Although the basic gamplay is straightforward, there are many non-combat elements that make the game more interesting than your average starship simulation. For example, there are three kinds of planets and installations: friendly, neutral, and hostile. Naturally, you can dock your ship at friendly installations/planets and have to fight hostile ones, but neutral installations/planets either have friendly leanings toward your side (called the "Empire"), or they do not. The only way to find out is to determine their leanings is by your local area map; an unfriendly neutral installation/planet may fire on your ship if you approach it. The ultimate challenge of the game is to convert all of the planets and bases of a given sector to installations friendly to the Empire. This can be done by defeating installations in battle so that they either surrender and become friendly neutral installations, are captured and become Imperial Vassals, or are destroyed. Similarly, you can disable or capture Imperial vessels and installation to gain efficiency bonus, which is used to advance to the next rank.

If you enjoy EGA Trek, you will likely find this freeware underdog a fun game in the same vein, although not nearly as sophisticated as the best Star Trek ship simulator. Well worth a look, though.