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Getting to play a Star Trek ship captain is fun, but playing as a fleet commander is even better. Star Trek: Armada is the first and probably the only good real-time strategy game based off of Star Trek (Sins of a Solar Empire, with the Star Trek mod, doesn’t count but would be the best if it did). You control a fleet of either Federation vessels, Klingons, Romulans, or Borg and get to live out every epic space war fantasy you have. The game wasn’t particularly innovative but for fans, it was enough that it was a Star Trek game and not terrible.

The Forgettable: Star Trek Online (2010)

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The 2000s was the era of MMORPGs or Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games with thousands upon thousands of players playing in the same expansive game universe. At the forefront: World of Warcraft. In its wake: nearly every other game, including Star Trek Online. Star Trek Online made the mistake of jumping onto a bandwagon which isn’t compatible with its themes. MMORPGs are repetitive by design, but Star Trek fans are fans in the first place because of the show’s innovative problem solving. Add to that the fact that Star Trek Online debuted with several glitches, which were patched before the game went free-to-play in 2012, but by which point nobody wanted to play it anymore.

The Fun: Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force (2000)

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It’s a bit counter-intuitive for a Star Trek game to be a first-person shooter but somehow Elite Force made it work. You play as Ensign Alex Munro of the Hazard Team, and are tasked with protecting the Voyager and exploring the Delta Quadrant. What made it unique was that unlike other Star Trek games, which are only bought and endured by Star Trek fans, Elite Force was an actual good game even without the license. It featured just enough upgrading, exploration and problem solving to appeal to fans of the show, and enough shooting things to appeal to regular gamers.

The Unsolicited: Star Trek: D-A-C (2009)

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Star Trek: D-A-C or Deathmatch-Assault-Conquest, is a claustrophobic mess of ships, space debris and plasma cannon fire. It’s a top-down shooter where you navigate your Enterprise through a bulletstorm to shoot everything shooting at you. The ship controls like a bumper car for some reason and the gameplay, while fun for an hour or so against friends, is repetitive and shallow. It’s literally flying around just shooting things and bouncing against walls. Nothing could be further from the spirit of the show.

The Best Star Trek Game: Star Trek: 25th Anniversary (1992)

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Finally, the best Star Trek game of all time actually puts you in that coveted swiveling seat: the Captain’s Chair. It’s a dated game, featuring primarily point-and-click gameplay as you direct the Enterprise from its cabin, but it captures the feel of the show perfectly. The missions are inventive and were written by the actual show’s writers. The original cast voice their own characters. The interaction between the characters, the interfaces and the maps all make you feel as If you are within the show, and really, isn’t that a Star Trek fan’s biggest and purest dream?