[2] In the game the player chooses one of four unique races to form an interstellar empire and conquer the galaxy.

In order to win, the player must expand territory by colonizing new star systems, exploit the resources available to their colonies, design and build starships, and improve their empire's technology through research and strategy.

Also the game provides a high amount of randomness from technology availability, to map features, to large scale independent threats.

In the latest version of the game, there are six different alien races to choose from, each with its unique form of faster-than-light travel and preferred technologies.

These races include humans, insect-like Hivers, dolphin-like Liir, reptilian Tarkas, marsupial Zuul, and the crow-like Morrigi.

Each section also has hard points of various size (small, medium, large, and special) to which weapons can be attached.

This expansion introduced a new, sixth race, the crow-like Morrigi, as well as some new technologies, the addition of civilians to planet populations, and new Dreadnought-sized orbital stations.

Soon after Paradox Interactive took over publishing duties a new bundle was released on April 17, 2009 called Sword of the Stars: Ultimate Collection.

This bundle features the original game (updated to version 1.8.0), all expansion packs, and some bonus material in the form of exclusive maps.

[8] PC Gamer said: "While Sword of the Stars doesn't possess the battlefield variety of the "Homeworld" games that inspired it, it remains an ambitious and engrossing strategy triumph.

"[17] Perhaps the most negative review was written by Tom Chick of 1UP.com, who summarized it as "[a] misguided attempt at a streamlined strategy game".

Tom Chick addressed this issue on his website, claiming that the "one-time" payment he had received for the manual did not represent a conflict of interest in reviewing a rival title in the same genre.