once your character dies, the game is over for that character.

In strategy games like Crusader Kings, planning for the future (particularly in terms of building the groundwork for your heir) is just as crucial as planning for the present moment.

When you die in Alliance of the Sacred Suns, there isn't anybody to take your place as the leader of the faction.

Alliance of the Sacred Suns

Your activities are represented by action points, which signify your ability to concentrate on specific projects or actions during each turn. The majority of jobs require AP to do, while some are minor or tedious in nature and can be completed for free.

Also, keep in mind that you are not the only ‘character' in the universe; in order to accomplish anything significant, you will need to communicate with someone else. Your empire is home to several magnificent mansions, and you'll have to work hard to keep the house heads on your side.

Planets are managed by governors, and if you want a planet to work on a certain project, you'll have to approach the governor who is currently in charge of the planet.

The game is intended to be less micro-intensive than your standard 4X, and I was pleasantly impressed by what I saw in the early stages of development.

It is, however, still considered “indie” in the sense that it is a small studio working on a passion project with a low budget.

It also appears that the developer is not capitalizing on the unique aspects of AoSS to the extent that they could be – for example, by establishing some type of meta-layer to provide significance between repeated ‘runs' of being king.

Alliance of the Sacred Suns Trailer

Alliance of the Sacred Suns Release Date

Alliance of the Sacred Suns is aiming for a release in the first quarter of 2022.

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