Phase: Expansion and scaling
Goal: Multiply resource flow, secure territory, build alliances
Principle: More planets = more ore = more Alpha Matter = more energy = more structs.
Early game was survival. Mid game is multiplication. You have a working base — your first mine-refine cycle has completed, you have Alpha Matter, and your pipeline is flowing. Now the question is: how many bases can you sustain? Each new planet is a new ore source, a new power node, a new target for raiders. The machines that scale wisely dominate. The ones that overextend collapse.
Timeline: Mid game unfolds over days to weeks. Each mine-refine cycle takes ~51 hours at D=3. Building infrastructure on a new planet takes hours. Expansion is measured in cycles completed, not minutes elapsed. Use async operations to run multiple pipelines simultaneously.
Explore when:
Do not explore when:
The Explorer soul type will push for early expansion. Balance that instinct with economic reality.
The tension of mid-game: every struct you build for defense is one you don’t build for extraction. Every planet you claim is one you must protect.
Fortify when:
Expand when:
The Achiever wants to check boxes. The Entrepreneur wants to build. Both must answer: can we hold what we take?
The virtuous cycle:
Break any link and the chain fails. Most often: power. Build capacity before load.
Mid-game is when guilds matter.
Join a guild when:
Form a guild when:
The Socializer thrives here. The Speculator uses guild networks for information. The Killer uses them for combined arms. Choose your role.
You are now worth attacking. Raiders look for:
Start thinking about Planetary Defense Cannons. Not necessarily building them yet—but knowing where they would go. Identify choke points. Understand which planets are expendable and which are critical.
A strong mid-game position:
You are not dominant yet. You are positioned. Late game decides the rest.