While it received generally positive reviews for its depth and multiplayer focus, its complexity and single-player appeal were criticized.

A sequel, Stars: Supernova Genesis, was abandoned due to lack of publisher interest.

Starting with a small fleet of ships and one or two planets, players develop their empires, meet other races and conquer the galaxy.

[3] The graphics are entirely 2D, and consist of the main map view and static pictures of planets, ship hulls and components.

Because of the high level of micromanagement and diplomacy requirements, many games take place over months between players spread across the galaxy.

If the random events game option is enabled, players will have to contend with (or take advantage of) the Mystery Trader, comet strikes, wormholes, and environmental changes.

Many games are run at a rate of one turn per calendar day, giving plenty of time for strategic thinking.

To foster a better understanding of the game, Mare Crisium paid members of the player community (Kearns, Clifford, Steeves) to write and edit an in-depth Strategy Guide in 1998.

Blitz games are generally more tactical and less political in nature, due to the time constraints involved.

Later that year the newsgroup rec.games.computer.stars became active, facilitating public discussion of tactics and allowing players to find new games.

By the end of 1996 shareware version 2.60 had been released, and the game has remained essentially unchanged ever since, although there have been numerous updates.

The latest file date on the retail version CDROM is January 8, 1997; it sold for $41 before tax at Media Play in the southeastern U.S. in February 1997.

Over the years a number of third-party developers have provided tools and utilities to help players manage their empires.

formed a company called Mare Crisium Studios and began development of Stars: Supernova Genesis.

This was intended to be a much more advanced game, with significantly better graphics, and also to remove some of the irritations of the original, such as the high level of micro-management.