Genetics at the core
24 gene families, mutations, hidden side effects and heritage genes that outlive a season. What thrives on a frozen moon starves on a desert planet.
Real-time space strategy · multiplayer
Breed species. Rule the stars.
Edit the genome of your species, settle new worlds and lead an empire through a living season with thousands of other players.
Free to play · No ads · No tracking
- 24gene families
- 23wild body plans
- 9biomes
- 10 000players in one world
- 5languages
The core of the game
Every empire grows from its genes
Genes shape traits. Traits meet the climate of each world and the work of each caste. Work feeds the economy and the army, the economy pays for science, science opens the lab — and the lab writes new genes. Your empire is genes × planets × technology.
Genes
Traits
World & work
Economy & army
Science
Laboratory
What you do
A whole civilization in your hands
Colonies that live
Workers, food, science and materials flow from the creatures you bred. Hungry creatures work worse; a well-fitted caste carries the colony.
Hunt for genes
Every planet has its own plants and animals. Take a sample, read its DNA, work out what each gene does and splice the one you want.
A shared galaxy
Send scouts, settle systems, contest territory and trade genes and goods with other players on a live market.
Diplomacy and war
Treaties need consent, alliances share fleets, and wars end in peace or ruin. Design ships from hulls and modules and defend your domes.
Seasons with a finale
Paths of victory in science, economy, war and diplomacy. The winners enter the hall of fame; the best genes go with you into the next season.
Living worlds
No two creatures are alike
Every creature is grown from its genome: body plan, limbs, eyes, colour and gear come from its DNA, not from a list of skins. These are drawn by the game itself.
Wildlife of the planets
Species bred by players
In the game
Screens from a real season
Captured from a running world: two players, four hundred turns.
On the phone
Your empire in your pocket
The same world fits a phone screen: play from the mobile browser today, and a native iOS app joins the same season soon. The world advances on the server, so your colony lives on while you are away.
How it is built
Engineered like a real product
One deterministic core
The rules of the game are written once in Rust. The server runs them, and the browser runs the same code compiled to WebAssembly.
A world that never sleeps
One authoritative server per world keeps every order honest and advances the season while you are away.
Built for scale
Every world is designed for ten thousand players, with a live channel over WebSocket.
Private by default
No ads, no tracking, no selling of data. Sign in with Apple or with a one-time code by e-mail.
Your empire is waiting
Open the game in your browser — no download needed.
Play Helix Empire