OGame: It should be called SlowGame

OGame is a free to play browser based game where the player controls a burgeoning space-faring civilization.  It has numerous problems, even among games of its genre.  The gameplay is ponderously slow, interactions are confusing, the player base is minuscule, and the game simply doesn't do anything that isn't better done by some other game.

At the start of the game the player controls a single planet which has a handful of facilities.  Metal, crystal, deuterium, and power are the four main resources needed to construct buildings and ships.  Much of the early game is spent building mines and power plants to increase the production of these resources.  Once a strong production base is established, the player can research technologies.  Technologies have mainly passive effects.  They will increase production of resources or allow construction of new ships or facilities.

The game's first major problem is how slow everything is.  Resources trickle in throughout the day.  There might only be five or ten minutes worth of gameplay in a given day, because the player quickly hits a wall where he can't do anything.  While this is common in these kind of browser based games, it's even worse here.  There is a tutorial that gives missions to the player along with rewards for completing the missions.  However, it may take over two weeks of real time simply to complete the tutorial!  In other games like this it might take only an hour or two.

In addition to the above resources, there is dark matter.  Dark matter serves to speed up interactions or build things without the required resources.  Each player starts with an amount of dark matter but it can't be acquired in any way other than by spending real money.

Certain interactions are difficult to understand.  While there are help files, they are in places incomplete.  For example, the player can send an unmanned probe to explore another planet or moon occupied by a player.  However, the game doesn't state that the player can't send a probe to a player who is still considered new.  In addition the game has flow charts for to show prerequisites for research and constructions.  These flow charts are a little difficult to follow and sometimes show redundant prerequisites.

In browser based games like this, interacting with other players is often a considerable part of the game.  However, OGame has a very small player base, with only a couple of people online at any one time.  Many of these players are new; it's hard to tell how many have created accounts in the past but are now inactive.  It feels dead and lifeless.

Despite all of these flaws, OGame doesn't do anything new or unusual.  It's the usual build-and-wait gameplay, only with much, much more waiting.  There isn't much reason to play this, given there are numerous browser based games and many play much faster.  Even the title is lazy.  The developer couldn't think of a better name than OGame?