First,
let’s
address
the
name
and
what
Nexus
5X
is
part
of.
You
see,
this
game
is
actually
a
spinoff
of
Stellaris,
a
grand
strategy
game
set
in
space
where
you
oversee
vast
empires,
eventually
dominating
through
scientific
research,
economic
superiority,
cultural
brilliance,
or
just
blowing
the
shit
out
of
everybody
else.
It
used
to
be
called
Stellaris
Nexus,
a
perfectly
sensible
name,
but
I
guess
the
developers
worried
that
potential
customers
might
assume
they
needed
experience
with
Stellaris
to
play
it.
For
some
freaking
baffling
reason,
they
decided
to
rename
it
Nexus
5X,
which
also
happens
to
be
the
name
of
an
Android
phone
released
in
2015.
Guess
which
one
pops
up
on
the
Google
search
results
first?
I’ll
give
you
a
hint:
it
isn’t
the
game.

Dubious
naming
aside,
the
basic
idea
is
that
Nexus
5X
wants
take
those
massive,
grand
strategy
games
like
Stellaris
and
condense
the
whole
thing
into
a
much
faster
experience
for
people
who
don’t
have
the
time
or
patience
to
spend
dozens
of
hours
on
a
single
match.
It’s
an
idea
I
can
very
much
get
behind
because
as
much
as
I
love
the
idea
of
grand
strategy
games,
I
do
find
myself
getting
bored
halfway
through
a
match
and
wandering
off
to
do
something
else.
Such
is
the
curse
of
having
an
attention
span
equivalent
to
puppy
with
intense
ADD
and
constant
access
to
the
sugar
jar.

It
does
struggle
a
little
when
it
comes
to
explaining
it
all,
mind
you.
There’s
a
basic
tutorial
followed
by
an
eight
mission
campaign
which
acts
as
a
sort
of
advanced
learning
zone
before
you
head
online
and
realise
that
there
are
a
lot
of
very
skilled
players
out
there
who
will
not
feel
guilty
about
smashing
your
empire
into
dust.
The
tutorial
isn’t
terrible,
but
there
were
definitely
concepts
and
mechanics
that
I
ran
into
later
which
caused
much
head
scratching
and
a
few
restarts
until
I
figured
things
out.

On
each
turn
you’ll
have
a
couple
of
edicts
to
choose
from
which
are
drawn
from
your
faction
leader’s
deck.
Some
are
unique
to
each
faction,
others
are
more
generalised,
like
being
able
to
build
new
projects
on
planets
you
control
or
selecting
what
research
to
focus
on
or
deploying
a
science
vessel
to
check
out
a
weird
looking
nebula
that
may
or
may
not
be
hiding
a
space
monster.
The
most
powerful
edicts
won’t
appear
until
your
leader
has
levelled
up,
but
it’s
worth
the
effort
because
they
let
you
do
things
like
buy
out
an
opposing
player’s
planet
or
summon
a
giant
crystalline
alien.

You’ll
also
be
able
to
order
your
fleets
of
ships
around,
reinforce
existing
fleets,
merge
them
together
or
order
the
construction
of
news
fleets.
The
number
of
ships
you
can
have
deployed
at
any
given
time
is
controlled
by
your
total
military
power,
so
if
you’re
aiming
to
be
the
aggressive
super
power
you’ll
naturally
want
to
focus
on
building
things
that
will
provide
more
power,
and
push
for
research
that
will
make
your
fleets
dangerous.
Typically,
each
fleet
can
move
a
single
node
per
turn,
with
the
nimble
destroyers
being
the
exception.

All
of
this
is
controlled
by
the
use
of
Support
points
which
dictate
how
much
you
can
do
on
a
turn,
along
with
the
resources
you
have.
The
first
thing
you
do
costs
a
little
Support,
but
the
price
gets
higher
for
each
subsequent
move
you
make.
It
means
you
need
to
spend
at
least
a
little
of
your
construction
efforts
on
increasing
the
amount
of
Support
you
generate
every
turn,
but
each
planet
has
limited
room
so
you
also
need
carefully
consider
what
to
build,
where
to
put
it
and
when.

The
faction
you
play
is
what
dictates
how
you’ll
approach
each
match.
After
all,
a
faction
that
focuses
on
trading
and
alliances
isn’t
going
to
have
the
strongest
military
capabilities
and
vice
versa.
It’s
entirely
possible
to
win
games
without
ever
declaring
war
or
opening
fire
on
an
opposing
empire.
Indeed,
while
that
sounds
boring,
actually
pulling
off
a
peaceful
victory
is
immensely
satisfying.

Let’s
assume
for
a
moment
that
you
are
playing
as
a
bunch
of
militaristic
space
warriors
though,
and
discuss
combat.
Spac
ebattles
use
the
good
old
fashioned
rock-paper-scissors
method,
with
big-ass
capital
ships
wrecking
destroyers,
while
destroyers
are
good
at
taking
on
ranged
carriers,
and
carries
excel
at
decimating
capital
vessels
due
to
being
able
to
hang
out
a
sector
away
as
they
launch
attacks.
It’s
a
simple
formula
that
allows
you
to
parse
battles
at
a
glance,
aided
by
a
circular
meter
which
indicates
which
side
has
the
advantage.

You
can
also
quickly
get
an
idea
if
an
attack
will
be
successful
or
not
thanks
to
the
undo
button.
Send
a
few
fleets
in
and
if
its
clearly
not
going
to
go
in
your
favour,
whack
the
undo
button
a
few
times
and
voila,
it’s
not
a
problem.
Once
you
hit
the
end
turn
button
though,
you
are
committed.

While
the
8
mission
campaign
is
reasonably
good
fun
and
does
a
solid
job
of
introducing
the
various
playstyles
found
in
Nexus
5X,
it’s
not
hugely
satisfying
due
to
the
lack
of
interesting
storylines
and
characters.
The
real
emphasis
seems
to
be
on
playing
with
other
people
and
reacting
to
their
unpredictable
human
thoughts
or
pitting
your
midget
brain
against
the
AI
in
custom
bouts
of
galactic
dominance.

Outside
of
the
campaign,
matches
against
players
or
AI
are
played
in
what’s
referred
to
as
Succession,
which
is
not
to
be
confused
with
the
TV
show
of
the
same
name.
Seriously,
what
is
it
with
these
developers
and
naming
stuff
after
things
that
already
exist?
Essentially,
the
goal
is
to
reach
a
set
amount
of
Succession
Points,
anywhere
from
50
to
150,
and
you
can
do
that
by
building
megastructures,
levelling
up
your
leader,
signing
pacts
with
other
empires,
blowing
stuff
up
and
much
more.

Unfortunately,
there
is
a
slight
problem
where
sometimes
150
point
matches
will
end
at
100
points.
Obviously,
that
can
be
bloody
annoying,
especially
when
you
have
a
solid
late-game
plan
in
place
and
the
match
ends
before
you
ever
get
the
chance
to
unleash
it.

Every
8
in-game
years
all
players
will
form
a
council
to
vote
on
the
next
Title
that
can
be
achieved
such
as
Mighty
(have
the
highest
military
power)
or
Futurist
(have
the
most
completed
research)
or
something
else.
These
are
important
because
the
first
empire
to
achieve
a
a
Title
earns
a
good
chunk
of
Succession
Points.

This
system
introduces
an
interest
extra
layer
of
strategy
because
you
can
accrue
extra
votes
through
several
different
methods,
potentially
letting
you
skew
the
vote
heavily
in
favour
of
a
Title
that
suits
your
Empire
and
goals.
There’s
also
the
possibility
of
working
with
other
players
to
choose
something
that
will
benefit
both
of
you
a
the
cost
of
the
others.

One
thing
I
did
note,
is
that
diplomacy
is
quite
barebones
and
the
higher
level
AI
seem
to
ignore
it
for
the
most
part.
Signing
a
pact
isn’t
a
lifelong
agreement
that
you’ll
stand
by
each
other
in
sickness
or
in
health,
and
breaking
it
costs
a
measly
2
Succession
Points,
so
it
acts
more
like
a
slight
deterrent.
A
lot
of
the
time,
other
players
and
the
AI
will
view
those
couple
of
lost
points
as
totally
worth
it
for
snagging
a
planet
or
two.
Even
as
the
most
peace-loving
space
hippies,
I
frequently
found
myself
declaring
war
for
the
sake
of
expanding
some
territory
and
then
bribing
the
empire
I
just
assaulted
with
credits
to
sign
a
new
pact.
On
the
other
hand,
maybe
that’s
just
some
good
roleplaying
as
a
sneaky
empire
who
can
get
away
with
murder
because
they
have
lots
of
space
money.

Nexus
5X
offers
a
refreshing
take
on
the
grand
strategy
genre,
condensing
the
expansive
experience
of
4X
games
like
Stellaris
and
Civilization
into
faster,
hour-long
matches.
Naturally,
that
comes
with
a
tradeoff:
Nexus
5X
isn’t
as
deep
as
some
of
its
competitors
and
doesn’t
have
the
same
sense
of
scale.

Despite
some
initial
struggles
with
explaining
game
mechanics,
the
experience
of
building
and
commanding
empires,
engaging
in
strategic
battles,
and
pursuing
various
pathways
to
victory
is
both
engaging
and
rewarding.

While
the
campaign
serves
as
a
solid,
albeit
forgettable,
introduction
to
the
game,
the
real
fun
lies
in
facing
unpredictable
human
opponents
or
challenging
AI
in
custom
matches.

Overall,
Nexus
5X
balances
the
grandeur
of
grand
strategy
games
with
accessible
and
satisfying
gameplay,
making
it
a
terrific
choice
for
anyone
who
loves
the
idea
of
4X
games
but
finds
them
too
daunting
or
time-consuming.
With
its
potential
for
diplomatic
intrigue,
galactic
warfare,
and
unique
victory
paths,
Nexus
5X
offers
an
enjoyable
and
strategic
journey
through
the
depths
of
space,
all
for
an
incredibly
cheap
price.