Rise and Decline of a Galactic Imperium was inspired by both Consim Press´ The Hunters and Decision Games´ Struggle for the Galactic Empire, though the former served more of a scrib sheet of what to copy while the latter served as an example of how NOT to do it. Other influences include "Sid Meier´s Alpha Centauri" and "Babylon 5", and surely many others, but those are the big ones.
As a solitaire wargame, the player leads his nation through up to 60 turns of three different "ages" of a nations history, from the Rise, to the period of highest power, down to the inevitable fall from inside and outside sources. Each turn the player will encounter random events, diplomatic conundrums, great battles and economic dilemma, always wondering which action to invest into during this and future turns.
The game ends once the the 20th, 40th or 60th turn has been played, depending on the scenario the player chose at the start of their game.
Players win by accumulating enough victory points to gain at least a marginal victory, the amount needed for each scenario is detailed in the manual.