The barbarians officially have enough money to take on those pretentious Romans with their gates, and their culture, and their polytheism.
Earlier today, designer John Shafer’s new strategy game, At the Gates, surpassed its funding goal on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter. Nearly 1,350 backers already pledged $45,500, which eclipsed the project’s modest $40,000 budget. The funding campaign still has 24 days left to bring in more pledges.
For the unaware, At the Gates is a 4X strategy game (where players explore a map, expand their territory, exploit resources, and exterminate enemies) for the PC. Jon Shafer was previously the lead designer on Civilization V, a prime example of the sub-genre.
But Shafer isn’t just re-creating Civilization. He hopes to reinvigorate strategy with a new take on 4X that sheds some of its longtime elements. For example, players don’t control a major historical civilization; instead, they command a barbarian horde that must destroy the Roman empire.
You can read more about how Shafer intends to shake things up in our story about him and At the Gates.
Shafer and his team of developers at new studio Conifer Games will now focus on stretch goals. The team already has tiers for mod support, a map editor, and new playable barbarian factions. It is also looking into adding support for additional platforms and a reward tier that would provide a physical copy of the game with a box, a manual, and a DVD of At the Gates.