The game can be described as a mix of CRPG, boardgame and Choose Your Own Adventure book. It's a space opera to be played by 1-6 players on a large map, with all the rules being handled by the computer – a reliable and always available Game Master.

You start by selecting one of six pre-made characters, each with their own illustrated booklet that richly describes their background, starting resources and secret motivations – such as finding an item and taking it back home. You then open the sector map and choose a planet to visit in search of your goals.

Each turn, players input their actions into the computer, which will reply with the number of a text to be read on the printed booklets, showing the outcome of their choices and the options now available. A single turn has several phases, allowing for multiple actions, such as talking to NPCs or trading fuel and resources. The computer will keep track of all these, as well as handle Star Saga's simple item-based combat.

It's a clever concept. Thanks to the computer, the game has a depth that no CYOA book can match, while the printed booklets allow for funny, well-written text that was miles ahead of any CRPG of the time, making every new planet and encounter feel unique. Sadly, the technology wasn't there yet. The back-and-forth from the PC to the booklets to the map is slow and awkward, while completing your objectives takes far too long one playthrough can last weeks, or even months!

The game still had a sequel, Star Saga: Two - The Clathran Menace (1989), which continued the story of the six main characters. In fact, the series was planned as a trilogy, but poor sales ended it prematurely.

From today's perspective, it's almost absurd how all these booklets, maps and inputs could easily be handled by a single phone app. A bold game, Star Saga's biggest flaw was to be way ahead of its time.