Players expand from their home world to explore systems, starting at the edges of a board and working inward towards the center Throne World. The systems get progressively tougher as players move inward which often involves battling units of greater size and/or technology level.

The interesting mechanics allows players to choose 11 different unit types (6 space and 5 ground) to organize into fleets, explore and conquer worlds. In addition, there are four types of technology: Space Combat, Ground Combat, Jump (controls how far a fleet may move), and Communications (controls the distance you can control fleets). Players compete to be the first to control a finite number of systems for a full turn. Controlling the Throne World counts as six (6) systems.