This week’s game releases just went up a notch with the release of Star Trek Timelines (Free), a game from the developers of Game of Thrones Ascent. If you like Star Trek, then you are definitely in for a treat with this one since the game lets you assemble a crew from hundreds of favorite Star Trek characters ranging from the Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise. So, as you can imagine, if you’ve seen a Star Trek character in any those shows, you’ll probably be seeing them in this game, too. As I wrote a few months back, the game takes place in a universe where a temporal anomaly (or smart game devs) brings together characters, settings, and stories from all the shows mentioned above.

You, of course, will take the role of the captain and you’ll assemble a crew to help you resolve various conflicts using the crew’s unique skills and abilities (like Riker’s amazing way of sitting on a chair). So, you could go with a crew of all your favorites, or you could actually try and assemble a crew with the appropriate skills.The game also has 3D ship-to-ship battles in both PvP and PvE modes, so if you’ve always wanted to show the world how you could kick Captain Picard’s behind, here’s your chance.

What I find even more interesting than the ship-to-ship battles is the developer’s insistence that it’s bringing to the game the core principles and viewpoints of Star Trek: optimism for the future, belief in progress and equality, and a love of exploration. Those are the themes that make me enjoy Star Trek more than Star Wars (sorry, Disney), and I’m hoping that Star Trek Timelines has managed to weave those themes together with addictive and fun gameplay. The game’s out now for free on both the iPhone and iPad, so, engage (sorry, couldn’t resist).