Idea from an rpg.net thread.

SSG's Reach for the Stars. a 4X space game for four players (there are always four players but you can make one or even all four computer controlled). The tech is simple, the planetary development is simple, the combat is simple but all together is complex enough to be challenging while still allowing a player to really optimize things (those few turns of development and exploration is really key).

Yet even with optimization there is not one strategy to win. You could build fleets and conquer at least one other player immediately. You can explore and colonize another planet quickly. Ok, maybe those were the two main strategies, with the first one the one I could use to beat three computer players on Veteran/Enhanced difficulty. The starmap is also set as to placement of stars and the barriers (which stops a fleet which can then move normally next game) so from certain stars certain movements are optimum.

It's a cool game which I and my friends spent many hours playing.

Wikipedia says SSG released a version in 2000 (updated in 2005). You can download the Matrix Games manual and at glance it adds:

-- Diplomacy and trade - there was none in my version, free for all
-- Technology types and ship design - my version had one technology which upgrade warships from Level 1 to 4. This meant that every player used the same ships and it was numbers or tech that won a battle.
-- Combat formations - none of that in my version.
-- Races (16) - no races in my version.

So significantly more complex. Would that make for a better game? Maybe someday I'll have the chance to find out.