The Horatio - A species of clones derived from the megalomaniacal human trillionaire Horatio, seeing themselves as a master race and desiring to "beautify" the universe by populating it with more of their kind.
The Sophons - A diminutive and highly advanced species of scientists and engineers, seeking to unlock the secrets of the universe.
The Cravers - A species of ravenous cyborgs originally created as a bioweapon by the Endless. Their only goal is to expand, consume and destroy.
The Amoeba - A peaceful species of highly evolved amoeboid lifeforms, valuing all life and seeking trade and diplomacy.
The Hissho - An empire of avian tribal warriors seeking conquest and glory.
The Sowers - A network of terraforming robots created by the Endless to make the galaxy suitable for habitation who have never stopped performing their original task.
The Sheredyn - The royal bodyguards and special forces of the United Empire. (Added in Emperor Edition).
The Automatons - A robotic faction created when Dust induced sentience in the abandoned technology of an extinct civilization. (Added in Rise of the Automatons).
The Harmony - Crystalline lifeforms that have existed since the beginning of the universe, broken from a single entity into numerous individuals by exposure to Dust. Seeing Dust as a terrifying plague, they seek to eradicate it from the universe no matter the cost. (Added in Disharmony).
The Vaulters - A human culture that have recently escaped the dying planet Auriga, from Endless Legend, and now seek a new home among the stars. (Added in Vaulters).
Gameplay
Endless Space is a turn-based strategy game set in 3000 AD, where each player (up to a maximum of eight per game) represents the leader of one of nine unique interstellar empires. A player may also choose to create their own unique civilization by selecting from a number of different traits that correspond to military, science, diplomacy, hero units and so on. Each player is to guide their empire over hundreds, if not thousands, of years to diplomatic, scientific, or military conquest, attempting to meet requirements for several different victory conditions. The game takes place in a randomly generated galaxy, which can change in size and shape, depending on how the host player chooses to generate it. Every player begins with one colonised capital system which is connected to further systems via cosmic links, which act as travel routes for starships. Players can also research new technologies from four different research trees, representing military, science, expansion/exploration and diplomacy. Research unlocks new ship types, planetary improvements, stat modifiers (either for heroes or planets), new travel methods which do not rely on cosmic links and more. As players expand their empire, they will gain access to strategic and luxury resources, which can be used to upgrade ships, build improvements and trade with other players. Strategic resources are primarily used to upgrade components of your empire, while luxury resources are primarily used for trade and maintaining your empire's approval rating.
The game uses four basic resources to manage its economy: Food, Industry, Dust and Science, or FIDS. Dust is a substance that was left over from the Endless civilization, used as currency. Players must balance FIDS in order to rapidly expand their empire, build ships and research advanced technologies. In addition, a lower or imbalanced FIDS across your empire results in a low approval rating. A high approval rating provides bonuses to production efficiency, while a low approval rating can drastically lower efficiency making it incredibly difficult to advance. A tax rate slider can also be adjusted to change approval rating, but lower taxes result in a lower revenue stream of Dust.
Hero units can be recruited using Dust, to act as either fleet commanders or system administrators. Each hero unit is unique and provides two unique bonuses, which can be further leveled up. Three hero units are randomly selected from a pool unique to each empire and new hero units are available for purchase every fifty turns.
Space combat
Interstellar fleet battles take place in a quasi-real-time environment, similar to a complex game of rock-paper-scissors. Each battle scene takes place in three engagement stages: long-range, medium-range, and melee-range engagements, with different types of weapons and ship systems performing better or worse as the fleets increase in physical proximity over time. Fleets are issued up to three different 'cards', one for each stage of combat, which represent fleet-wide general orders, from categories such as attack, defend, tactics, sabotage, and engineering. Each card has a certain function, such as increasing the fleet's weapons damage by a certain amount (an 'attack' card), however some cards can counter opposing cards, as in the case of an 'attack' card played against an enemy's 'tactics' card during long-range engagement, where the attack card gives a straight damage improvement while the tactics card provides a damage improvement but weakens the fleet's defences correspondingly - the attack card's increased damage counters the tactics card's weakened defences, and the attacking fleet thus gains a sizable additional bonus to damage during long-range engagement. No traditional combat micromanagement takes place during these battles, though the player instead is engaged in terms of understanding fleet composition and attempting to predict and counter likely 'card' plays by the enemy fleet based on how the engagement has unfolded so far. More advanced or specialised cards may also be unlocked through research or through advanced training available to experienced commanders. Fleet size and composition play a very important role, such as determining combat effectiveness (when, per se, the attack card is played) and ability to maneuver. Fleets with hero units assigned to them may also experience bonuses. During battles, the camera is by default placed in a cinematic mode, but a free camera mode is also available.
