Stellaris: Anniversary Edition

Stellaris is Paradox's science fiction grand strategy game, and it starts earlier than most of the genre: you design a species, pick its ethics, government and FTL method, then push out from one home system into a randomly generated galaxy that can hold up to a thousand stars. Early play is exploration and survey work, with anomalies and archaeology sites hiding stories that pay off dozens of hours later. Then borders meet, and the game turns into diplomacy, espionage, federations, war goals and the slow business of running an empire whose sectors increasingly want to run themselves. Crises arrive late and are meant to be survived rather than won cleanly. Runs in real time with speed control, and supports large multiplayer games. The Anniversary Edition bundles the base game with three add-ons in one purchase: the Leviathans Story Pack, which seeds the galaxy with enormous guardian creatures and enclaves worth negotiating with; the Aquatics Species Pack, adding an ocean-dwelling portrait set with its own traits and origin; and the Galactic Paragons expansion, which rebuilds leaders into a council system with their own traits and agendas.