The basic concept behind Galactic Civilizations II is the same as the first one -- to build an interstellar civilization. But how it goes about accomplishing this is very different. For this reason, we believe that many players will still enjoy playing Galactic Civilizations (the first one) because it's a very different game in how it plays.

The game is typically played in a "sandbox" galaxy mode, where the objective is to achieve victory over artificial opponents in one of four ways - military conquest, cultural domination, universal alliance or technological supremacy. The sandbox may be customized in terms of galaxy size, planet habitability and similar features as well as difficulty of the opposition. The game also includes a story-driven campaign, featuring the "Dread Lords" of the title.