Star Trek: Infinite mashes Stellaris and Star Trek together into something more delicious than anything you can get out of a replicator.

When we first got word back in June that Paradox Interactive was publishing a grand strategy game set in the Star Trek universe, we were just a little bit excited.

It’s been a long time since anyone took a crack at making a Star Trek strategy game, which is a crying shame given how well Star Trek lends itself to the mechanics of exploring and colonizing space. I’ve had a chance to play a preview build of Star Trek: Infinite, and thankfully it’s much more than a Stellaris Star Trek mod (something you can already play)—it’s a game that puts you smack dab in the middle of one of the most interesting times in Trek history and, in grand strategy style, lets you write your own story.

In Star Trek: Infinite you take control of one of the four major factions in the Alpha quadrant in the year 2340, shortly before the events of The Next Generation. As the Romulans, Cardassians, Klingons, or the Federation, you build colonies, explore the stars, research new technologies, and battle one another for galactic supremacy (or, y’know, peace, if that’s your deal).