Chaos Reborn has been one of the best tactics games of the year since January, when it was just a beautiful board populated by rats and slimes. Now it’s a grand scale strategy affair, a hexagonal fantasy invasion simulator from the mind behind X-Com.
Gollop and his friends at Snapshot (that’s the kind taken by a plasma rifle, not a camera) have announced that Chaos will cast off Early Access on October 26th, emerging on the surface of Steam like a summoned skeleton.
On a turn-based tactics bender? Browse our list of the best strategy games on PC.
“It has been an intensive year and a half of development,” writes Gollop, “but we have a great game ready to ship.”
While Gollop and Snapshot have adapted and even stripped out elements of Chaos Reborn in accordance with fan feedback, 1.0 is all about new players: hence an extensive tutorial and upgraded interface.
The patient Wizard Kings and Wizard Lords in the Chaos community will be granted their domains at launch, too. Higher tier backers both, Lords will set the spells and equipment of AI wizards defending regions in single player Realms mode – while Kings can also design their own Realm in its entirety with a bespoke designer tool, populating the hexes with challenges and rewards. It’s like a Peter Molyneux promise, but it’s actually happened.
There are a couple of Kickstarter components left unfulfilled – namely the demigod and god roles which will find divine players bestowing blessings and sending messages to members of guilds who have pledged loyalty to them. Snapshot have pledged to add those within two months of release, and then support the game with regular updates incorporating new spells and modes.
All in all, this has been one of the most successful and satisfying Kickstarter and Early Access double-whammy stories to date. You played it yet? Read our Chaos Reborn Early Access review for a few reasons why you maybe ought to.