Turns over daysAgainst the computer
Planets.nu
A space empire built one turn at a time. Planets.nu continues VGA Planets: you colonise planets, build ships and bases and write to rival races, and the server runs the turn on set days. Most games have 11 players and last months.
Planets.nu at a glance
- One game
- Months (est.)
- Check in
- 1 to 7 times a week
- Players
- 11 in most games
- Email account needed
- Paid membership
- Paid perks in play
- Players message you
- Turns on set days
- Phone app
Facts
- Made by
- Geographical Media Inc., country not stated
- Running since
- The Android app came out on 10 April 2015. Planets.nu continues VGA Planets, whose creator Tim Wisseman handed the game on to its team.
- Setting
- The Echo Cluster, a sector of space
- Format
- Turn-based space empire. Everyone sends orders and the server 'hosts' the turn on set days, from once a week to every day.
- One game lasts
- Months (est.: running games were between turn 28 and turn 154, at 1 to 7 turns a week)
- Check in
- Once per turn, 1 to 7 times a week depending on the game (est., from host days)
- Players
- 11 in 105 of the 148 games running on 23 October 2026
- Phone
- The Android app Planets Nu (PEGI 3) was last updated on 6 August 2024. A newer app from the same company, VGA Planets: Skyfire, sells in-app purchases from £0.89 to £44.49; it is a separate product and not covered here.
- Account
- An account with an email address and a password before you play. Without one you can only open public game pages.
- Money
- Free to play. Premium costs $3.50 a month, $9 for three months or $30 a year. It lets you join more than three games at once, raise starbase tech past level 7, enter championship matches for prizes and use extra campaign ships and races. We saw no adverts.
- Paid random items
- None found. We searched the 10 MB game client for loot, crate, mystery, lottery, raffle and gacha on 23 October 2026.
- Chat
- Diplomacy messages between players in each game and an activity feed with mute options. We found no report button.
- Age
- No terms page found, so no stated age. Google Play rates the Android app PEGI 3 with 'Users interact'.
- Languages
- English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Finnish, Italian and Portuguese, on the sign-up page
- Last update seen
- Turns hosted on 23 October 2026; game client last changed on 14 July 2026
How it plays
How Planets.nu plays
Planets.nu is the online home of VGA Planets. Its home page offers 12 classic science-fiction races and more than 180 ship designs, in single-player or multiplayer, and says over 60,000 commanders have joined.
The verbs on the home page tell you what a turn holds: colonise planets, hide in nebulas, open wormholes, lay minefields, build battleships and bases, cloak and intercept. Each player sends orders, and the server hosts the turn on that game's set days.
In the public game list on 23 October 2026, 148 games were running: 35 hosted every day, 30 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and 36 on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. One game we opened, Slow Burn, was on turn 141 with the next turn 126 hours away; another, created in January 2023, had reached turn 154.
Some race names from the original VGA Planets, such as The Fascist Empire and The Evil Empire, are still in the game.
Your first game
- Step 1Open planets.nu and look at a running game's public page to see what a turn shows.
- Step 2Create an account with an email address and a character name.
- Step 3Pick a game whose host days you can keep: every day, three times a week or once a week.
- Step 4Free accounts can be in up to three games at once; Premium lifts that limit.
Money, chat and age
Premium is the only purchase on Planets.nu: $3.50 a month, $9 for three months or $30 a year. Unlike the memberships of Territorial.io and Generals.io, it changes play: starbase tech past level 7, extra races and championship matches. We found no paid random items.
Players write to each other in every game, which is how alliances are made, and the activity feed has mute options. We found no report button and no terms page.
With no terms page there is no stated age. The Android app is rated PEGI 3. The classic race names include The Fascist Empire, which some parents may want to explain.
Patient players who like space, logistics and rivalries that last months, with a few visits a week.
Anyone who wants to try before giving an email, and players who mind paid advantages.
Sources
- Planets.nu home page
- Public list of running games
- Planets Nu on Google Play
- VGA Planets: Skyfire on Google Play
Planets.nu facts checked on 23 October 2026. How we check.