Stellaris can be really intimidating when you first start playing because there are so many menus and systems to navigate, but I highly recommend sticking with it. The Pause key is your friend.

It's got a steep learning curve, but is technically very good. It's got a number of difficulty settings to make it playable and enjoyable for you.

I tried it once a while back and the tutorial seemed pretty good. I was able to grasp things easier than some other paradox games. My biggest worry is I don’t have time to play consistently and I will forget too much between sessions. I never picked it up again because of that, but I keep looking at it and want to try again.