Studies show that most mobile games only hold the users attention for at most 6 months before they are uninstalled. I played VEGA Conflict on my Android phone since 2012 and it has been progressively getting better with each new update but hit a disastrous greedy stride when it launched on Steam. Not only have the times for the build queues gotten longer (over 2 days to wait for a structure upgrade, almost ONE FULL WEEK for a ship to be built), but its shown to have no strategy needed for any of the fighting against the enemy AI. Just set it to auto and let it sort itself out. It does something right by not requiring energy to recharge in order to play like most mobile games but that's one of the few things that it gets right.
Base defense is a big part of the strategy and like every RTS game you'll want to protect your HQ, not only through building new weapons and armor but through layouts to defend against other players. I've been defeated by a level 30 base before that had such a tightly packed clusters of turrets that I couldn't move my ships well enough to get in close. There are two differing strategies to keep in mind when either attacking AI fleets for resources or another player's base: what works for one will not work for the other.
But when you first start you can play this game for hours by farming resources to upgrade your base and ships, research new weapons and armor, find an alliance, etc., but its after that first month or so that you'll hit the wall. The boredom sets in and you'll have trouble caring because there's nothing very exciting happening throughout any part of the game. Space is infinite but this game is only an inch deep.
The blueprints for building armor, ships, weapons, etc. are more rare than gold (especially when you unlock the structure that GIVES you coins daily) and I tried for over a year, while stuck at level 45, to find and complete whatever designs I could with absolutely no luck. And being stuck at level 45 means I miss out on the alien attack events because they require level 55 or higher. It also means that a level 30 AI fleet has the potential to kick my ass despite the difference in power. Meanwhile, players willing to spend money for the gold coins can instantly complete blueprints and will have an upper hand in all aspects of the game: PvE, PvP, base defense, and flash events. Its a play-to-win game. And speaking of coins: the "packs" that are for sale are ridiculous and only contain ONE ship, upgrades, and a meager amount of coins.
The graphics were pretty impressive at the time of the original mobile release but took a bit of a pixelated hit when it came to Steam. The backgrounds are great to look at, the ships differ enough in battle to know which is which, and the UI is clean albeit cluttered at times. The bases and ships, however, are a jumbled mess of differing ergonomics. Skins would have been appreciated and would have made each player feel like they were creating something for themselves, but that's just wishful thinking. Kixeye would probably charge players for new skins.
The absolute worst aspect of the game is that some alliances have completely taken over planets and some members offer a "convert or die" choice to some who simply want to play freely. They'll gather 3 or 4 members and will constantly attack, bully, and harass others until they move their base or just quit playing. At one point when I first started playing, two alliances, The Fallen and The Unknown, were disbanded by Kixeye for the previously mentioned behavior on a massive scale. But lately the devs are ignoring these acts and offer no recourse to the ones who constantly assault others. Any and all valid complaints are just shouted into the void. In space, and the Kixeye forums, no one can hear you scream.
I wish you all could have seen what the game was like in 2013 when it was fun and not a business model.