As the commander of the defense of Earth's first colony, players must determine the best strategy to save the colony from the tens of thousands of alien machines that are rapidly approaching. Each victory against the enemy expands the colony to a new part of the planet which, in turn, is met by an increasing aggression by the enemy.

We first got the idea for the game while developing Ashes of the Singularity. With the engine's ability to handle tens of thousands of units, we wanted to design the ultimate tower defense game. Siege of Centauri incorporates classic features from the tower defense genre and combines it with the unique features and capabilities first seen in Ashes of the Singularity.

With our engine, there were so many new gameplay elements we could add. For instance, our engine supports hundreds of simultaneous light sources allowing us to design interesting choices for players when it comes to map vision. Similarly, by supporting so many units, we can make defense choices in different situations much more compelling, as there is a big difference between choosing a weapon that eliminates one unit at a time versus one that is designed to take out hundreds at a time.

Siege of Centauri’s Beta 2 has just been released on Steam Early Access ($9.99).

Today’s update allows players the ability to equip towers for each mission, as well as adding several new towers and missions.

Beta 2’s new equip screen allows players to customize the towers they bring into every mission, allowing for more meaningful strategic choices.

“The enemy has a wide range of units seeking to destroy your colony,” said Derek Paxton, lead designer. “Players have access to a wide array of towers, each with unique capabilities, to choose from. Beta 2 allows players to pick the towers they want to use, rather than the game deciding for them.”

Beta 2 also adds new missions for players to explore, including one that introduces large and powerful war machines called Dreadnoughts for the first time. They will need to overcome this powerful new challenge as they deal with the swarms of enemies already attacking their base.

The Early Access program is designed to allow fans to have input into game mechanics, pacing, and balance. Stardock has been releasing frequent updates based on player feedback.

“Weekly digital updates based on player feedback well before release lets us get to a level of balance and polish that traditionally had to wait for post-release updates,” said Paxton. “We’ve been really happy with how the fans have helped shape this game so far.”