A populated star system with planetary orbits and fleets

Write Your Story Across the Stars

A deep real-time 4X sandbox of exploration, discovery, and civilization-building. Inspired by Aurora, shaped by you.

A living galaxy, captured from the game

Every frame below is real — no mockups, no renders. This is what playing Protostar looks like.

A System Comes Alive
A System Comes Alive Orbital bodies and ships drift in real time as your civilization wakes to a new star.
A Galaxy Awaits
A Galaxy Awaits Shape the parameters of a procedurally generated galaxy — each one a fresh story to unfold.
Vessels for the Unknown
Vessels for the Unknown Design the ships that will carry your species outward, component by component.
Discover What’s Possible
Discover What’s Possible Guide your civilization’s curiosity across a deep research tree of your own choosing.
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Protostar 4X is a deeply detailed real-time space strategy sandbox — explore uncharted systems, settle living worlds, and follow a species from its first launch to a thriving interstellar civilization. Inspired by the legendary Aurora, rebuilt from the ground up with a custom engine, browser-based UI, and a focus on moddability wherever practical.

A lone survey probe drifting before an unmapped star

A Living Galaxy to Discover

Thousands of systems to explore — some procedurally generated, others drawn from real stars via NASA's open data. Each one holds secrets to uncover and a story waiting to emerge.

A dark command console with glowing holographic data panels

Your Civilization, Always in Reach

Open multiple views across browsers — system, galaxy, economy, logs — all watching your empire breathe in real time, with fingertip access to every command via a quick command palette.

A starship hull under construction, modules shown slightly separated

Shape It To Your Story

The core gameplay is itself a module. Add community flavor or go total conversion — the engine won’t limit your imagination.

An exploded-view starship component on a faint blueprint grid

Depth Without End

A custom engine built for the kind of granular detail that lets stories grow organically, session after session.

Latest News
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Jun 27
Protostar 4X has launched. The community hub, forum, and our first public alpha (v0.1.0) are all here. Come explore a galaxy of real stars — and help shape what comes next.
Project Status
0.1.0-alpha
Engine Version
0.1.0
Core Mod
3
Active Mods
Download Engine/Core Mod Bundle