Small Star Empires is a quick area control game for 2-4 players. In this game, players colonize the galaxy using their ships, which they will move on a modular board containing hexagon spaces (systems). The modular board is made up of 7 different double-sided Sector Tiles, which allows for a different map and different experience each time you play the game.

During a turn, a player must move one of his ships on the board. He can only move the ship in a straight line, as far away as he wants, but he cannot go over systems controlled by other players. After moving the ship, the player has to choose whether to place a Colony or a Trade Station in that system. Both of these mark control over the system for until the end of the game but the Trade Station is better because it gives the player bonus points for each adjacent system controlled by your opponents.

The game ends when either all of the players have placed their Colonies and Trade Stations on the board or until none of the players’ ships can move legally (they became blocked by other players’ systems).

After the game ends, points are calculated. Each player gets one point for each planet that he has in his systems (there are systems with 1 to 3 planets on the board). Players also get points for Nebulae – the more they have from one color the more points they would get, and they add their bonus points from other special systems such as the Unexplored System Tiles, which are a part of a variant in the game.

After calculating the points, the player with the most points is the winner!