The very first thing you should do when entering the Space Stage is to change around your outfit to fit your new technological age. You can do it at any time, but it's easiest immediately, so go ahead and do so! After you are done with your new outfit, you are ready to begin your travels through the depths of space. If you want, you can create new, more space-themed buildings for your colonies. It is, however, entirely optional. If you want to use a pre-existing building, just click on the 2x2 grid of squares at the bottom left of the building selection.

Before you can take off, your intrepid civilization leader will inform you on how to control your ship. For the beginner, right-clicking to move works fine. However, as you get to the harder portions of the Space Stage, you may wish to move to WASD controls to give yourself more control (especially in maneuvering around enemies). Each has its strengths and weaknesses. Beyond these, scrolling the mouse-wheel changes your height, which is necessary to gather each of the colored balls over the cities.

As you go through the Space Stage tutorial, you will be taught the basics for things we will cover next week. You will do things such as scan objects, tractor them into your hold, and eliminate them with a laser. Each of these mechanics has multiple uses, and form the basics of the Space Stage, so remember what you learn. As soon as you are done helping out your home planet, you will be sent to investigate other planets and civilizations, leading to your first encounter with something pertaining to a mysterious, hostile alien race at the center of the galaxy.

You first encounter with friendly aliens opens up a plethora of options that may overwhelm you. You'll be able to conquer them, befriend them, do missions for them, or trade with them. Beyond that, meeting your first group of aliens is the last step to completely unlocking your spaceship abilities, marking the end of the relatively simple tutorial. You can turn it back in at your homeworld or just play the game and end up never turning it in! Whatever works, right?

The basic concept of Space Stage is that you are to expand your empire far enough that you can make it to the center of the galaxy. Naturally, you start on a spiral arm, making your trip to the center perilous, especially considering the many hostile alien races on the way (and the extremely powerful one in the center of the galaxy). If you are lucky, you can establish a foothold in the center without traveling all the way through a spiral arm by way of black hole, and if you aren't, you'd better get working!

The tutorial should teach you the basic concepts of the Space Stage with ease, and this short overview should be enough to set you on the path to the center of the galaxy (and the meaning of everything). However, for those wanting a more in-depth explanation, check out our comprehensive guide on the Space Stage next week. It'll be a doozy! For those interested in seeing a summary of the Space Stage in video form, check out the Space Stage trailer right here on Big Download!