Smugglers 5: Invasion

Smugglers 5: Invasion is a standalone expansion that continues the story of Smugglers 5: Secession and can be played without the base game. After years of civil war, the Federation has defeated the rebellions and the galaxy expects peace. The Jalkath, a new alien race resembling the tigers of Old Earth, launch a swift, brutal invasion with terrifying weapons and subjugate entire systems. The Federation rallies a defence, and both sides fight for dominance.

You can fight for humanity’s survival, trade and smuggle goods for profit, or play both sides against each other. The game’s war and campaign are non-linear, and your actions can influence the conflict. Conquering the enemy’s home system immediately wins the war.

The Jalkath invasion

You can play as the Jalkath, with new skills and professions. The expansion adds six alien star systems, revises exploration stories and introduces new ones in many systems. It also adds race-dependent news broadcasts and events, along with more than 10 alien ships and squadrons, from fighters to capital ships.

Carriers bring unique abilities to battle, launching bombers, interceptors and escort vessels. Ship-to-ship combat uses a skill bar that randomly selects a deck of available skills; the deck changes during combat. The expansion adds 20 skills, including some that restrict the skills available to enemies, and revises existing skills for the new combat system and ships. It also improves the artificial intelligence.

Explore and command

Travel and combat use a fast, turn-based system. You manage a crew, board enemy ships, can become an Admiral and command fleets, and can plunder planets and pirate outposts, conquer systems or rule an empire. The galaxy includes four factions and six professions, each with unique skill trees, as well as more than 100 skills and over 30 spaceships and encounters, ranging from fighters to battleships, cruise missiles and star bases.

Trading follows supply and demand, with story and campaign events affecting prices. More than 80,000 words of interactive, non-linear storylines accompany procedurally generated text and planet-exploration stories, so each game differs. You can also marry and have children. An optional compatibility mode allows blind players to play.

The expansion increases the display resolution of the two main game screens. These two features, along with the revised ship-combat skill deck, are also unlocked as community rewards in the base game.