# Starbase Orion > Old-school 4X space strategy game with exploration, expansion, and combat. (iPhone/iPad app by Chimera Software, LLC.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/starbase-orion/id438375580 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Chimera Software, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/347752625) - Category: Games, Simulation, Strategy - Price: $7.99 - Rating: 4.70/5 from 329 App Store ratings · 239 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 12+ - Requires: iOS 11.2 · 239 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2011-10-12 - Data updated: 2026-08-29 - Monetization: paid - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/starbase-orion/id438375580/reviews.md ## What is Starbase Orion? "The best 4X game currently available for mobile" - PocketTactics.com "This one is geek heaven" - AppAdvice.com "Master of Orion in Your Pocket” - GamePro.com "Starbase Orion has an epic-feeling" - TouchArcade.com "Starbase Orion is here, and it's glorious." - TUAW.com Explore. Expand. Exterminate. Can you defeat your friends and become the ruler of the galaxy? Starbase Orion is an old-school 4X space strategy game that draws inspiration from titles such as Master of Orion and Galactic Civilizations. Lead your empire from the birth of its space age; colonize new worlds, explore new horizons, and discover other players attempting to do the same. It is a race to the stars where only one empire can declare victory over the galaxy. New to 4X Strategy Games? No Problem Starbase Orion includes a hand tailored tutorial mission perfect for those new to the genre. It features high-quality voice acting provided by the very talented Maurice Thomas. Aged like a Fine Wine With nearly a five year life span the dedicated community of Starbase Orion players and the developer have produced twenty-four fantastic updates. Each update has introduced new features and player suggested functionality to make the game better, more strategic, and more immersive. Strong Single-Player Experience Compete against a battle-tested artificial intelligence. Our AI was derived from our entry into to 2010 Google AI contest, where it placed in the top 15% of thousands of competing intelligences. Go head-to-head against a single AI opponent, or ramp up the carnage with a 4 way free-for-all. GameCenter Multiplayer Turn-Based Games Starbase Orion was designed to provide a fantastic multiplayer experience. Launch the game, sign into GameCenter, and start a new multiplayer game. No need to coordinate play times or seek out other players. Just go play, when you want and on your terms. Choose Your Race, Or Create Your Own There are five uniques races included; Human, Draske, Vass, Cyban, and Isather. You can also create your own custom race by picking and choosing between different race characteristics. Intense Space Combat Design your ships from a variety of weapons, hull, and systems. Send them into battle against the enemy. Give them orders, then watch the battle in unfold as they duke it out in the dark expanses of space. Diplomacy, Espionage, Free Agents Direct confrontations not your cup of tea? Negotiate your way to victory through diplomatic endeavors. Confound your enemies with an army of spies. Contract one of the many power and unique leaders to help you to victory. iCloud Support Starbase Orion is built from the ground up for iOS 5. It supports iCloud so that your saved games are instantly available on all of your devices. Start a game at home on your iPad, then pick it up again the next day on your iPhone. Simple, streamlined, fantastic. Universal - You Bought the Cool Gadgets, Go Play on Them Full support for iPad, iPhone, iPod, standard and Retina displays. Play when you want, where you want. Guaranteed Pricing While it is quite common for apps to become “free for a day”, Starbase Orion is not one of those apps. The standard price for Starbase Orion is $7.99 USD; it will never run a “free for a day” campaign. Tens of thousands of players have placed their confidence in us by purchasing Starbase Orion, and this is our guarantee to you. Guaranteed Free Updates We have a lot more planned for Starbase Orion. We plan to release all updates for free, without any hidden fees or In-App Purchases. ## Key features - Explore new worlds - Expand your empire - Exterminate rivals - Design custom ships - Engage in turn-based combat - Diplomacy and espionage - Multiplayer via GameCenter ## What do users think of Starbase Orion? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 🚀 Excellent 4x strategy game - 👍 Faithful recreation of Master of Orion - 🚀 Continuously updated with new features - 👍 Vibrant player community - 🚀 Smooth gameplay and intuitive controls - 👍 Excellent value for money **Cons** - 🐛 Crashes and stability issues - 🔍 Limited diplomacy and foreign relations - 🔍 Automated combat lacks depth - 🔍 Repetitive late-game experience - 🔍 Outdated visuals **Commonly reported bugs** - Crashes and save file corruption - UI issues with overlapping text and unresponsive controls - Multiplayer matchmaking and connectivity problems **Most requested features** - More ship classes and customization options - Expanded tech tree and research system - Deeper diplomacy and espionage mechanics - Manual control of ship combat - Improved end-game content and victory conditions ## Recent user reviews (10 of 239) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/starbase-orion/id438375580/reviews.md ### 4/5 — Very Good Adaptation *2025-12-18, version 1.3.3* If you mistakenly build two planetary extensions for one planet slot. The game will glitch from that point onward. If you are enjoy that scenario then be careful of what you build because the game won’t catch it. ### 5/5 — The best 4x *2025-12-16, version 1.3.3* Awesome game that is still updated. Please support full screen for new devices. ### 4/5 — Spectacular game but.. *2025-11-26* To start, I love this game. I’m a Stellaris player and this is game is a dream come true on my phone. Good level of depth of systems and it’s clear a lot of love went into this. I also can’t overstate how much I love the Star Trek inspiration for the human ship design. I have on concern and it’s the fact that my game will reliably crash if I watch a large battle between a large number of ships that fire a big salvo of proton torpedoes. It happens every time. Its a drag to build up my fleets, engage is a large scale battle only not to be able to watch it. I’d love to see a fix to effectively perfect that beautiful and fun masterpiece please. ### 3/5 — Interesting, It’s Less and More. *2025-11-15, version 1.3.2* While the game is almost as good as MOO2, it can be played on an Ipad or Iphone. Easy to understand by moo2ers and therefore easy to play. However, my favorite cheat is missing in that you can’t get every research item. Oh well. ### 5/5 — From DOS based Master of Orion to iPad Starbase of Orion *2025-11-05* Yeah, this is a very simple game. That is just so repeatedly enjoyable. I play it often and over and over again usually a game a day since it came out 10 years ago, I guess maybe more I don’t even know but I do enjoy this. I have a number of suggestions based on my gameplay that would make it so much better without what I think is a lot of work if you’d like to reach out to me, I would love to talk to you. ### 5/5 — Fun space 4x *2025-10-28, version 1.3.2* There is a learning curve involved as there is with most games of this type, but after you figure out what’s going on, it’s really a very nicely done and detailed 4x space game for the iPad tablet. In that regard I find it very enjoyable. ### 5/5 — Marvelous game *2025-09-19* My favorite game on iPad. Note that the 2025 late summer update has a few minor bugs with some UI sounds going muted off, and game crashes for me in combat replay when monster/ship is about to be destroyed (bad explosion sound ref issue maybe?), but it is still very playable, unless you want to see the combats unfold. Make sure to save on the beginning of a new turn before combat playback just in case. Hope this will get fixed quickly because this game and new players really deserve it. Many thanks to the creators of this game. ### 5/5 — One of my favorites *2025-09-05, version 1.3.2* Glad to see the update! FYI, viewing the battle reliably crashes the app. ### 5/5 — Fun *2025-05-10, version 1.3.1* A+ ### 5/5 — Excellent Game *2025-01-23* Always play the humans ## Frequently asked questions about Starbase Orion ### What kind of game is Starbase Orion? Starbase Orion is an old-school 4X space strategy game. It focuses on exploration, expansion, extermination, and diplomacy. Players lead an empire from its early space age, colonizing planets, researching technologies, and engaging in combat to achieve galactic dominance. ### What are the key features of Starbase Orion? Key features include exploring and colonizing new worlds, designing and commanding custom ships in intense space combat, engaging in diplomacy and espionage, and competing against a strong AI or other players. It also offers a tutorial for new players and iCloud support for cross-device play. ### How much does Starbase Orion cost? Based on the provided information, Starbase Orion is a paid application. There are no mentions of in-app purchases or advertisements, suggesting a one-time purchase model for the full game. ### What platforms is Starbase Orion available on? Starbase Orion is designed for iOS devices, including iPhone, iPad, and iPod. It supports universal play, meaning it functions fully on both standard and Retina displays across these devices. ### Can I play Starbase Orion with friends? Yes, Starbase Orion offers a robust GameCenter multiplayer experience. You can easily start turn-based games with friends or other players without needing to coordinate play times, allowing for flexible and convenient multiplayer sessions. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 1.3.3 — 2025-12-15 - fixes game name and participants text in multiplayer games menu - fixes crash bug for combats with temporary ships spawned by leaders ### 1.3.2 — 2025-09-03 - Transition to new multiplayer server - Bug fix for multiplayer combat playback not matching the combat results as calculated by the server - Bug fix for not being able to drag Agents in the espionage list - Various small fixes for layout changes iOS introduced over the years - Removed links to old player forums ### 1.3.1 — 2022-02-25 Fixes an issue with the text on the planet build queue on iPads Special thanks for all of the players on the Starbase Orion Discord who helped make this version of Starbase Orion the best it could be! ### 1.3.0 — 2022-02-09 Updated with a round of fixes to address application freezes specifically when run on the iPhone 13 series of devices. Special thanks for all of the players on the Starbase Orion Discord who helped make this version of Starbase Orion the best it could be! ### 1.2.9 — 2017-05-27 This app has been updated by Apple to display the Apple Watch app icon. If you like what you see please make sure to review Starbase Orion with each update! I would like to thank all of the players who joined the testing group to help make Starbase Orion the best it can be. Cancuino, Bruin, VanderLegion, falanor4421, Davabled, Stevebob7, Skins0815, sfx 51, Jaydevil2012, ddebernardy, elph, bmike, ed, Ayjona, Kabukiman, General_Grr, Diebo, MiiiikeT, Sentar, Diebo, macaonnie, seebs, Sploinkage, Mezmorki, anthee, PlanetaryScientist, mushroomsafari (and all of you whom I missed!) thank you so much for your tireless efforts in helping improve the game! ---------------------- v1.2.9 is a hot fix for v1.2.8, of which I submitted the wrong build to Apple review. My most sincere apologies. v1.2.8 is a quality of life update with some tweaks suggested by the Starbase Orion players! • New Spying Options - you can now choose between spying On, Off, and No SCIF. • Only one SCIF can be active per fleet • Orbital Labs I / II percentage bonus have been to 20% / 40% ( was 20% / 30% ) • Brilliant researchers cost has been reduced to 5 ( was 6 ) • Colony Security Facility I / II percentages changed to 30% / 60% ( was 25% / 50% ) • Gauss turrets effectiveness against shields change from 10%/10%/10% to 10%/15%/20% ## Apps similar to Starbase Orion | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Space Arena: Construct & Fight](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/space-arena-construct-and-fight/id1134614037) | 4.7 (18,259) | Free | Games | | [War Machines：Battle Tank Games](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/war-machinesbattle-tank-games/id1058528141) | 4.6 (197,977) | Free | Games | | [Pixel Starships™](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pixel-starships/id321756558) | 4.7 (35,014) | Free | Games | | [Sky Warriors: Airplane Games](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sky-warriors-airplane-games/id1572323748) | 4.7 (66,333) | Free | Games | | [Star Hunter-Infinite Lagrange](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/star-hunter-infinite-lagrange/id1485549629) | 4.5 (7,401) | Free | Games | | [Star Trek Timelines](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/star-trek-timelines/id1001250333) | 4.5 (7,489) | Free | Games | ## More apps by Chimera Software, LLC - [Peachtree City Cart Paths](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/peachtree-city-cart-paths/id348581444) - [Naval Tactics](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/naval-tactics/id670669812) - [Pointsman](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pointsman/id1447780441) - [Mad King's Steward](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mad-kings-steward/id1461873703) All apps by Chimera Software, LLC: https://appshunter.io/developer/347752625 ## Related topics [orion game](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/orion-game) · [spacecraft orion quest](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/spacecraft-orion-quest) · [orion fleet intelligence](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/orion-fleet-intelligence) · [orion mobile](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/orion-mobile) · [orion](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/orion) --- *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 2026-08-29.*