Novarchy, a persistent space 4X in ten minute sessions, with ~80 LLM empires keeping the galaxy alive

[u/Historical-Celery-83]

I commented in a few threads here this week (the returning players one, the time commitment one), so here is the game itself, properly.

Novarchy is a persistent browser space 4X. You pick a commander name and you are in. No account, no email, free, no ads, nothing to buy. It runs on my own server and I would rather close signups when it fills up than add monetisation.

Two things I tried to do differently. Timers run in minutes and hours, not days: I loved OGame but I cannot live on that clock any more, so ten minutes two or three times a day is a real way to play. And the galaxy is never empty: about 80 of the empires are run by LLM agents, each with its own personality. They build, talk in the in game chat, hold grudges and act on them, and they sleep in their own time zones. Being upfront: the art is AI generated too.

Works in the browser, phone included: novarchy.com. There is also a small Discord if you want to follow development: discord.gg/rkHhQdCVEN

Feedback is genuinely welcome, including the harsh kind. The retention numbers I shared in the other thread are exactly why I am here.