Empire II: Interstellar Sharks

About

Empire II: Interstellar Sharks is a 1982 Apple II RPG where you build wealth by trading goods across star systems while juggling risk and survival. Play as a pilot, merchant, or diplomat navigating bureaucratic hurdles, corporate rivalries, and dangerous environments. Your spaceship is both tool and asset, upgrade it with earnings, but watch costs spiral. Trade routes shift based on market demands, and mistakes can drain your credits fast. The game mixes resource management with role-playing choices, forcing you to outmaneuver greedy corporations and literal shark threats in space. The game stands out for its tight focus on economic strategy within a sci-fi setting. With over 50 locations to explore and randomized events, replayability hinges on adapting to fluctuating markets and penalties. Though dated by modern standards, its blend of commerce and danger created a niche following. Players praise the pressure of balancing debt with expansion, even if the graphics and interface feel rudimentary. At just 128K, it packs a surprising amount of depth for early 80s computing.

Storyline

They want a piece of the action. They want success and all its spoils. They want the ultimate independence of owning a personal spacecraft, equipped to conquer the interstellar void. Wealth is the ticket at the height of the Empire. It moves you up the corporate ladder. It outfits your spaceship. It can buy your freedom, but be prepared for the risk. As a pilot, businessperson, or diplomat, pursuit of the hot deal might take you though the sprawl of the Empire's cities, into the vacuum of Fyrokken's airless mines, or onto the cutthroat floor of Cobol's stock exchange. A web of red tape awaits you. Will you be able to dodge the snares of bureaucratic regulations? Can you win the covert game playing of the Imperial monopolies? Can you survive the feeding frenzy of the Empire's interstellar sharks?