About Xenonauts
Xenonauts is a turn-based strategy game in which you lead a secret multinational military organisation defending Earth from an alien invasion. Developed by the independent studio Goldhawk Interactive and released in 2014, it is set in 1979, at the height of the Cold War. Rival superpowers must suddenly put aside their differences as unidentified craft appear in the skies, and it falls to you to build up the Xenonauts from a single base into a global defence force capable of fighting back against a technologically superior enemy.
The game is split into two connected layers. On the strategic Geoscape you watch the whole planet in real time, build and expand bases, hire staff, manage funding from worried nations and decide where to send your aircraft. When a UFO is spotted, you scramble interceptors and fight it in a dedicated air combat mode, positioning your fighters and choosing when to fire missiles and cannons. Shooting down a craft opens the way to a ground mission at the crash site, while ignoring alien activity lets terror and abductions spread and costs you support from the funding nations.
Ground missions are played in detailed turn-based tactical combat. You command small squads of persistent soldiers who gain experience and improve their stats with every mission they survive, which makes every loss painful. Time units govern movement, crouching, reloading and shooting, and fully destructible environments allow you to blast through walls or bring down cover around the enemy. Snowy forests, farms, industrial zones, city streets and the inside of alien ships all demand different tactics, from careful flanking to holding a defensive line until the area is clear.
Every alien weapon, corpse and piece of wreckage you recover feeds into the research and engineering departments. Your scientists unlock new technologies step by step, from laser and plasma weapons to stronger armour and better aircraft, gradually closing the gap with the invaders. Balancing the budget between research, production, new bases and recruitment is the core of the campaign, and the difficulty can be adjusted to match your experience. For fans of classic tactical strategy, it offers a deep, demanding and very rewarding war against the alien threat.
Key Features
- Cold War setting – Earth in 1979.
- Geoscape strategy – Bases, funding and staff.
- Air combat – Intercept UFOs in the skies.
- Turn-based battles – Time units and cover.
- Persistent soldiers – Veterans grow stronger.
- Destructible maps – Blast through walls.
- Research tree – Lasers, plasma and armour.
- Cross-platform – Windows, macOS and Linux.
PC Version and Compatibility
The game runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. The minimum Windows setup is Windows 7 SP1, Vista SP2 or 8, a 2 GHz Intel processor, 1 GB of RAM, integrated graphics, 3 GB of storage and a 1280x720 display. Languages: English (full audio).
Global Activation & What You Receive
This GOG key unlocks the full game Xenonauts. It is a Global key that can be activated worldwide. Sign in to your GOG account, open gog.com/redeem, enter the code and the game is added to your library, where you can download it directly or through GOG Galaxy.
Why Buy This Game?
Why buy it? It is a deep tactical strategy game where every soldier, interceptor and research decision matters in the fight to save the planet.
Related Games
Defending Earth from alien invaders in turn-based battles, XCOM 2 is the natural next step. The classic that refined the genre, XCOM: Enemy Unknown shares the same mix of base building and squad tactics. Set during the Cold War era, Phantom Doctrine combines covert operations with tactical combat. Facing an alien threat with small squads on a grid, Into the Breach rewards the same careful planning.
