Heroes of Science and Fiction Review

After eighteen months in early access, the full version of the Czech sci-fi strategy game Heroes of Science and Fiction has arrived. The developers never hid their inspiration: it’s the structure of Heroes of Might and Magic dressed up in futuristic clothes. The question is whether a deliberately traditional approach can hold its own against Songs of Conquest or the new Disciples.

A familiar skeleton in an unfamiliar setting

Turn-based games have multiplied in recent years, but the sci-fi theme remains strangely neglected. Heroes of Science and Fiction fills that gap with the classic loop: managing towns, recruiting futuristic armies, exploring uncharted planets. From the first minute it feels intimately familiar, and yet it still feels like discovering something new, simply because the genre so rarely ventures into this kind of setting.

Story and atmosphere

The story is spread across four campaigns with four missions each and follows the fates of different heroes whose paths converge into one arc. The writing is capable: twists, political intrigue and personal betrayals hold your attention even when the gameplay itself starts to repeat.

Atmosphere is where the game punches above its budget. Each of the five factions has its own character: totalitarian space moles that feel suitably oppressive, anarchist pirates, organic beings, a human alliance and a technologically advanced race of robots. Every side has its own visual language and, above all, its own music.

The graphics aren’t demanding on hardware and rely instead on detailed, colorful models of planets and bases. Exploring the world is a joy, though the sheer density of things to look at sometimes makes you miss a chest of gold or an important mine. The developers thought of that and added a key that highlights all interactive objects at once.

Gameplay and mechanics

The core is town management: you build infrastructure, recruit units and move around the map in turns, during which your hero collects resources and captures key points. Battles take place on a separate screen where units take turns, and once per turn your hero can step in with a special ability, which in this setting is advanced technology rather than a spell.

The imbalance shows up in the skill trees. Of the four, the tech branch is almost unfair. Orbital Bombardment decides a battle before it starts: if you specialize in it, you wipe out most of the enemy army in the very first round. It flatters your ego and hurts the challenge.

The second complaint is movement. Unlike Songs of Conquest, where you can speed it up, here you watch every single tile your hero walks. With five or six characters that’s a real tax, and it adds up with slow enemy turns and loading that can take a minute.

Even so, the loop is addictive. The “just one more turn” syndrome kicks in, the map generator and dozens of scenarios in Conquest mode across four planets keep the game alive for weeks, and multiplayer (still in testing) promises a longer life than games on this budget usually get.

Verdict

Heroes of Science and Fiction is a love letter to the old Heroes games. It doesn’t aim for a revolution but for a solid evolution in an unusual setting, and it pulls that off. If you’re looking for a conservative turn-based game that won’t confuse you with clever novelties, you’ll feel right at home here.

Its biggest strength is the amount of content for the price: dozens of hours, well-built campaigns and an editor for your own adventures. It’s held back by technical rough edges and a certain caution when it comes to innovation. It still belongs in any turn-based strategy fan’s library. 8/10.

FAQ

Information verified as of 7 September 2026, full version after early access. Balance patches may adjust the strength of the tech branch over time. More reviews: Sengoku Dynasty, Vampire Crawlers, Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred and Samson. The complete list is in the Reviews section, and our guides are in the Game guides section.