# Star Traders 4X Empires > Turn-based sci-fi strategy game about rebuilding a galactic civilization. (iPhone/iPad app by Trese Brothers.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/star-traders-4x-empires/id872458628 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Trese Brothers](https://appshunter.io/developer/528949265) - Category: Games, Role Playing, Simulation - Price: Free with in-app purchases - Rating: 4.00/5 from 24 App Store ratings · 33 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 12+ - Requires: iOS 8.0 · 72 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2014-06-19 - Data updated: 2026-08-23 - Monetization: free with in-app purchases - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/star-traders-4x-empires/id872458628/reviews.md ## What is Star Traders 4X Empires? Take command of humanity’s last survivors and rebuild an empire among the stars. In this immersive turn-based strategy game, you must lead the refugees of the great Exodus to a new home in hostile space and build a new galaxy-spanning civilization. To survive in the dark reaches of space, you will have to fight to protect your people, control rival factions, and unlock lost technology. This challenging civilization-building game expands upon the universe of the original Star Traders RPG. As the leader of a splinter group who have fallen behind the main fleet, you have no choice but to settle nearby habitable worlds, stake your claim and try to prosper. Your forces will face hostile aliens at every turn and your fleets will do battle in a challenging tactical conflicts across the solar systems. As the waves of stellar conflict wash across your empire, you’ll face invasions, devastating planetary bombardments and need to exact the same on alien infestations to expand your empire. Within your own imperium, you must manage your economy, political realm, and technological research. The squabbling factions vie for power, unable to lay old rivalries to rest. Only your deft political maneuvering can build treaties and harmony over discord and war. From the helm, you must also construct a mighty economy, one capable of surviving the devastation of war and the attacks of political adversaries. A sprawling technology tree lies before you and your choice of technologies will determine the strategy of your galactic civilization. To survive, you’ll need to overcome some of these challenges, to succeed you must master them all. Take control through the strategic use of spies, economics, politics, technology and advanced weaponry in the most engaging, expansive and intense turn-based sci-fi title. Rebuild the human civilization from the ashes of interstellar war to become the galaxy’s ultimate leader in Star Trader 4X Empires. FEATURES: * Grow a ragtag band of survivors into a new galactic empire. * Protect your colonies of galactic refugees from alien attack. * Employ devious political and economic machinations to expand your domain. * Use spies and espionage to get the upperhand on your enemies. * Research and build incredible new ships, weapons and technologies. * Trade with a vast universe full of rich, dynamic characters. * Explore the galaxy and uncover its many secrets. * Multiple difficulty levels and customizable map sizes. * Risk everything to rescue refugees and keep them safe. The Star Traders 4X Elite experience allows you to: * Play on more than twice the maps, including large and huge Quadrants * Play the Great Houses & Clans - Thulun, Javat, and Steel Song * Unlock the Elite tech tree and gain access to hundreds of new upgrades * Battle against twice the alien enemies and AI types * Research 180 Technologies, 100 Weapon Types and 9 unique Hull Variants Get ready for the fight of your life in Star Traders 4X Empires. Star Traders 4X Empires is on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/startraders Join the Community Forum: http://startradersrpg.proboards.com/#category-7 Twitter: https://twitter.com/TreseBrothers Try our Other Top RPGs ----------------------- Star Traders RPG Heroes of Steel RPG ## Key features - Build a galactic empire from survivors - Defend colonies from alien attacks - Use political and economic strategies - Employ spies and espionage - Research new ships and technologies - Explore the galaxy - Trade with dynamic characters ## Pricing and in-app purchases Base price: Free. **One-time purchases** | Purchase | Price | Type | | --- | --- | --- | | Star Traders 4X | $4.99 | one-time | | Hyperion Ship Skin Pack | $0.99 | one-time | | Alta Mesa Ship Skin Pack | $0.99 | one-time | | Faction Expansion: Great Clans | $1.99 | one-time | ## Recent user reviews (10 of 33) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/star-traders-4x-empires/id872458628/reviews.md ### 5/5 — Get it spend some money for great devs *2021-01-20* Base game is amazing I would probably get the expansions if I could. Ship design is a nice touch. I’d say improve the tutorial and add a economy screen but those are just me being an idiot other wise amazing keep doing what your doing devs your doing great. ### 4/5 — I love it! *2019-11-30* I know absolutely nothing about strategy games, but I love this game! The learning curve is steep, but it’s a whole lot of fun. ### 5/5 — Epic. *2019-11-09* Trese Brothers games are, in this humble gamers opinion, the pinnacle of strategy and RPG’s on mobile. Be it free to play, or paid for, the amount of content you get is ridiculously good the ongoing bug fixing and content/ mechanics upgrades are fantastic and put many other game companies, on many different platforms, to shame. Thanks for the stupendously good games. ### 4/5 — Very Great Game, But One Significant Bug *2019-05-12* TL;DR: Very great design and strategy but has a small inconvenience bug This game is a very great implementation of idea to game I think. The complexity and strategic elements of this game are very deep and well designed. The background music adds a lot of suspense where its much needed as you never know when you will discover the enemies, and when you do it usually marks the time you should transition from focusing entirely on economy to focusing mainly on warships with some economic focus still. However, there is a bug in the game thats not terrible but is annoying for sure; there are sometimes sectors of the map adjacent to worlds that for some reason your ships can’t move to, which makes attacking and defending worlds a bit harder. Finally one detail I’d like to add is how, because of how big the maps are and how much time you spend managing a growing number of colonies, a round can get VERY LONG. I spent about 7 and a half hours and 286 turns on the tutorial level with normal difficulty (32x32 map). Given that, I think playing with the bigger maps and on harder difficulties would easily cause games that take literally DAYS to finish ### 3/5 — Clunky and slow, but... Dunno - thought I had something there *2019-04-10* Seemed cool until I played for around 4 hours last night and never saw what a battle is like. Don’t think I’ll pick this one up again. Probably. I mean I do know where the baddies are now... And I do have some combat upgrades in the works... ### 5/5 — Great 4X *2019-02-28* Trese Brothers are now part of the IOS scene and are providing quality games. This one is no exception. Visuals are a bit simple, but the game is not. Once you get past the learning curve you are left with a rewarding and very nice 4x. Thanks guys!!! ### 5/5 — Finally *2017-06-04* A thinkers space empire strategy game. If your ready to manage population and the effects of war both militarily and civilian sector, manage it, and own it; this is the game for you. I'd love to see Battleship class vessels, expensive and long construction times to adequately reflect the substantial economic stability required to construct them. ### 4/5 — It's fun but I don't understand the politics *2017-01-02* It's good buts it's very complex ### 5/5 — Awesome game! *2016-08-24* Engrossing and exciting! I love everything about this game! I think it could do with a better help section however, as some aspects can be a little confusing! It's a solid 9.5/10 ### 5/5 — Great game! *2016-05-14* I really enjoy this game! It is nice to have a game that you can play at your own pace rather than waiting hours or days to complete a project or building. I would recommend this game to those who enjoy turn-based strategy games, and it is one of the best games I have found on mobile! ## Frequently asked questions about Star Traders 4X Empires ### What is Star Traders 4X Empires? Star Traders 4X Empires is an immersive, turn-based strategy game where you lead humanity's last survivors to rebuild a civilization among the stars. You'll manage your economy, politics, and technology while defending against hostile aliens and rival factions. ### What are the key features of this game? Key features include building a galactic empire from survivors, defending colonies from alien attacks, employing political and economic strategies, using spies for espionage, researching new ships and technologies, exploring the galaxy, and trading with dynamic characters. ### How is the game monetized? The game is free to download and play but offers in-app purchases. These purchases likely provide access to additional content, features, or enhancements for the gameplay experience. ### What kind of challenges can I expect in the game? You will face challenges such as hostile aliens, rival factions vying for power, managing your economy and resources, and making critical decisions about technological research and political maneuvering to ensure your civilization's survival and expansion. ### What platforms is Star Traders 4X Empires available on? Based on the context of mobile app analysis, this game is designed for mobile devices. Specific compatibility details regarding operating systems (iOS/Android) and device requirements would typically be found on the app store listing. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 2.6.27 — 2016-11-07 This app has been updated by Apple to display the Apple Watch app icon. - New Map for Free "The Rim: 100x50 Map (50 Worlds)" - Added New "Superscale Manufacturing 3" Tech - Added New "Factory 8" Upgrade - Improved Turn Recent Events List - Improved UI of Tech Tree, summary display - Fixes for "Degla: 100x100 Map (150 Worlds)" - Fixes for "Degla: 80x80 Map (90 Worlds)" - Tech Tree Updates and RP Cost Balancing - Improved Xeno Colonization Planner AI - Minor Performance Improvements / Fixes - Fixed crashes in Research Project List and Technology List ### 2.6.19 — 2016-08-17 - New Map: Degla 80x80 Map (90 Worlds) - New Tech: Orbital Habitation 4 - New Upgrade: Orbital Platform 6 - Rebalanced 8000 Mass Reactors - Xeno Strategic AI Updates for Large Maps (50+) - Added "Go To" button to uncolonized Worlds list - List displays Enemy Team State (Aggressive, Neutral) - Fixed Manufacturing Treaty Politics - Degla Zone Map Cleanups, Improved AI with Asteroids - Made positive Exploration results slightly more likely - New Research Tech: 'Deep Crust Mining 2' - Fixed Mine 8, Increased RP Bonus - Improved Templar Advisor screen - Fixed bugs in the Uncolonized Worlds screen - Fixed issue with invaded worlds not being visible in fog ### 2.6.13 — 2016-06-28 - Major Performance Improvements - Xeno Colonization Stategic AI Improved - Mining Economy Balancing Updates - Balanced Maintenance Costs for Exchanges - Slightly Reduction in Conflict Generation on Normal Difficulty - Xeno Ship Armor increased by 10% - Xeno Ship Resistance decreased by 10% - New Sources of Radiation Damage: Invasion, Exploration - Improved Xeno Torpedo Ship AI - Slight increase in Maintenance Cost for Spice Hall 3 - Balanced Mine 7 Maintenance Cost, Added New "Mine 8" Upgrade - Balanced Maintenance Cost of Palace 5, Exchange 6 - Fixed Bugs with Defeated Colony Green Space - Replaced "Spy" with "EP" in Colony UI - Added AP remaining total to Confirm End Turn - Improved Terrox AI Planning Routines - Fixed some bugs in Ship Designer Training - New Refueling Spots in Garden & 100x100 Degla - Improved Pathing Rules based on Player Feedback - Fixed Issues with "Colony -1" and All Projects Screen - Fixed End Turn Confirm Option w/ Enter Key - Fixed Text Displays for Ship Upgrades with long descriptions - Map Updates and Improvements for Degla Maps - Small Reduction in chance of Solar Wars in early game ### 2.6.5 — 2016-04-15 - Add Path Tracing for Player Ships - Add “Fast Enemy Turn” Option - AI Optimization & Improvements (look out!) - Fixed Text Wrapping in Ship Designer - Fixed Build Costs For Heavy Reactor 19+ - Fixed RP Costs for late game Orbital Tech - Adjusted Maint. Costs for Orbital Defense - Added Progress Bar for AI Turn - Fixed bug, colony build queue now updates after re-ordered - New Option: Confirm End Turn - New Techs: Ultra Heavy Reactors - New: Heavy Reactors 18 to 20 (Max Mass 10,000!) - AI and help file improvements - Fixed Reported Issues & Typos - Major Performance Improvements - Improved Invasion Results Messages - Improved Options Screen - Fixed Talent Menu Layout Bugs - Fixed Sound Effects for some ship engines - FASTER! =) ### 2.5.9 — 2016-02-06 - Adds Factory Counts to Colony List - Improves Defense Display on Colony List - Invasion Results declare Scout vs. Full Invasion - Display Faction Defense Force levels in Icons - All Colony Upgrade icons upgraded to include level (1-9) - Added "Go To" button on Ship and Colony lists - Improved game rendering on small screen devices - Fixed bugs in Manage Games ## Apps similar to Star Traders 4X Empires | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Dungeon of the Endless: Apogee](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/dungeon-of-the-endless-apogee/id1526466468) | 4.4 (273) | $7.99 | Games | | [My Starship: Space RPG](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/my-starship-space-rpg/id1376946436) | 4.3 (20) | Free | Games | | [The Infinite Black 2](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-infinite-black-2/id1638828894) | 4.7 (189) | Free | Games | | [Sands of Salzaar](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sands-of-salzaar/id6443875944) | 4.1 (56) | $3.49 | Games | | [Occidental Heroes](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/occidental-heroes/id1355481701) | 4.7 (358) | Free | Games | | [TRUDOGRAD](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/trudograd/id1637252671) | 4.7 (27) | $9.99 | Games | ## More apps by Trese Brothers - [Heroes of Steel RPG](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/heroes-of-steel-rpg/id730818431) - [Heroes of Steel RPG Elite](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/heroes-of-steel-rpg-elite/id840230884) - [Star Traders 4X Empires Elite](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/star-traders-4x-empires-elite/id887028491) - [Templar Battleforce RPG HD](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/templar-battleforce-rpg-hd/id991176230) - [Templar Battleforce Elite](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/templar-battleforce-elite/id991176888) All apps by Trese Brothers: https://appshunter.io/developer/528949265 --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-23.*