A galaxy of terraforming factions
Gaia Project is the digital version of the board game by Helge Ostertag and Jens Drögemüller, set in the same universe as Terra Mystica, far in the future. You pick one of 14 factions, each with its own environmental needs, and work to colonize the Terra Mystica galaxy peacefully. Because every faction needs a different kind of planet, terraforming becomes the core of your turn: you reshape the wrong planet type into one you can actually live on, then build mines and upgrade them into better structures. Researching technologies along the way improves your abilities, and the faction that develops the best takes the win at the end.
Playing with your group
Matches run from 1 to 4 players, and every player controls a single faction. Online PvP lets you face each other directly, and Remote Play Together means one person can host and the rest join in. Colonizing next to another faction opens up power and trade partners, while claiming remote worlds gives you room to expand without neighbors in the way. That tension shapes every game: you decide whether to squeeze in close or keep your distance, and later you can unite your planets into federations to lock in your spread. Turns are deliberate and tactical, so a group session is mostly about reading the map, planning several moves ahead, and reacting when someone else grabs the planet you wanted.
Before you start
Expect a steep learning curve. Fourteen factions with different environmental needs, terraforming rules, structure upgrades, federations and a technology tree is a lot to hold in your head at once, so use the tutorial first — it walks through the systems before you drop into a real match. Because every choice feeds into the next, decisions matter throughout: an early expansion mistake follows you into the late game. Set aside a proper chunk of time for your first few rounds, learn one faction properly before branching out, and take stock of where your opponents are placing structures so your expansion plan does not collide with theirs.