The whole game is based on per-minute updates. Because these updates are computed depending on when the game server was started, they may happen at any time.
Because of this, a game time is provided. It corresponds to the amount of updates that were computed. One "hour" of game time corresponds to an update and, generally speaking, a minute of real-world time.
No real attempts at balancing the game were made. It is therefore quite likely that some aspects of the rules will not work as expected.
Income is mostly provided by an empire's population. While income and upkeep are displayed for 24h of real-world time, an empire's cash reserve will increase (or decrease) continuously. The optional Generic assembly line building provides additional income.
Populations also generate research points, which are used to update an empire's research progress. When a technology reaches 100% of its required research points, it needs to be implemented, which costs money.
Two sets of three technologies are available: civilian technologies provide new buildings, while military technologies provide new ships.
If an empire's cash reserve reach 0 because of a high upkeep, its fleets will begin to degrade. If it does not own any fleets, then its planet's buildings start to degrade.
It is however possible for an empire to reach 0 because of buildings and ships construction. In this case, no damage will be inflicted, but construction will be slowed down.
Two types of buildings are available without any technology: ship parts factories (which allow ships to be built) and defence turrets (which provide stationary defences to your planets).
Buildings construction or destruction are not immediate. The speed at which buildings are constructed or destroyed depend on a planet's population. When building, the monetary cost of buildings is taken from the empire's reserves at every update.
Destroying buildings is much faster than constructing them; in addition, a small proportion of the building's cost is added back to the empire's cash reserves once the building is destroyed.
A planet's happiness is determined by three factors: the amount of jobs provided by the planet's buildings relative to the planet's population, the stationary defences' power and the amount of planets owned by the empire.
Happiness does not change immediately when something affects it. The change is progressive, and its speed depend on its amplitude and on the planet's total population.
When a planet's happiness is below 25%, its citizen go on strike, which reduces the planet's income, production and defences.
Population growth is directly proportional to the planet's happiness.
Ships are constructed on planets using the same principle as buildings. However, their construction speed is determined by the planet's military production.
Ships have two characteristics: their power, which determine how effective they are in battle, and their orbit-to-orbit flight time, which determines their speed and the various penalties which may be inflicted on a fleet (redirection, redeployment, etc).
A fleet's power is the sum of each of its ships' power. Its orbit-to-orbit flight time is determined by the slowest ship in the fleet.
Only fleets that have the available status may be moved, split, or merged. In addition, fleets that have the deploying status do not inflict damage in battle (they do however receive damage). All fleets may be renamed, disbanded, or switched between offensive and defensive modes, whatever their status is.
A battle starts whenever an attacking fleet is present on a planet, and end when all attacking fleets are gone / have been destroyed, or when all defensive fleets and planetary defences are gone / have been destroyed. In the latter case, the attacker with the biggest fleet takes control of the planet at the next update.
Battles are updated every minute. Therefore, there are no "battle reports"; instead, a history of the battle and the events that occured during the battle are provided.
A battle's intensity starts at a low level, slowly increasing over time until it reaches full intensity. It determines how much damage is dealt.
Battle damage on both buildings and ships accumulates over time. It is not possible to repair ships or buildings.