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The Subnautica devs are doing a turn-based, space-pirates, tabletop miniatures game called MoonbreakerAlso Brandon Sanderson is involved
Also Brandon Sanderson is involved
I admit it was a trick question, but look, I’m a genuinely big fan of devs doing a completely different project after a successful game. I also know a whole lotta people who love painting plastic fighters in cool colours, carefuly placing them on a tabletop, and slowly pushing them into other plastic fighters in different colours. I’m absolutely sure that Unknown Worlds will make a very good version of a digital tabletopstrategy game. I must admit, though, that whenever a video game like this emerges, I sort of wonder why tabletop-thusiasts would buy it instead of more actual miniatures.
Subnautica: Below Zero TrailerWatch on YouTube
Subnautica: Below Zero Trailer
Your team is a group of 10 crewmembers, plus one captain, who are the hero characters of the game. When you start a battle - either vs AI, PVP through matchmaking or private rooms, or a kind of roguelike single-player mode called Cargo Run - only the opposing captains are on the board. You then get the chance to call down a crewmate on your turns, each costing an amount of Cinder, the in-game resource that governs things like special moves. The max size of the team you can field is six, plus your captain, so once you reach that limit you have to wait for a unit to be destroyed to call someone else down.
Get ‘em, Astra
The captains shown had quite clear strengths and weaknesses, so the stripped back start gives you a chance to scope out your opponent and do some quick tactics thinking. It feels more reactive than having a battlefield already stacked with your different units. In the preview, for example, the AI was playing the captain Astra, a 12 year old triumphantly riding a purpley-pink space toad. She’s a strong ranged attacker, but is liable to get rushed. Community Manager Donya Abramo was playing Extilior, a big golden robot who Abramo described as very defensively strong, especially up close. The final captain shipping with the game, who we didn’t see in action, is a Han Solo-esque smuggler who is actually a hologram.
The miniatures are sort of semi-animated. They’re not articulated, but they might have a bit of flavour animation. Astra’s ranged attack saw her toad-monsters tongue flick out, and the whole miniature rocked on its base - but no other part of it moved. To counter Astra’s, Abramo called down Maximus, a quick little gunslinger type who, if he lands a successful hit, gets a second chance to move. Maximus was able to fire off a shot and then quickly duck back behind some hard cover (an imposing jade statue), his base hopping and spinning along as he stayed motionless on top of it. It’s worth noting that, like Warhammer, Moonbreaker doesn’t use a grid system, so you can move more freely within your character’s range.
There’s potential for a lot of different outcomes, with variables not just from the map and units (we saw a smuggler character, Rickety, take out an enemy unitandhimself, because his attacks carry a small percentage chance to backfire) but also ship assists. These moves take a certain number of turns to power up, and includ big offensive canon blasts. But if, for example, you’re playing a slower character like Extilior, you might want to use the Stim Burst to boost his movement. Rather than a kind of ongoing logic puzzle like Into The Breach, or the somewhat frantic battle of reaction in RTS games, this is landing somewhere in the middle. Which is probably the point.
And I have to say, I was impressed. It looks great. The dry brushing thing in particular really blew my mind. But I still can’t shake that doubt about who this is for. Despite the characters all looking unique and fun, if you really like tabletop miniatures… don’t you just prefer playing with and painting tabletop miniatures? Genuine question. Answers on a postcard.
