Before a fully-fledged colony can exist, it starts as an outpost, and the Lumeris can sell these outposts to other factions for a quick wealth injection. It’s more than a colonisation technique it’s a strategy for making cash. Each newly purchased planet costs more than the last, ensuring that they can’t just gobble up a galaxy. The idea is that they hire private companies to do all the work for them, removing logistical niggles like constructing colony ships. Planet broker means, essentially, that the Lumeris can buy worlds. This is reflected by their faction affinity, called 'planet broker'.Įvery species has an affinity that sets them apart from the rest, an ability that defines them. While other races might build colony ships, sending them out into the void in search of new homes, the Lumeris see colonisable worlds as business opportunities. It even affects how they spread throughout the galaxy. With their citizens being driven by economic success, the Lumeris gains +2 wealth for every pop, the abstracted resource that represents these citizens. Family, then, is important to the Lumeris, and as they aren’t ruled by an aristocracy and don’t have much truck with religion – two major excuses for war – they are largely pacifists.Īll of this is important because these details aren’t just flavour they have a tangible impact on the game. Each family is responsible for different pillars of civilization, like farming and production, and while they compete, they have to work together for the betterment of their species. Their society is run by four powerful families, whose support of the government is necessary to keep it running. Most 4X games have a wealth-obsessed faction, the Ferengi of their respective titles, but there’s more to this race than makin’ moolah. I’m the invisible hand guiding the Lumeris, a species of amphibious deal-brokers, money-makers and corporate Mafia-types.
I traveled to Amplitude’s offices to get my hands on the game, and thus far my goal is to try and get rich – the noblest of pursuits. Comfortably sitting next to all the numbers, resources and planetary management are lively stories, epic quests, and fascinating space-faring species, each with distinct hooks – the ingredients that made the company’s last game something special. Endless Space 2 is the sequel to French studio Amplitude’s cosmic 4X game, though it feels just as much a follow-up to their exceptional fantasy strategy affair, Endless Legend.