In the resulting chaos, the would-be colonists divide into seven factions, each willing to work with the others if they can, but all ready to destroy their rivals if they must. The game begins when players choose a faction and head down to Planet in a pod ship that will also serve as their initial city. The first few turns of the game are usually taken up with exploring the surrounding area, establishing more cities, and trying to make contact with the other factions. Players have total control of their forces at every step of the way, from micromanaging each of their cities and directing individual units to developing an overall strategy for their burgeoning society. For instance, players may decide to eschew violence in favor of transcending the bounds of humanity through research.
Colonization is in the details.
And, of course, players have to deal with Planet itself, whether that means fighting off attacks by the dreaded Mindworms or limiting their terraforming activities in order to prevent global warming. Alpha Centauri has been called Civilization in space, and that description is pretty apt. Meier has basically taken all of the work he did on Civilization , refined it, expanded it and sent it off to another planet. Which is a simple way of saying that Alpha Centauri is one of the most complex SF games ever created. The rulebook for Alpha Centauri is 247 pages long, and if anything it doesn't go into enough detail.