Drag rotates the view. Scroll zooms. Click a bright star to hyperjump to it; click a world to enter orbit. The breadcrumbs (top left) take you back a level. Esc or ? opens this guide any time.
One star in 140 hides the Beacon. Every system you visit shows a signal strength reading, top left. Warmer means closer, colder means further. Triangulate your way in, then scan the source.
Unknown worlds appear as dark silhouettes. Enter orbit and INITIATE SCAN to reveal them and earn credits: Common pays 30 CR, up through Uncommon and Rare to Legendary at 1,800. Scan every body in a system for a Full Survey bonus. Discoveries are logged permanently.
Finding the Beacon grants your colonial charter. Any scanned world with a solid surface can be settled (2,000 CR, or 3,500 on hostile rocks). Populations grow in real time, even while the game is closed (banked up to 24 hours), paying credits per minute plus one-off Expansion Grants every time a colony reaches a new tier, Outpost up to Metropolis. Three upgrades: Habitat Domes raise the population ceiling, Extractors raise income, Terraform Spires speed up growth.
The endgame megaproject, available in galaxy view once the Beacon is found. Building it leaves this sector behind: colonies convert to permanent Legacy income, your discovery record carries over, scan values rise 50%, and a brand-new galaxy generates with a new Beacon hidden somewhere in it.
Worlds above 70% habitability grow fastest. Buy Extractors early, income compounds your options. Terraform hostile worlds later, not first. And check back tomorrow: your colonies work while you sleep.