Double Fine made a lot of waves recently by going to Kickstarter and raising an enormous pile of money for an adventure game. The ripples of this are still being felt: Dozens of companies went straight to Kickstarter and in fact entire genres are being revived by going straight to the customer. So, why not do it again, this time with a turn-based strategy game, Massive Chalice?
There is, of course, the standard Kickstarter video, complete with a gag cribbed from Arrested Development:
And here’s your “shut up and take my money” moment of the day:
We’re inspired by classic tactical strategy games like X-COM, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Fire Emblem, as well as Game of Thrones’ array of noble families. With these influences in mind we’re creating an epic, replayable turn-based tactics game where you train generations of heroes to repel a demonic invasion.
I know five people, not on here but in real life, who would punt a baby for that game. Fortunately, they don’t have to: It only costs $20.
The game actually has a lot of elements to it: You’ll have to play long-term strategy with strategic alliances, research new technologies and magics, and generally do all that big-picture Civilization stuff, and then get down into the nitty-gritty and kick some butt with your squads. You can’t just build one invincible hero, though: Inevitably they get old and either die on the field or retire to birth new champions.
Bloodlines are important: You’ll have to arrange marriages to ensure you have heroes capable of fighting in any situation. So basically you’re treating people like Pokemon. Although presumably you will not be stuffing them into balls.
Double Fine has noted they’re a multi-team studio and their ultimate goal is to have each team working on a game that’s directly accountable to the players. And it seems they’re off to a good start: It was announced today and as of this writing is already at 10% of its goal. So, no pressure or anything, Double Fine.