Rock, Paper, Shotgun

If one thing gets RPS’ collective heart racing, it’s slowform strategy games with inscrutable diplomatic dimensions. Well, John’s bit of the heart doesn’t race to that, but it’s cold and black, and makes this weird groaning noise… Anyway, one company which has been masterful in the production of these kinds of games is Australian outfit Iron Helmet, who have been responsible for first Neptune’s Pride and now Blight Of The Immortals, both browser-based multiplayer strategies of excellent repute. We spoke to their mastermind, Jay Kyburz, and asked him to explain his activities.
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It’s over! 17,000 words later and at last we have a victor for this, the most miserable and guilty of all AARs. Will the galaxy enter the rule of Kieron’s glittering red Empire? Or will it be empurpled by the all-powerful, all-duplicitious Graham? Or perhaps blue underdog Jimothy Rossignol will at last spring his winning gambit. Read the grim and salty conclusion to our game of Neptune’s Pride after the jump (or read it over at the PC Gamer blog here here).

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The battle for galactic domination has been reduced to just a handful of titanic empires. Victory, however, hangs in the balance. Will exhaustion finally exact its toll on the generals of this epic war? If you’re enjoying these reports then EXCITINGLY SLOW SPACE WAR AWAITS YOU in Neptune’s Pride. You can also read a version of this diary over on PC Gamer.
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Empires have risen, and now they are falling. The fifth part of our battle for Neptune’s Pride sees the final contenders struggling for ultimate victory in a long, drawn-out attrition that would tax their very souls… (PCG’s version of this diary is over here.)
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Who will rule space? No Sponge, that’s for sure. But who else might take the crown? Could it be Graham’s exploding Empire? Or Jim’s embattled corner of space? Or the vast Empire of Quinns? Place your bets for part four… And maybe go sign up to Neptune’s Pride yourself. (PCG are also running a version of this diary, over yonder.)
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The slow space war of Neptune’s Pride continues with one more player knocked from his seat in the heavens. Who will it be? And can the others agree on a permanent alliance to win the game? (PC Gamer are also running this diary over here.)
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We’ve been playing the epic browser-based strategy Neptune’s Pride, and marveling at its dark psychological potential. A mix of the galaxy’s finest generals, hand-picked from the slightly awkward ranks of the RPS and PC Gamer (whose coverage is here), would decide the fate of our pocket universe.

Read on for the second part of the battle, where there is no love to be made: only war.
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I haven’t played this yet – though I’ve just signed up – but this beta interests me in a couple of ways. Firstly, it’s by a new developer founded by ex-Irrationalite (i.e. Freedom Force, Swat, Bioshock, etc) Jay Kyburz with fellow Irrationalites. It seems I like writing “Irrationalites”. Secondly, it may be the closest thing I’ve seen to what I wished for at the end of my Travian piece back in the day – diplomacy-heavy, low-maintenance, smaller-player-numbers strategy game you can slide into your day. Neptune’s Pride is a online-only space-empire game. It’s been in development for 4 months, but is already is functional and in open Beta. There’s a video below which shows the basics, but you’d be better going to look around the site.
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