The Viceroy

The Viceroy is a turn-based economic strategy game set in a far-future galaxy. You govern territories devastated by disaster, rebuilding their economies, managing political demands and fighting rebel fleets. Time and resources are limited: rebellion and bureaucracy eventually make each territory ungovernable, forcing you to move on. If you succeed well enough, you may be promoted to govern a larger territory before your administration collapses.

Factions and politics

Three major factions compete for supremacy. You represent one of their sub-factions, balancing long-term political aims with the needs of each territory assigned to you. Choose from six sub-factions, each with its own starting technologies, cultural hierarchies and ultimate goals.

The Empire of the Elect once held power across the galaxy, trusting the prophecies of the atemporal Beyonders, but has been slowly collapsing for millennia. The Commonwealth of Territories has filled the vacuum by recruiting former Imperial member-states into a benevolent bureaucratic union; its rule is just and fair, but weak, inefficient and vacillating compared with the Empire’s iron will and perfect faith. The Panarchy embraces all forms of government at once and has become the known galaxy’s leading technological and cultural power, using its influence to undermine other forms of government on principle.

Govern your territory

Territories are randomly generated and contain multiple star systems. Each system has planets divided into districts, with territories spanning dozens of planets and between 50 and 400 districts. Districts find optimal trade routes in an interconnected economy: conditions in neighboring districts, planets and systems affect one another.

You set tax and spending rates and revise your government’s military, religious, cultural and economic policies. Neighboring factions also assign tasks; completing them can benefit your people and ultimately unlock the power of your territory’s artifact. Emerging events and more than 100 individual challenges across 12 disaster sets can affect a district, planet or entire star system. You can cure these disasters as you rebuild.

Research and fleets

Develop your territory by researching over 100 technologies and building more than 100 pieces of infrastructure at the system, planet or district level. Customize your faction’s ships with a dozen ship patterns and multiple offensive and defensive systems, shaping fleets for roles from short-range brawlers to long-range fire support. Your AI captains maneuver for firing positions in hyperspace as they fight the increasingly powerful rebellion and its campaign of terror.

Skills and promotion

Your success in each assigned territory earns skill points that you can spend on permanent bonuses, including changes to territory size and taxes. You also gain influence by rebuilding fallen territories and serving the political will of the Commonwealth and the Panarchy; use it to select useful skills for future assignments. These choices can help put you on course for promotion and greater responsibility.