Don't get me wrong, this is a FANTASTIC game in every right. Except....
The developers have abandoned both the game, and it's fans.
Many of us, myself included, have encounter the strangest of issues.
The game will simply not start, and then sync with the steam cloud.

Nothing will fix it, and there is no solution. They have abandoned us.
We've tried:
verifying the game files
reinstalling the game
restarting our pc's
messing with the files and .exe's
searching and posting on the forums
searching google
directly contacting the devs
syncing/desyncing the steam cloud
And everything else we could think of. Yet, the game will no longer open, and the devs won't fix it. Even though they made games like Bully, GTA: SA, and other large titles, they apprently have no kind of intention to help their fanbase, make the broken game free or take it off the market, or even try to fix this issue.

If, in the future, the issue is resolved, I shall update this review. But in the game's current state of blantant unplayability, I strongly caution you against buying it. You should buy it on your phone if you still want to play it, as I do not believe the issue is on phones, but you have been warned. Do not buy this game unless you are completely fine with wasting your money, as well as feeding and paying the bills of developers that don't give 2 ♥♥♥♥♥ for their fanbase.

AURALUX: CONSTELLATIONS, developed and published by War Drum Studios, is the sequel to the indie classic Auralux. This is the Steam debut for the franchise which has gotten a cult following from both the PC and mobile audience.

In each round the player begins with a single planet. The task is to then upgrade, expand and take over the enemies planets for sole power of the solar system. That may sound simple and it is at the easier levels. However, once the game reaches normal and harder modes the challenge becomes increasingly difficult. It’s a case of minimalist RTS elements being executed perfectly. The more you play the more elements are added.

The biggest upgrade from the original game to Auralux: Constellations is the addition of multiplayer which can take place in a local and online format. This addition gives the game significant playability if you have a friend or family member that can play at home or online. It’s been a feature that the game’s community has been begging for a long time.

The graphical presentation does not deviate away from the minimalism that is the main drawcard of the game. In fact, I would suggest that it takes it a level further. The graphics are simple enough that it allows the player to focus on the core focus of the gameplay. The music does the same only it helps raise the intensity to the next level. Although the developers claim to have designed it to provide a ‘relaxing, cerebral experience’ I would argue that the intensity and the intelligent gameplay forces the player to think and act quickly.

I cannot really fault it. The game achieves what it sets out to do at a high level and although I am yet to experience the multiplayer – holler at me if you’d like to play against me – I can only imagine that it is a wonderful addition.

This has been a Steamified[www.steamified.com] review. For great giveaways and more reviews please check us out!

Really fun game. I loved it as an app on iOS, loved it on PC too. A few nights ago i thought to myself, "wouldnt it be cool if this game i used to play was on steam, and was multiplayer?" I then decided to search it up on steam, and there it was! Multiplayer too! Tons of content in this game, alot more than the app, with 13 worlds, around 10 level per world, and literally a dozen new features added. Although the game gets very difficult sometimes, and i find the AI are very prone to attack you rather than each other a good 80% of the time, making you weaker so now the other AI attack you aswell, which is a little flawed, but makes the game tricky. Would recommend to anyone who loves a real time strategy game.

Auralux: Constellations is a great game for pure relax :)
I was involved in beta-testing of the game and I can say with pleasure it's a very good game :)
The main principle is to win by taking over enemy suns with units produced by suns that you owned so far.
This version of game is a great enhacement of the original Auralux.
It's introduced so many new features like black-holes, minefield zones, moving suns etc. - just brilliant! :)
There is a lot of fun for a long hours in many different star constellations.
This version has multiplayer and in-game chat as well, so even more fun and hours are ensured.
Also the game is very nice looking, however it could be more interesting music provided.
As for me this game is definitely worth to play it! :)

Note: Got the beta key and am grateful for the continued experience!

Auralux: Constellations is for those of us that love RTS on a pure level. Its simplistic design can be found in all facets of the game. Graphics are beautiful, controls are easy to learn but tough to master in the more difficult scenarios and the whole experience is rounded off with a beautiful sound scenery. I have always been a fan of simplistic games as they are the hardest to master (if done right) but this one easily makes a top 3 entry together with Eufloria and Osmos.

The game challenges your overview and spacial awareness at its finest! The gameplay in a nutshell? You start with a planet that produces a certain amount of drones per second and your goal is to eradicate all other factions. Some planets you can upgrade to produce more. Sometimes you will be facing just one enemy and in other sceneries you got multiple of them coming at you and each other. All constellations (featuring multiple planet-milestones one needs to master) give the player a fresh challenge every single time and with challenge I mean challenge! Each constellation also has a specific theme. I just got through one with minefields that help defend planets but also make it hard to attack them and now I am dealing with slowly advancing shockwaves...the surprises never end and I mean that in a very positive way. In some levels you have to think out of the box or you won't manage to beat the AI which is very well done!

Some scenarios are about speed, sometimes you have to be patient, in others you need to evade or trick your enemies into fighting each other until you are strong enough to beat them all and more...
On top of that you have multiplayer!! A dream come true for those of us who made it through the single player experience or those who are more competitive in general.

If you want an easy to learn but challenging game that will keep you busy for many, many hours then this is cash well spent!
To the Devs: Well done folks, well done! I am having a blast!

I was a big fan of the mobile game, but unfortunately the PC version suffers from problems with the AI and some mechanics.

I love the new maps, as well as the introduction of new game mechanics to keep the experience fresh even to experienced players. The introduction of multiplayer is nice, although I've had difficulty finding more than one active server regardless of when I come online. This can be changed by playing with some friends, where it's a good time. One minor thing (super minor) is that there are unlockable planet skins which can be used in single player which can only be unlocked by winning X number of multiplayer games. Not a fan of that, but it may convince some people to play multiplayer which is a good thing in my opinion.

The thing that frustrates me to no end about this game is the AI. It is biased toward attacking the player and plays inefficiently, which does not mesh with a challenging experience. When one opponent gets ahead, it makes sense for everyone to team up against the largest player in order to have a chance at winning. An alternative would be to attack the weakest player, in order to claim their production for your own to stand a chance against the stronger opponent. The AI does neither of these two, and seems predisposed to attacking the player when it offers no tactical advantage. This makes almost every game devolve into frustration, and achieving victory becomes RNG of where your neighbor attacks rather than skill or tactical planning. These are the same problems I had with the app, but the simplicity of the maps and the fact that the AI would retreat to defend attacked planets was a way to make this at least tolerable. With the new complex mechanics and maps, it's even more frustrating seeing the lack of interaction or planning the AI has in this game.

One mechanic that is missing from this is enemy AI retreating to defend planets. I think this is because of slight gameplay changes made to this version which almost guarantees that you will lose any defending battle. If you are attacking an enemy planet, defending units will group together to intercept the attackers, but the attackers will simply swarm around the defenders or tunnel a path through the center of the defenders, which the defenders do not move to fill. This means that you can lose a planet even if you have hundreds of units defending it, just because the enemy was an equal size and tunneled through your defender. The only way to get around this that I have found is to micromanage defense and manually direct your defenders to the exact point the attackers are pushing from, or constantly order your units to heal your planet as it's being beaten down by the attackers. This is not fun gameplay in my opinion, especially when you're being attacked from two directions by different AI while the neighbor between them swallows each of them up with no retaliation.

Finally, very often my game will just straight up fail to launch. When I click on it in Steam, it will prepare for a moment and try to sync before just not launching (no error message). I can play literally every other game in my library with no problem, and I've tried reinstalling and validating my game files a few times with no luck,

I really wish this game was better, because discovering and playing the mobile app while it ate my battery is literally one of the best things that have ever happened to me. Replaying the old levels in Constellations gives me vivid flashbacks to where I was when I first played those levels, and I remember telling all of my friends to play it. As much as I would love to recommend this game to others, I can't do that right now knowing how frustrating of an experience it can be. I'll continue playing with hopes that the developer is responsive and maybe addresses some of my concerns or points out where I'm stupid, but I'm not going to be buying any lootboxes.

fun for the first couple constellations but the harder difficulties it basically just becomes a game of luck as far as did the opponent attack you first or one of the other computers. literately no way to win if two of the AI's decide to go for your stuff first... no tech or upgrades to allow progression just, keep trying and hope the AI is nice to you

Love this genre, so automatic thumbs up, that said i prefer solarmax 2 and some other titles, easier controls, strategic difficulty rather than mostly luck and more complex game elements.

art 5/5 noice

controls 4/5 have to double click to repeatedly send out units....also AI does not protect planets very well so you have to select and spam your planet during defence to make sure they dont destroy it eventho your defending army is way bigger

variety 3/5 each pack of say 10 levels features 1 extra element which is fun but would have been cooler if it had all of them in one level, the complexity of levels stays very small

AI 2/5 at any given time the enemies can decide to gang up on you and even if you played really well, its just game over regardless this is really frustrating. they seem to follow the same pattern so some levels i had to search up on youtube and figured out if i take this seemingly stupid random planet, they will suddently not decide to 1v2 me. thats not strategy, more of a luck/puzzle element rather than actually outsmarting the AI.

difficulty 1/5 no options for changing difficulty, and luck seems to be a big factor that often totally destroys a perfectly executed gameplan

A simple, yet difficult and casually relaxing game.

Pretty visuals, easy-to-learn gameplay, and the sound design in this game makes you feel like you're really transcending in space. The colors are vibrant and alive. The planets are colorful and big. The music is soothing, yet intense.

Loads of content, loads of levels, endless fun.

Would recommend.

One of my favorites when just wanting to kill time.