Designer Jim Krohn discusses his excitement about the digital version
I am soooo excited that Space Empires 4X is going digital. I absolutely love playing it over the board and always will, but it is going to be completely awesome to just knock off a few moves against an AI in Space Imperia 4X (the name of the digital version of Space Empires 4X) if I get a few moments during a day. If I am to be completely honest, it will also be just as great to blow an entire day playing the digital version when I get the chance. To say that I did not expect this when I started designing the game in 1990, would be an understatement. I do understand that there is a certain improbable arc to all of this – playing 4X space board games in the 80s, leads me to start designing my own game in 1990, which leads me to playing computer 4X games in the 90s, which leads me to designing a streamlined board game in the 00s, which leads to it being published in 2011, which now leads back to a digital version of that board game in 2026.
The strange benefit of that almost ridiculous arc is a very streamlined digital game. The digital nature of a game like this normally gives very little incentive to streamline the game. Since the CPU does the work, all sorts of extra complications can be bolted on, including things that don’t actually make the game better. However, since this started as a board game, I had maximum incentive to try to come up with “elegant” solutions to simplify the game and take the pressure off the player. I hope that, during that process, I captured all of the flavor and fun, but without the unnecessary complication. Now, taking that back to digital, the game will have all the good parts of the board game, but just be even more accessible.
In short, I can’t imagine that I would have ever put the effort in to achieve these solutions if I had started off designing the game for the computer. It would probably have looked a lot more like my original prototype in 1990. I am so happy for this weird arc because it made the game what it is, and it should now be even better in a digital version.
Just a big thank you to Brett and everyone that is working to make this happen!
And, if you didn’t already see – the digital version is now called Space Imperia 4X. The Steam store page link has not changed, and the name itself will change soon.
If you haven’t already, go over and wishlist the game today! And, join our discord!
Author: Jim Krohn
I hope there’s a graphics option to view the ships, etc. as the chits in the game.