

Idle Expanse
Lyrical Games LLC · September 7, 2020 · Casual, RPG, Strategy, Free to Play, Indie
Idle Expanse is free to play — no purchase needed. We track it so you know if that ever changes.
Screenshots
Idle Expanse price
Idle Expanse is free to play — there is no purchase price, on Steam or anywhere else we track. We keep watching it, so if it ever stops being free the price history on this page will show when that happened and what it changed to.
About Idle Expanse

Core gameplay revolves around hiring mercenaries, equipping them with the most "state of the bada** art" weaponry and gear, then sending them to remote planets to collect resources.

Unlike most other incremental games where you send teams heroes out and just wait for their return, Idle Expanse allows you to have (in)direct control over what your mercenaries do and how they achieve it. Prior to deploying a squad of mercenaries to a planet, you get to decide what tactics they'll use: Will they all stay together or will they split up? Will they seek out and engage enemy aliens or will they focus on gathering resources?

As your squads of mercenaries explore the galaxy, they'll uncover new technologies, which in-turn will unlock new features. One such feature is the ability to skip forward in time - why sit around waiting for your squads to return from their deployments when you, with the simple press of a button, can jump into the near future?

Despite the galaxy being expansive (64 planets to be exact) it is still finite. Once you've explored the entire galaxy and grown bored with what it has to offer, you'll be able to reset the clock and do it all over again... this time with some impressive perks!

Not in the mood to start over? That’s fine… you can also choose to up the difficulty (and the rewards) of the enemy aliens in the galaxy.
Oh, and did I forget to mention the ability to explore alternate realities? You can explore alternate realities.

In short, the challenge of this game is how to best optimize your use of 4 different mercenary classes, squad tactics, virtually unlimited combinations of weapons, gear, ships, technologies, and other resources to grow your wealth as quickly as possible.
Features
- Manage up to 6 teams of 5 AI controlled mercenaries - that’s... um... carry the two... 30 mercenaries!
- 4 different classes of mercenaries to hire - with gender variations!
- A mix of idle and active play - enough of each to annoy players of all walks of life!
- 64 planets to explore - rover not included.
- Over 22 unique enemies to battle - I hope you love the smell of burning pixels in the morning.
- Hundreds of alternate realities - slight variations in the fabric of spacetime can result in dramatically different outcomes!
- Multiple tiers of weapons and gear to equip to your mercenaries - “procedurally” generated.
- Dozens of upgrades - what’s an incremental game without the upgrades?
- A prestige system with 28 skills to invest in - with more to come... probably!
- Arena mode - fight against wave after wave of mindless enemies!
- Time advance - why wait when you can fast forward?
- One-time-purchase DLCs - nice-to-haves, not need-to-haves.
- Minigames - one of which lets you earn premium currency, see?
- An original soundtrack composed of 16 atmospheric, sci-fi tracks - it’s pretty sweet.
- Offline progress - sometimes the only way to win is not to play.
Idle Expanse — game info
- Platforms
- Windows
- Player modes
- Single-player
- Controller
- Full controller support
- PC Game Pass
- Not included
DLC & expansions
What Steam players say
Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.
⠀7 found this helpful
I'll temper my thumbs up with the caveat that this game appears to be abandoned. All of the game loops feel pretty solid and the speed feels just about right. Feels a little slow to start but that fits with this style of game so it's not a real complaint. Word of Caution: don't leave this on if you think the power will go out, unless you have a solid backup routine. I corrupted a session after an outage and had to restart.1 found this helpful
Meh... Very user-unfriendly. As if it were the first game the developer had ever made. Long before he knew how to do it right. It feels like user-friendliness was never considered.
this works
Игра «Idle Expanse» — это увлекательный жанр idle с элементами стратегии и управления ресурсами. Механика проста: строишь базу, развивая технологии и исследуя новые земли. Графика приятная, но не шедевр. Главное — это глубокая система развития, где каждый шаг влияет на будущее. Однако, для любителей динамики может показаться скучной. Подходит для тех, кто ценит медленное, но увлекательное строительство империи. Минус — отсутствие соревновательных элементов. В целом, рекомендую для досуга в перерывах.
Lame and stupid...
Community reviews
0 reviews
Sign in to write a review.
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this game.
More like Idle Expanse
News
DealsHogwarts Legacy price history: where the floor really is
Our Hogwarts Legacy price history runs to 100 daily readings and a $3.99 median. Why the sub-dollar figure in search results is noise, and what to actually pay.
Oct 15, 2026
PCEnshrouded price after 1.0: what it costs now
Enshrouded hit 1.0 today, but the Enshrouded price rose on 8 September and the key resellers have not followed. What our nine tracked sellers show, and whether to buy now.
Oct 15, 2026
PCStarfield price history: the sub-$20 window, and who set it
Our Starfield price history shows one reseller set the all-time low over five weeks in late summer 2026. What a good price looks like now, and why Game Pass comes first.
Oct 14, 2026
PCBoltgun 2 price: buy the sequel, or the cheap first game?
The Boltgun 2 price has no cheaper route on launch day — our record shows one listing, unmoved since September. The first game is the bargain, but a smaller one than it was.
Oct 14, 2026
PCRust price: why the cheap keys vanished, and when to buy
The Rust price has two answers: an official one that barely moves, and a reseller one that sat in single digits for 95 days and then disappeared. Our record shows both.
Oct 13, 2026
PCPlanet Zoo 2 price: which edition, and when it gets cheaper
Planet Zoo 2 is out today. The Planet Zoo 2 price splits two ways, the cheap pre-order keys stopped existing three weeks ago, and the original got dearer as the sequel landed.
Oct 13, 2026
DealsSteam Black Friday sale 2026: there isn't one. Buy or wait?
There is no Steam Black Friday sale in 2026. Last year, the first in years without one, 42% of popular games were discounted on Steam anyway and the Black Friday price beat the Winter Sale for 47%.
Oct 12, 2026
DealsGames that never go on sale on Steam, and the ones that barely do
We checked Steam's full price history for 590 popular games. Only three have never been discounted, one by policy. These are the games that never go on sale, the ones that barely do, and the 122 that got pricier.
Oct 12, 2026
PCTekken 8 ღირს თუ არა: 91 ქულა და შერეული შეფასება
Tekken 8 ღირს თუ არა, როცა კრიტიკოსებს 91 ქულა აქვთ დაწერილი, მოთამაშეებს კი „შერეული"? ფასი, ონლაინის მდგომარეობა და უკეთესი ალტერნატივა.
Sep 24, 2026
DealsStellaris იაფად: ოცდახუთი დამატება და ერთი გამოსავალი
Stellaris იაფად ყიდვა საბაზისო თამაშის შემთხვევაში მარტივია. ძვირი დამატებებია — და მათთვის არსებობს ვარიანტი, რომელსაც ბევრი ვერ ამჩნევს.
Sep 24, 2026
PCARK ფასი: Evolved თუ Ascended — რომელი ვიყიდოთ
ARK ფასი ორი სხვადასხვა თამაშის ფასია. რომელი ჯობია ქართული სიიდან, სად არიან მოთამაშეები და რატომ არ ღირს ახალ ვერსიაზე გადახტომა.
Sep 24, 2026
DealsCivilization 6 იაფად: რომელი დამატება ღირს მართლა
Civilization 6 იაფად ყიდვა მარტივია — საბაზისო თამაში იაფია და იაფად რჩება. რთული ის არის, რომ ცხრამეტი დამატებიდან სწორი აირჩიოთ.
Sep 24, 2026
FreebiesCS2 უფასოდ: რა ღირს სინამდვილეში Prime
CS2 უფასოდ ითამაშება საქართველოდანაც და ეს დემო არაა. ფული მხოლოდ Prime-ს სჭირდება — აი, რას იძლევა ის და ვის ღირს.
Sep 24, 2026
PCCuphead ღირს თუ არა: სირთულე, DLC და ორზე თამაში
Cuphead ღირს თუ არა: ექვსივე ქართულ მაღაზიაში ერთი ფასია, მეგობარს კი ასლი საერთოდ არ სჭირდება. სირთულე, ერთადერთი დამატება და როდის ვიყიდოთ.
Sep 23, 2026
DealsRimWorld იაფად: ბაზა, ხუთი დამატება და სწორი რიგი
RimWorld იაფად ყიდვა დამატებების რიგზეა დამოკიდებული, არა ფასდაკლების ლოდინზე. რომელი ხუთიდან ღირს ჯერ და რომელ მაღაზიას აქვს ფასდაკლება.
Sep 23, 2026
PCPhasmophobia ფასი: ოთხი ასლი და ერთი მაღაზია
Phasmophobia ფასი ქართულ სიაში მხოლოდ ერთ მაღაზიაში ჩანს, თამაში კი ოთხზეა გათვლილი. რატომ ღირს ფასდაკლების დალოდება და რა გჭირდებათ დასაწყებად.
Sep 23, 2026Top games right now
All rankings →- 1Counter-Strike 2Free
- 2Dota 2Free
- 3PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDSFree
- 4Grand Theft Auto V Legacy—
- 5Terraria$2.16
- 6Rust$25.81
- 7Team Fortress 2Free
- 8Black Myth: Wukong$36.46
- 9HELLDIVERS™ 2$25.04
- 10ELDEN RING$49.14
- 11Apex Legends™Free
- 12Left 4 Dead 2$9.99
- 13Stardew Valley$13.73
- 14Wallpaper Engine$3.99
- 15Euro Truck Simulator 2$10.20
- 16Dead by Daylight$6.83
- 17Red Dead Redemption 2$11.11
- 18Baldur's Gate 3$58.10
- 19Phasmophobia$17.27
- 20War ThunderFree
- 21Call of Duty®—
- 22ARK: Survival Evolved$13.45
- 23Among Us$2.99
- 24The Forest$19.70















