I would say its quite simple. a lot to read, but it isn't really much when you apply it to a game. We did a small skirmish between a cargo ship (with 2 turrets of projectile cannons), and a squadron of 4 enemy fighters armed with blaster cannons. it took us about an hour and 15 minutes, but that included some pauses to get the rules right. I think if we did that same battle again, it would probably be about 45 minutes to play it. The general consensus was that we enjoyed it, worth the money I think, and the ship building rules are awesome