SteamWorld Heist started with an office argument about X-COM working in 2D

New game ideas often come from strange sources. SteamWorld Heist, for instance, started with an ongoing lunch-break argument among X-COM fans over whether a turn-based strategy game could work in 2D.

I recently got to try out the quirky space-piracy game — the sort-of sequel to the award-winning platformer SteamWorld Dig — at the EGX gaming show in Birmingham, U.K., and I can happily report that the answer is “yes.”