Star Control: Origins is a science fiction action-adventure game that combines planetary exploration, diplomacy with alien races, and one-on-one ship-to-ship space battles. Players captain a starship, sending a lander to survey planets, gather resources, and examine artifacts, then spending those resources on new technologies, weapons, upgrades, and ships from other races. The top-down Fleet Battles pit two vessels against each other and can be played against the AI or in multiplayer. It is considered part of the Star Control series but takes place in a separate universe from the original games.