[1] Like Empire, the player's objective in Strategic Conquest is to defeat the enemy and conquer the world.

It differed from Empire in a number of details, most notably its system for creating the game map.

Version 3.0 added 16-color graphics and optional MacinTalk prompts, while 4.0 was a major upgrade with new units (the helicopter and artillery), and a new map-building system based on fractals and allows the user to select maps with more or less land.

From version 3, the player can select a skill level from one to fifteen to make the computer more or less challenging.

In harder games, above level 10, the human player starts with fewer neutral cities nearby to conquer and takes twice as long to produce any particular unit than the computer.

Measured by playable grid units, the player(s) can choose a map that is small (48 x 32), medium (96 x 64), or large (124 x 96).

If you are playing against the computer you can extend this to however many moves would be left to the unit if you had not attacked by clicking the "W" (wake) key.

An eight-page review in MacUser covered the 2.0 version in depth, including strategies for dealing with various units.

It concludes that "With this wonderfully playable yet intricate program, PBI has superseded the tired genres of shoot-'em-up arcade spiels and rigidly structured text adventures" and awards it 4.5 out of 5.

With a host of innovative new features and the ability to withstand a billion or so replays, SC+ is certainly worth taking a look at.