Patents

Patents are research you buy with technology. Each one unlocks buildings, building levels, ships or larger ship units. A patent is yours for the rest of the game.

The patent tree

Patents form a tree. Its first patent is Holographic Storage System, alone in the Origin branch. Every other patent needs one patent before it, called its ancestor. Each patent's page lists its ancestor under Requires, the path to it from Holographic Storage System, and exactly what it unlocks.

The rest of the tree is split into branches, which differ by game mode (see Game time):

  • Legacy and Tactic: Habitable Planets, Barren Planets, Moons and Asteroids, Shipyards and Ships
  • Flash: Economic, Military

Buying a patent

You can buy a patent once you own its ancestor and have enough technology. Having exactly its price is enough.

  • A patent works as soon as you buy it.
  • There is no refund, and no way to sell a patent back.
  • In the patent panel, a click on an available patent buys it at once, with no confirmation.
  • On a phone, a tap opens the patent's card instead, and its Purchase button buys it.

The price of a patent

Each patent has a base price in technology, listed below, and its card shows the price you pay now. Every patent you own makes the next one dearer, and the panel's Cost Increase Factor shows by how much. See How prices grow.

What patents unlock

  • Buildings. A building's patent unlocks its level 1. See buildings.
  • Building levels. Upgrade patents unlock the higher levels of infrastructure buildings and of buildings on moons and asteroids. Flash games have none. An infrastructure building's level caps the other buildings on its planet. See upgrades.
  • Ships. A ship's patent lets your shipyards build it.
  • Larger units. A unit is a group of identical ships that takes one place in a fleet. A unit-size patent lets your shipyards build a ship in larger units.

A patent can unlock a building that none of your systems can take yet, because of its body type or infrastructure. See buildings.

The patent panel

Press P to open the patent panel (see hotkeys). Its branch tabs appear once you own your first patent.

The patent panel on one branch's tab: owned, available and locked patents, and the Cost Increase Factor
Branch tabs (1), with owned (2), available (3) and locked (4) patents.

Hover a patent to see its card. Right-click a patent to hold its card in place, and right-click anywhere in the panel, or close the card, to let it go.

A patent's card held beside the patent panel after a right-click on the patent
A right-clicked patent (1) and its card held in place (2).

All patents

Patent Branch Requires Technology Base price Unlocks
Holographic Storage System Holographic Storage System Origin — 50 Citadel
Urbanization Urbanization Habitable Planets Holographic Storage System 50 Megapolis
Cookie-cutter Cities Cookie-cutter Cities Habitable Planets Urbanization 1,000 Hive Cities, Industrial Hub
Z-poly Coils Z-poly Coils Habitable Planets Cookie-cutter Cities 40,000 Accelerator
Drone Swarms Drone Swarms Habitable Planets Z-poly Coils 30,000 Orb-INTEL
Urbanization II Urbanization II Habitable Planets Urbanization 400 Megapolis level 2, Convention Center
Maglev Architecture Maglev Architecture Habitable Planets Urbanization II 3,000 Floating Gardens
Urbanization III Urbanization III Habitable Planets Maglev Architecture 2,000 Megapolis level 3
Extended Magnetic Generators Extended Magnetic Generators Habitable Planets Urbanization III 4,000 Planetary Shield
Urbanization IV Urbanization IV Habitable Planets Extended Magnetic Generators 8,000 Megapolis level 4
Urbanization V Urbanization V Habitable Planets Urbanization IV 20,000 Megapolis level 5
Publicity Terminals Publicity Terminals Habitable Planets Urbanization 16,000 Residential Archipelago, Commercial Artery
Floating Cities Floating Cities Habitable Planets Publicity Terminals 40,000 Network of Artificial Islands
Nanotubes Nanotubes Habitable Planets Floating Cities 30,000 Orbital Link
Climate Control Climate Control Habitable Planets Nanotubes 40,000 Preserved Ecosystem
Luxury Architecture Luxury Architecture Habitable Planets Climate Control 120,000 Reflect District
Controlled Environment Controlled Environment Barren Planets Holographic Storage System 50 Central Hub, Array of Excavators, Impact Research Center
Pressurized Cities Pressurized Cities Barren Planets Controlled Environment 3,000 Capsule Cities, Omnimarket
Holograms Holograms Barren Planets Pressurized Cities 12,000 Holodome, Hyperdrive Circuit
Monumental Architecture Monumental Architecture Barren Planets Holograms 150,000 Monolith
Controlled Environment II Controlled Environment II Barren Planets Controlled Environment 400 Central Hub level 2
Autonomous Drills Autonomous Drills Barren Planets Controlled Environment II 3,000 Interception Tunnels, Integrated Proxy Systems
Controlled Environment III Controlled Environment III Barren Planets Autonomous Drills 2,000 Central Hub level 3
Quantum Cryptography Quantum Cryptography Barren Planets Controlled Environment III 14,000 C.N.D.
Controlled Environment IV Controlled Environment IV Barren Planets Quantum Cryptography 8,000 Central Hub level 4
Controlled Environment V Controlled Environment V Barren Planets Controlled Environment IV 20,000 Central Hub level 5
Magnetic Cranes Magnetic Cranes Barren Planets Controlled Environment 2,000 Space Elevator, Industrial Spaceport
Neural Derivations Neural Derivations Barren Planets Magnetic Cranes 16,000 Aerospace Military Academy
Advanced Catalysis Advanced Catalysis Barren Planets Neural Derivations 150,000 Metamaterials Factory
Magnetic Pipelines Magnetic Pipelines Moons and Asteroids Holographic Storage System 50 Refining Ducts
Signature Reduction Signature Reduction Moons and Asteroids Magnetic Pipelines 200 Constellation of Lures, O.P.U.
Crystal Shell Crystal Shell Moons and Asteroids Signature Reduction 4,000 Swarm of Self-drilling Machines
S.L.S.D. Captors S.L.S.D. Captors Moons and Asteroids Crystal Shell 8,000 S.L.S.D. Network
Pressurized Environment II Pressurized Environment II Moons and Asteroids Magnetic Pipelines 400 Allows for orbital buildings to be upgraded to level 2
Pressurized Environment III Pressurized Environment III Moons and Asteroids Pressurized Environment II 2,000 Allows for orbital buildings to be upgraded to level 3
Pressurized Environment IV Pressurized Environment IV Moons and Asteroids Pressurized Environment III 8,000 Allows for orbital buildings to be upgraded to level 4
Pressurized Environment V Pressurized Environment V Moons and Asteroids Pressurized Environment IV 20,000 Allows for orbital buildings to be upgraded to level 5
Exobiology Exobiology Moons and Asteroids Magnetic Pipelines 3,000 Experiment Station
Gravity Generator Gravity Generator Moons and Asteroids Exobiology 14,000 Zero-G Arena
Secured Habitations Secured Habitations Moons and Asteroids Gravity Generator 50,000 Business Arch, Orbital Terminus
Assembly Lines Assembly Lines Shipyards and Ships Holographic Storage System 300 S-01 Assembly Line, 2 Scouts
Light Fuselage Light Fuselage Shipyards and Ships Assembly Lines 800 2 Light Fighters
Compact Turrets Compact Turrets Shipyards and Ships Light Fuselage 6,000 2 Interceptors
Reinforced Fuselage Reinforced Fuselage Shipyards and Ships Assembly Lines 800 2 Fighter-bombers
Fighter Formation I Fighter Formation I Shipyards and Ships Assembly Lines 12,000 Allows for construction or merging of units of 4 Fighters
Precision Cranes Precision Cranes Shipyards and Ships Fighter Formation I 3,000 S-02 Assembly Line
Fighter Formation II Fighter Formation II Shipyards and Ships Precision Cranes 60,000 Allows for construction or merging of units of 8 Fighters
Corvette Formation I Corvette Formation I Shipyards and Ships Fighter Formation II 5,000 Allows for construction or merging of units of 4 Corvettes
Orbital Holds Orbital Holds Shipyards and Ships Corvette Formation I 10,000 Space Dock, 2 Assault Frigates
Repair Bay Repair Bay Shipyards and Ships Orbital Holds 50,000 2 Repair Platforms
Military Drones Military Drones Shipyards and Ships Repair Bay 70,000 2 Drone Carriers
Capsule Quarters Capsule Quarters Shipyards and Ships Orbital Holds 60,000 Carrier
Hypersonic Chargelauncher Hypersonic Chargelauncher Shipyards and Ships Capsule Quarters 80,000 2 Gunners
Fighter Formation III Fighter Formation III Shipyards and Ships Orbital Holds 220,000 Allows for construction or merging of units of 16 Fighters
Corvette Formation II Corvette Formation II Shipyards and Ships Fighter Formation III 20,000 Allows for construction or merging of units of 8 Corvettes
Space Hyperstructures Space Hyperstructures Shipyards and Ships Corvette Formation II 50,000 Assembly Superstructure
Armoring Armoring Shipyards and Ships Space Hyperstructures 80,000 Destroyer
Advanced Armoring Advanced Armoring Shipyards and Ships Armoring 100,000 Cruiser
Frigate Formation I Frigate Formation I Shipyards and Ships Space Hyperstructures 60,000 Allows for construction or merging of units of 4 Frigates
Multifunctional Nodes Multifunctional Nodes Shipyards and Ships Space Hyperstructures 120,000 Coordinator
Light Nodal Fuselage Light Nodal Fuselage Shipyards and Ships Precision Cranes 18,000 2 Light Corvettes
Nodal Fuselage Nodal Fuselage Shipyards and Ships Precision Cranes 25,000 2 Heavy Corvettes
Auto-Aim Auto-Aim Shipyards and Ships Nodal Fuselage 25,000 2 Multi-turret Corvettes
Hypersleep Chamber Hypersleep Chamber Shipyards and Ships Holographic Storage System 500 Colonisation Ship

Related

Numbers shown for Legacy games. Other speeds: Tactic Flash