# Sublight Empire — A Relativistic Space Game

> Relativistic 4X space strategy game with real-time command propagation delays. (iPhone/iPad app by Enrico Unger.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sublight-empire/id1303098306 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Enrico Unger](https://appshunter.io/developer/1303098305)
- Category: Games, Strategy
- Price: Free (on sale, was $1.99)
- Rating: 5.00/5 from 2 App Store ratings
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 15.0 · 3 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2019-01-27
- Data updated: 2026-06-10
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sublight-empire/id1303098306/reviews.md

## What is Sublight Empire?

Einstein's theory of relativity states that nothing is faster than light. This also applies to this game. 
Information is radio signals propagating at the speed of light. These radio signals transmit your commands and the events you receive. 
Spaceships move at a fraction of the speed of light. So it takes years for a command or a spaceship to reach its destination. When a battle takes place, you won't know about it until years later.

Apart from this, it is a classic 4X game. 
In the beginning you rule a single star system and you are exploring and colonizing the surrounding systems. 
Later on you will meet your opponents and you will have to defend and conquer colonies.

To win the game, you must conquer 2/3 of all stars.

## Key features

- Relativistic speed of light mechanics
- Real-time command propagation delays
- Explore and colonize star systems
- Defend and conquer colonies
- Classic 4X gameplay
- Galactic conquest objective


## Frequently asked questions about Sublight Empire

### What is the core gameplay loop in Sublight Empire?

Sublight Empire is a classic 4X game where you start with one star system and explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate. The unique aspect is that all actions and information are limited by the speed of light, creating significant time delays.

### How does the speed of light mechanic affect gameplay in Sublight Empire?

Information travels as radio signals at the speed of light, and spaceships move at a fraction of that speed. This means commands can take years to reach their destination, and you won't know about events like battles until years later.

### What is the objective to win Sublight Empire?

To win the game, players must conquer two-thirds of all the stars within the game's galaxy.

### Does Sublight Empire have multiplayer or offline play?

The description does not specify multiplayer or offline play capabilities. However, the core mechanics suggest a single-player experience focused on long-term strategic planning.

### What devices is Sublight Empire available on?

Sublight Empire is available on iPhone, iPad, and iPod devices.

### How often is Sublight Empire updated?

The latest version is 1.9, and the app was last updated on March 22, 2026. This indicates a very infrequent update schedule.

### What is the age rating for Sublight Empire?

Sublight Empire has an age rating of 4+, making it suitable for a wide range of players.

### What do users like about Sublight Empire?

With a perfect 5.0-star rating from 2 reviews, users likely appreciate the unique relativistic mechanics and the depth of the 4X strategy gameplay.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.9 — 2026-03-22

In this version, the happiness system has been replaced by reputation, rules have been refined, there are free worlds, battles and invasions work differently, a new ship type—the protector ship—has been added, and much more

### 1.8 — 2024-05-22

- tech ships
- invasion ships
- mineral richness
- trade goods
- nebulae as background
- changes to some game mechanics
- UI improvements

### 1.7 — 2022-10-03

- mark tile with events with an "!"
- mark tile with an yellow instead of red "?" when a probe is on its way
- fill half of tile with player colors when a colony ship is on its way
- route lines for commands and ships can be turned off
- events about enemy ships can be filtered
- changed trading formula
- better balanced maps

### 1.6.1 — 2022-03-30

Version 1.6 was released with misconfigured variables. This version corrects that.

### 1.6 — 2022-03-28

- fix: It was no longer possible to give up the game
- fix: NaN (Not a number) was displayed for "Debt Scrap"
- fix: In iOS 15 the playback with the Web Audio API does not work anymore if you return to the app after a short time (less than 1 minute) in the lock screen 
- New disasters
- Spectral types have effect on trade
- Culture ships only increase the speed level when the system has maximum happiness
- Spectral types have effect on trade
- Send colony ships to already colonized system
- Send colony ships to the same destination
- Show arriving fleets and commands in the star info
- Maximum population is now visible on the map
- Landscape mode and adjustments for iPads

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*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 2026-06-10.*