M.Evan Brooks' review says it all about Universe 1: "A detailed simulation of space exploration and trading. Multi-faceted and very deep, its playability suffered from documentation which was hard to interpret as well as an unforgiving game system. Build your own ship to specifications, but a wrong move can waste hours of previous play. Still it was one of the early classics. " Unfortunately for armchair commanders, Universe 2 and 3 became more similar to RPGs with strategy playing only a minor role, but still great games nonetheless.