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1990 · Delta Tao Software · 4X · Science

Spaceward Ho!

Spaceward Ho! is a turn-based science fiction computer strategy game that was written by Peter Commons, designed by Joe Williams (Joedelta) and published by Delta Tao Software. The first version was released in 1990, and further upgrades followed regularly; the current version, 5.0.5, was released on July 8, 2003. It has received wide recognition in the Macintosh community, for example being inducted into the Macworld Game Hall of Fame.

Released: 1990
Platforms: Amiga Android MS-DOS Windows iOS macOS
Genres: 4X Science Strategy Tactical Turn-based strategy
Developers: Delta Tao Software
Publishers: Delta Tao Software
Modes: Multiplayer Single-player
Perspective: Bird view / Isometric Text
Themes: Science fiction 4X (explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate)
Country: United States
Age ratings: ESRB T

About

Spaceward Ho! is a turn-based science fiction computer strategy game that was written by Peter Commons, designed by Joe Williams and published by Delta Tao Software. The first version was released in 1990, and further upgrades followed regularly; the current version, 5.0.5, was released on July 8, 2003. It has received wide recognition in the Macintosh community, for example, being inducted into the Macworld Game Hall of Fame.

Spaceward Ho! can be categorized in the 4X game genre (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate) with a theme of galactic conquest. It took many elements of its design from the earlier Reach for the Stars, but expanded on many of that game's basic themes while taking advantage of the larger memory and better graphics available on the Mac platform.

Keywords

turn-based
spaceship
terraforming
planet

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The gameplay of Spaceward Ho! focuses on efficiently extracting the resources of conquered worlds while correctly anticipating and countering opponents' actions.

Spaceward Ho! can be played against a computer AI. Previous versions of the game also allowed LAN-based networked play, but this feature has been disabled in the Mac OS X version. net, but as of 2025 that domain now serves adult ads.

Reception

, calling it "the Holy Grail of strategic computer games – the entertaining, introductory strategy game", especially for multiple players over a network. A February 1994 survey of space war games gave it a grade of A, stating that Spaceward Ho! "drew in many non-wargamer types with the use of clever bells and whistles". A 1994 survey of strategic space games set in the year 2000 and later gave the game four stars out of five, criticizing the cover art but stating that it "offers a fine 'beer and pretzels' game of economic/military space conquest ...

Great gameplay and graphics with a touch of crass". Spaceward Ho! v. 0 for the Macintosh was reviewed in 1993 in Dragon #196 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

Platform	Released	Regions
MS-DOS	31 December 1992	North America · Europe 31 December 1993
macOS	31 December 1992	North America · Japan 31 December 1993
Windows	31 December 1992	North America · Europe 31 December 1993
Amiga	31 December 1994	Europe
iOS	28 March 2012	Worldwide