Abandon Colony – Permanently destroying one of your colonies, from the Planet Profile screen. Your home planet cannot be abandoned.
Activity – Anything that refreshes a planet’s Overview (viewing it, launching or receiving fleets, being spied on, a battle). It shows up in the Galaxy view as an activity indicator.
Activity star – The asterisk (*) shown next to a planet in the Galaxy view when there has been activity there in the last 10 minutes. From 10 to 59 minutes the time since the last activity is shown instead; after an hour it disappears.
Admiral – An officer hired with Dark Matter. While active, he gives you 2 extra fleet slots and faster fleets.
Alliance – A group of players who play together under one Tag, with their own chat, circular messages and ranks.
Alliance Combat System (ACS) – Lets several players’ fleets join one combined attack (an ACS Attack) on a single target.
Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) – A missile stored in the Missile Silo that automatically destroys one incoming Interplanetary Missile.
Armor Technology – Research that increases the structural integrity (armor) of all ships and defenses by 10% of their base value per level.
Astrophysics Technology – Research that raises the number of planets you can have: one more colony at every odd-numbered level.
Attack – The mission used to raid another player’s planet or moon, or to crash the fleet sitting there.
B
Banned – A player suspended for breaking the rules. Banned players show a “B” tag next to their name in the Galaxy and Statistics screens.
Base Speed – A ship’s speed before drive research bonuses. A fleet always moves at the speed of its slowest ship.
Basic Income – The small amount of resources every planet produces on its own, even without mines (shown on the Resources screen).
Bashing – Attacking the same player too many times in a short period. It is limited by the Official Rules, except during a declared alliance war.
Battlecruiser – A fast, hard-hitting fleet interceptor with Rapid-Fire against many other ships.
Battleship – The game’s all-purpose warship: heavy armor, strong weapons and good speed.
Bomber – A ship built to break planetary defenses, with Rapid-Fire against most defensive structures.
Bouncing Effect – When a shot’s power is less than 1% of the target’s shield, it bounces off and does no damage at all.
Buddy List – Your list of friends in the game, found under Communication. Buddies get ACS invite options and other extras.
Buildings – Structures on a planet or moon, such as mines, factories and storage. Each level takes up one field.
C
Cargo Capacity – The amount of resources a ship can carry. The fuel needed for the trip comes out of the fleet’s cargo space.
Circular Message – A message sent to every member of your alliance (also called a “Circ”).
Colonization – Settling a new planet by sending a Colony Ship on a Colonize mission to an empty slot.
Colony – Any planet you own other than your home planet.
Colony Ship – The slow ship used to settle new planets. It is taken apart on arrival to help start the new colony.
Combat – The battle that happens when an attacking fleet arrives: up to 6 rounds in which both sides fire at random targets.
Combat Simulator – A tool on the Fleet screen that predicts a battle’s result. Run it several times, because results vary.
Combat Report (Battle Report, or “BR”) – The report every participant receives after a battle, showing the fleets, losses, debris, plunder and moon chance.
Combustion Drive – The basic drive research. It speeds up Small and Large Cargos, Light Fighters, Recyclers and Espionage Probes.
Computer Technology – Research that adds one fleet slot per level.
Construction Queue – The list of buildings waiting to be built on a planet. Only one builds at a time, and a building can be canceled for a full refund.
Coordinates – A location written as galaxy:system:slot, for example 3:233:5.
Counterespionage – The chance that your Espionage Probes are spotted and shot down. It goes up the more probes you send, but probes still send their report before they are destroyed.
Cruiser – A fast early-game warship with Rapid-Fire against Light Fighters and Rocket Launchers.
Crystal – The second resource, used for electronics and needed for all buildings and most ships and defenses.
Crystal Mine – The building that produces crystal.
Crystal Storage – The building that raises how much crystal a planet can store.
D
Dark Matter – The premium currency, bought in the Purchase tab and used for officers, the Trader and planet moves.
Deathstar – The biggest, strongest and slowest ship in the game, nicknamed “RIP”. It is the only ship that can destroy a moon.
Debris – The metal and crystal left over when ships are destroyed in battle.
Debris Field – The cloud of debris orbiting the planet where a battle took place (“DF”). It is collected by Recyclers on a Recycle mission, and its size depends on your universe’s debris rate.
Deconstruct – Tearing down one level of a building to free up a field. Terraformers and Moon Bases can never be deconstructed.
Defense – Stationary units that protect a planet or moon. After a battle, 70% of destroyed defenses are rebuilt for free (unless destroyed by Interplanetary Missiles).
Deploy – A mission that stations a fleet at one of your own planets or moons. A recalled Deploy mission becomes invisible to a Phalanx.
Destroyer – A heavy warship used against Plasma Turrets, Battlecruisers and Deathstars.
Deuterium – The third resource, used as fuel for ships and Fusion Reactors and for some research.
Deuterium Synthesizer – The building that produces deuterium. It works better on colder planets.
Deuterium Tank – The building that raises how much deuterium a planet can store.
Diameter – The physical size of a planet or moon. Larger planets have more fields.
Disband – Permanently dissolving an alliance, done by its Founder.
E
Empire – The screen that shows all your planets and moons side by side.
Energy – The power your mines need, produced by Solar Plants, Fusion Reactors and Solar Satellites. A red energy figure means you are short.
Energy Technology – Research that boosts Fusion Reactor output and unlocks many other technologies.
Engineer – An officer hired with Dark Matter who speeds up construction and increases energy production.
Espionage – Spying on another planet or moon with Espionage Probes on a Spy mission.
Espionage Probe – A tiny, extremely fast unarmed ship used to spy.
Espionage Report – Another name for a Spy Report: the information your probes send back.
Espionage Technology – Research that improves your spy reports and shows more detail about incoming enemy fleets.
ETA – Estimated Time of Arrival of a fleet.
F
Farm / Farming – A weak or inactive planet that is raided again and again for resources; farming is doing exactly that.
Fields – The building spaces on a planet or moon. Each building level uses one field.
Fleet – A group of ships flying a single mission together.
Fleet activity – Activity shown on a planet because a fleet launched from it or arrived there.
Fleet number – The number of fleets you have in flight, shown against your maximum fleet slots on the Fleet screen.
Fleetsaving – Sending your fleet (and resources) on a mission so it is in the air, safe from attack, while you are offline.
Fodder – Cheap units (usually Light Fighters, Rocket Launchers or Light Lasers) that soak up enemy fire to protect stronger units.
Forum – The public message board under Communication.
Founder – The player who created an alliance and has all rights in it.
Fuel Consumption – How much deuterium a ship uses to fly. It goes up with distance and speed.
Fusion Reactor – A power plant that burns deuterium. Its output grows with Energy Technology.
G
Galaxy – One of the galaxies in a universe, each with up to 499 solar systems.
Galaxy View – The Galaxy screen, which shows the planets, moons and debris fields in a solar system.
Game Administrator – GRSE staff who run the universes, enforce the Official Rules and moderate chat and the Forum (also called Game Operator).
Gauss Cannon – A strong, cost-effective defensive turret that destroys smaller ships in one shot.
General – An officer hired with Dark Matter who boosts the base value of Weapons, Shields and Armor.
Geologist – An officer hired with Dark Matter who increases mine output on all your planets.
GLOTR – Good Luck On The Rebuild (commonly used in GRSE).
Graviton Technology – The top research. It costs only energy (300,000) and is required for Deathstars.
H
Harvest – What some similar games call the Recycle mission; in GRSE it’s Recycle.
Heavy Fighter – A tougher fighter, useful as fodder against Cruisers and with Rapid-Fire against Small Cargos.
Heavy Laser – A mid-level defensive laser turret.
Hold Position – A mission that sends a fleet to orbit a planet or moon for a set time to help defend it, then return. It can be recalled while flying there, but not once the hold time starts.
Home Planet – The planet you start the game with. It cannot be abandoned.
HOF – Hall of Fame: the Statistics tab showing the top 3 fleet attacks in various categories.
Hull Plating – Another name for a unit’s armor (structural integrity).
Hyperspace Drive – The fastest drive research, used by Battleships, Battlecruisers, Destroyers, Deathstars and upgraded Bombers.
Hyperspace Technology – Research needed for advanced ships and the Intergalactic Research Network.
I
Impulse Drive – Drive research used by Heavy Fighters, Cruisers, Colony Ships and Bombers, and by Small Cargos from level 5. It also increases Interplanetary Missile range.
Inactive Players – Players who haven’t logged in for a while. The Galaxy view marks them “i” (7 days inactive) or “I” (28 days inactive). They are popular farming targets.
Intergalactic Research Network – Research that links Research Labs on several planets to speed up research (“IRN”).
Interplanetary Missile – A missile (“IPM”) launched from a Missile Silo to destroy enemy defenses. Defenses it destroys are not rebuilt.
Ion Cannon – A defensive turret with high shields and low firepower, often used to spend extra crystal.
Ion Technology – Research needed for Ion Cannons, Cruisers and Plasma Technology.
J
Jump Gate – A moon building that moves ships instantly between your moons, without fuel (but without resources).
L
Large Cargo Ship – The main resource transport, with 25,000 cargo capacity.
Large Shield Dome – A strong, single-unit planetary shield. Only one can be built per planet.
Laser Technology – Research needed for laser weapons and for Ion and Plasma Technology.
Level – How far a building or technology has been upgraded.
Light Fighter – The first combat ship. Cheap, fast and the game’s main fodder ship.
Light Laser – A cheap, balanced defensive laser, widely used as fodder.
M
Main Menu – The menu opened with the button in the upper-left corner of the Overview and other top-level screens. It lists Overview, Production, Fleet, Galaxy, Alliance, Statistics, Communication, Officers, Settings, Empire and TechTree, plus Switch Universe.
Members – The players in an alliance.
Messages – Your inbox of private messages and reports, opened with the envelope icon on the Menu Bar.
Metal – The most common resource, used for almost everything.
Metal Mine – The building that produces metal.
Metal Storage – The building that raises how much metal a planet can store.
Miner – A playstyle: a player who mostly mines, fleetsaves and builds more mines rather than raiding.
Missile Silo – The building that stores Anti-Ballistic and Interplanetary Missiles.
Moon – A small world orbiting a planet, created from battle debris. Moons can hold special buildings and can’t be scanned by a Phalanx.
Moon Base – A moon building that adds lunar fields.
Moon Chance – The percentage chance that a battle creates a moon. It is based on the debris left, depends on your universe’s debris rate, and is usually capped at 20% (higher during moon events).
Moon Destroy – The mission that sends Deathstars to try to destroy a moon (to “pop” it).
Moon Sitter – A player who keeps their fleet on a moon and plays from there, since activity on a moon barely shows (see Strategy > Moonsitting).
Moonshot – An attack sent on purpose to lose ships and create enough debris for a chance at a moon.
Multi-Account – Playing more than one account in the same universe. This is restricted by the Official Rules.
N
NAP – Non-Aggression Pact.
Nanite Factory – A building that halves construction time for buildings, ships and defenses with every level.
Newbie – A new player, or one with a low score.
Newbie Protection – Protection that stops much stronger players from attacking new or much weaker players. The details are set per universe.
Ninja – Secretly sending a fleet to arrive at a planet just before an enemy attack, so the attacker’s fleet is destroyed.
Non-Aggression Pact – An agreement between alliances that their members won’t attack each other.
O
Officer – A specialist hired with Dark Matter: the Geologist, Engineer, Scientist, Admiral and General.
Overview – The main screen for your current planet or moon.
P
Phalanx – Short for Sensor Phalanx.
Planet – A world you own, located in one of the 15 slots of a solar system.
Planet Move – Moving a planet (and its moon) to a new empty slot in the same slot group, paid for with Dark Matter. It is allowed once every 14 days.
Planet Name – The name you give a planet, changed in the Planet Profile screen.
Planet Size – The number of fields a planet has. It varies with slot, and slot 8 is usually biggest.
Plasma Technology – Research needed for Plasma Turrets and Bombers.
Plasma Turret – The strongest defensive turret. No ship has Rapid-Fire against it.
Points – Your score, earned from the resources you spend on buildings, research, fleet and defense.
Pop – Destroying a moon with a Moon Destroy mission.
Position – A planet’s slot number in its solar system (1 to 15).
Private Message – A direct message between two players.
Production Factor – The output percentage set for each mine and power plant on the Resources screen. Lowering it saves energy but reduces production.
Profit – What an attack gains after counting its costs: plunder plus recycled debris, minus lost ships and fuel.
Pushing – Funneling resources to another (usually stronger) player through unfair trades or deliberate losses. This is restricted by the Official Rules.
Q
Queue – A waiting list of buildings, research, ships or defenses. Ship and defense orders can’t be canceled.
R
Raid – An attack made mainly to plunder resources.
Ranks – Your position in Statistics, based on points. Also the titles and privileges given to members inside an alliance.
Rapid-Fire – A unit’s chance to fire again in the same round when it shoots a type of unit it has Rapid-Fire against.
Recall – Sending a fleet back before it reaches its destination. The return trip takes as long as it had already flown.
Recycle – The mission that collects resources from a debris field. At least one Recycler must be in the fleet.
Recycler – The ship that collects debris fields.
Refresh – Updating a planet’s or moon’s Overview to its current state. Refreshing a planet shows activity in the Galaxy view.
Research – Technologies developed in the Research Lab. Only one research project can run at a time across your whole empire, and research can’t be canceled.
Research Lab – The building where research is done.
Research Level – How far a technology has been researched.
Resources – Metal, crystal and deuterium.
Right Hand – An alliance rank with nearly full rights. A member must have it before the Founder can hand the alliance over to them.
RIP – A nickname for the Deathstar.
Robotics Factory – A building that speeds up construction of buildings.
Rules – The Official Rules, posted in the Forum by the Game Administrators.
S
Score – Your total points.
Scientist – An officer hired with Dark Matter who reduces research time.
Search – The Statistics tab for finding a player or alliance by name.
Sensor Phalanx – A moon building that scans planets and shows the fleets flying to or from them.
Server – The game computer that runs your universe.
Server Time – The game clock. Timers are shown in the time zone you choose in Settings.
Settings – The screen for your account details, time zone, planet sort order, chat color, default probes and Vacation Mode.
Sharing accounts – Letting someone else play your account. This is restricted by the Official Rules and Terms of Service.
Shield Power – The damage a unit’s shield absorbs each round before its armor is hit.
Shielding Technology – Research that increases shield strength of all ships and defenses by 10% of their base value per level.
Ships – The spacecraft you build in the Shipyard. GRSE has 14 types.
Shipyard – The building that builds ships and defenses.
Slot – One of the 15 orbital positions in a solar system.
Small Cargo Ship – A small transport. It becomes much faster once Impulse Drive reaches level 5.
Small Shield Dome – A single-unit planetary shield. Only one can be built per planet.
Solar Plant – A power plant that uses no fuel. Its output is the same in every slot.
Solar Satellite – An orbiting energy unit. Its output is higher on hotter planets (lower slot numbers).
Solar System – One of up to 499 systems in a galaxy, each with 15 slots.
Special Buildings – Buildings that can only be built on a moon: the Moon Base, Sensor Phalanx and Jump Gate.
Statistics – The screen showing player and alliance rankings, the Scoreboard, Search and the Hall of Fame.
Storage – The buildings that raise how much metal, crystal and deuterium a planet can hold.
Storage capacity – The most of a resource a planet can hold. When it is full, that resource stops being produced.
Structural Integrity – A unit’s total toughness, equal to its metal plus crystal cost. Its armor in combat is one tenth of this.
T
Tag – The short abbreviation of an alliance’s name.
Technology – Another word for a research project.
Temperature – Each planet’s temperature range, set by its slot. Hot inner planets get more energy from Solar Satellites; cold outer planets produce more deuterium.
Terraformer – A building that adds fields to a planet. It can never be deconstructed.
Trade – Exchanging resources, either with another player (usually by Transport missions) or with the Trader.
Trader – Swaps one resource for another at a 3:2:1 rate for metal, crystal and deuterium, paid with Dark Matter (Scrap Yard tab of the Officers screen).
Transport – A mission that delivers resources to a planet and returns.
Turtle – A player who builds massive defenses on his planets to protect his resources, rather than fleetsave or build a large attack fleet. A true Turtle invests in defense rather than attack ships, and chooses to mine for resources rather than raid.
U
Universe – A complete, separate game world with its own galaxies, players and settings (such as debris rates).
V
Vacation Mode – A setting that protects your account from attack while you are away. Restrictions apply (for example, you can’t enter it while research is running); see the Official Rules.
W
War – A declared conflict between alliances that removes the bashing limits between their members.
Wave – One of several attacks sent one after another at the same target.
Weapon Power – The damage a unit does with each shot.
Weapons Technology – Research that increases weapon strength of all ships and defenses by 10% of their base value per level.