Play the demo on Steam, or find out more on the game’s website.

Annhexation is my take on a 4X strategy game: something you can pick up, make interesting decisions in, and finish in an evening. There’s a demo on Steam if you’d like to give it a go.

In short: I used to love 4X games (Master of Orion, Civilization, and I have a real soft spor for Birth of the Federation) but the direction they’ve gone in I just don’t get on with. Ever more complex. Rules that require a month of study. Games that last for hours and hours and hours. It feels like this has all become an excuse to create a platform on top of which endless DLC can be sold and for me each additional system, each additional layer of complexity, just sucks more fun out of the games. Not only that… but they feel less “real” as a result and less like games, more like spreadsheets. Its all too much effort and I refuse to pay money for half finished games.

All that being the case I figured it would be fun to create my own take on the genre. Strip things right back. Create something that is both complete and playable in a couple of hours. Easy to pick up and play anywhere. And allow multiplayer in both real time and asynchronously. Essentially the game I want to play. I hope you do too!

The result is Annhexation: a 4X game designed to be simple enough to hold in your head, complex enough for interesting decisions, and completable in an evening.

Research, fog of war, combat and city management are all there, along with eight civilisations and AI opponents. I’m continuing to work on the game, and feedback from people playing it helps me decide what needs attention next.

Try the demo and wishlist Annhexation on Steam.