Stars!
Shares rank 6 of 24 strategy games by recommenders
Nostalgic 1990s 4X space strategy game with deep choices, now playable on modern Windows. Main caveat: completing a turn takes a lot of effort.
Nostalgic 1990s 4X space strategy game with deep choices, now playable on modern Windows. Main caveat: completing a turn takes a lot of effort.
16 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 15
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 94%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 15 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 15 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Fond childhood memories of playing
“Stars! was awesome, many fond memories of play-by-email games of that...”
Comment from 18 Aug 2026 in “GPT-5.6 Sol Pricing Cut by 50%” “It was such a fun game to play back in the 90s.”
Comment from 25 Sep 2026 in “Pentium II at 600Mhz with Voodoo 3 Emulated on 86Box with M6 Mac Mini” “Used to love playing this game as a kid.”
Comment from 20 Sep 2026 in “A custom virtual machine for the Stars 4X game” - Comment from 20 Sep 2026 in “A custom virtual machine for the Stars 4X game”
- Comment from 21 Sep 2026 in “A custom virtual machine for the Stars 4X game”
- Comment from 21 Sep 2026 in “A custom virtual machine for the Stars 4X game”
Still fun, charming and deep
“It had so many strategic choices, giving it a depth that would surprise most modern gamers”
Comment from 21 Sep 2026 in “A custom virtual machine for the Stars 4X game” “still has a lot of charm, is fun and interesting”
Comment from 20 Sep 2026 in “A custom virtual machine for the Stars 4X game” Playable on modern Windows
“I loved this game back in the day and was looking for a way to play it just last month!”
Comment from 20 Sep 2026 in “A custom virtual machine for the Stars 4X game” “the recent super impressive Stars! port to modern Windows”
Comment from 20 Sep 2026 in “What's been going on in w64devkit the past year”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Slow, effortful turn completion
“frustrating problems as well, in particular how much effort it required to complete a turn”
Comment from 21 Sep 2026 in “A custom virtual machine for the Stars 4X game” Crashed after 40 turns
“Have to say, I did crash out after 40 turns though, which is ridiculous”
Comment from 20 Sep 2026 in “A custom virtual machine for the Stars 4X game” Tedious economic micromanagement
“Without all the Econ micromanagement would have gotten rid of one of the bigger mechanical advantages”
Comment from 20 Sep 2026 in “A custom virtual machine for the Stars 4X game”
Other strategy games people recommend
The four most recommended other strategy games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battle for Wesnoth | 39 | 4 | 91% | 4 | 10 yrs5 owners | Approved |
| Sid Meier's Civilization | 25 | 9 | 74% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Sid Meier's Civilization III | 20 | 10 | 67% | 3 | — | — |
| Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri | 16 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Stars!This page | 15 | 1 | 94% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 17 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It was such a fun game to play back in the 90s.”
“the OG of 1990s 4X games, 'Stars!', which I have a copy of”
“I used to absolutely love this game.”
“The shareware version I had was missing stuff until I upgraded.”
“frustrating problems as well, in particular how much effort it required to complete a turn”
“I really loved this game as a kid”
“It had so many strategic choices, giving it a depth that would surprise most modern gamers”
“the recent super impressive Stars! port to modern Windows”
“I loved this game back in the day and was looking for a way to play it just last month!”
“still has a lot of charm, is fun and interesting”
“Without all the Econ micromanagement would have gotten rid of one of the bigger mechanical advantages”
“Used to love playing this game as a kid.”
“I loved stars! and really wish that it gets reimagined for the modern age”
“Have to say, I did crash out after 40 turns though, which is ridiculous”
“I loved this game so much as a child.”
“Stars! was awesome, many fond memories of play-by-email games of that...”
“It's interesting to see how the tools and languages you use change over time.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.