Spaceward Ho!
| Spaceward Ho! | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Developer(s) |
Delta Tao Software Mobilefreon (Palm) Ariton(iOS) |
| Publisher(s) |
Delta Tao Software Mobilefreon (Palm) Ariton(iOS) |
| Designer(s) |
Peter Commons Joe Williams (Joedelta) |
| Platform(s) | iOS, Android, Mac OS, Mac OS X (before 10.7), Palm OS, Microsoft Windows (older version), Amiga (older version) |
| Release date(s) | 1990 |
| Genre(s) | 4X, Turn-based strategy |
| Mode(s) | single-player, multiplayer |
Spaceward Ho! is a turn-based science fiction computer strategy game that was written by Peter Commons, designed by Joe Williams (Joedelta) and published by Delta Tao Software. The first version was released in 1990, and further upgrades followed regularly; the current version, 5.0.5, was released on July 8, 2003. It has received wide recognition in the Macintosh community, for example being inducted into the Macworld Game Hall of Fame.
Spaceward Ho! can be categorized in the 4X game genre (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate) with a theme of galactic conquest. It took many elements of its design from the earlier Reach for the Stars, but expanded on many of that game's basic themes while taking advantage of the larger memory and better graphics available on the Mac platform.
Version 5 is available for Classic Mac OS, and Mac OS X versions before 10.7 (there is no universal binary) and Palm OS. Version 4 is also available for Windows and version 2 for Amiga.
The gameplay of Spaceward Ho! focuses on efficiently extracting the resources of conquered worlds while correctly anticipating and countering opponents' actions.
Spaceward Ho! can be played against a computer AI, or against other human players over the internet (via spacewardho.net). Previous versions of the game allowed also LAN-based networked play, but this feature has been disabled in the Mac OS X version. It has a very simple gameplay compared with most other games in the genre (such as Master of Orion). Depending on the initial settings, games take from about ten minutes to an hour. Its small but dedicated fanbase considers the simplicity to be elegance, and its designers boast that it has gotten faster and more intuitive to play with each new version. All unnecessary complexity has been stripped from the game, resulting in a fast-paced game that still manages to be very engaging.
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