Genetics at the core
24 gene families, mutations and hidden side effects. What thrives on a frozen world starves on a desert planet.
Real-time space strategy · multiplayer
Breed species. Rule the stars.
Edit the genome of your species, settle new worlds and lead an empire in one shared world with other players.
Free · No ads · No tracking
- 24gene families
- 23wild body plans
- 9biomes
- 6paths to victory
- 5languages
The core of the game
Every empire grows from its genes
Genes shape traits. Each world tests them with its climate, each caste with its work. Work feeds the economy and the army, the economy pays for science, science opens the Genome Lab — and the lab creates new genes. Your empire is genes × planets × technology.
Genes
Traits
World & work
Economy & army
Science
Genome Lab
What you do
A whole civilization in your hands
Colonies that live
Workers, food, science and materials flow from the creatures you bred. Hungry creatures work worse; a well-fitted caste carries the colony.
Hunt for genes
Every planet has its own plants and animals. Take a sample, read its DNA, work out what each gene does and splice the one you want.
A shared galaxy
Send scouts, settle systems, contest territory and trade genes and goods with other players on a live market.
Diplomacy and war
Treaties need consent, allies see each other's fleets and invade together, and wars end in peace or ruin. Design ships from hulls and modules and defend your domes.
Six paths to victory
Win by military might, technology, economy, culture, megaprojects or the ascension of your species. Each path has its own goals and its own standings.
Living worlds
No two creatures are alike
Every creature is grown from its genome: body plan, limbs, eyes, color and gear come from its DNA, not from a list of skins. These are drawn by the game itself.
Wildlife of the planets
Castes you can breed
In the game
Screens from the game
Captured in a running test world after four hundred turns.
On the phone
Your empire in your pocket
The same world fits a phone screen: play in the mobile browser today; a native iOS app is on its way. The world runs on the server, so your colony lives on while you are away.
How it is built
Solid engineering under the hood
One deterministic core
The rules are written once in Rust and run on the server. The browser uses the same Rust code, compiled to WebAssembly, to grow creatures from their genes and read the live channel.
A world that never sleeps
One main server per world checks every order and keeps the world running while you are away.
Built for scale
Tested with a thousand players in one world and designed for ten thousand, over a live WebSocket channel.
Private by default
No ads, no tracking, no selling of data. Sign in with a one-time code sent to your e-mail.
Your empire is waiting
Open the game in your browser and sign in with a code sent to your e-mail — no download needed.
Play Helix Empire