Spaceward Ho! is a turn-based space strategic conquest game where your objective is to start from a single system, harvest metals to build ships, send ships out to claim more worlds, thus obtaining more metals to build more ships. Each system you get can also contribute to research, which will allow you to build more powerful and less resource-intensive ships. Your objective is, of course, to be the sole ruler of the the "galaxy". The game, as the cover shows, has a completely "Western" theme, where the planets wear bandannas and cowboy hats.