When we initially sat down in a cosy Indian restaurant in Manchester almost a year ago to discuss what kind of game we were interested in making, turn-based strategy was at the forefront. We’re fans of a good many titles in the genre, from Star Wars: Supremacy (or “Rebellion” outside the UK!) to Stellaris. As we talked it became clear that we shared a lot of opinions about the genre. Our likes and dislikes aligned, a shared enjoyment of the complexities of these games and a disdain towards the more ponderous elements. So it was that we considered 4X strategy a logical starting point.

Naturally when talking about 4X strategy games (which stands for Exterminate, Exploit, Exploration, Expand, all core pillars of the genre), one of the first to come up is Sid Meier’s Civilization. As much as spelling Civilisation with a Z vexes me in particular, these games and our experiences with them provided a great jumping-off point to discuss particulars.

Very quickly we decided that our personal favourite parts of a Civ experience were the early and mid-game portions, agreeing that the endgame tended to get bogged down with a lot of micromanagement (especially if leaning heavily on the Exterminate aspect). The early game has a lot of charm that stems from Exploration and Expansion, and the mid-game still retains some of these elements while putting your ability to Exploit your gathered resources (basic and luxury) to the test.

As games in the genre start to reach the endgame, a lot of what we consider “the fun stuff” has dried up. The early game flexibility has left, and you’re likely committed to a specific course of action. That’s not necessarily a bad thing of course, seeing your plans come to fruition can be immensely satisfying, but I am often guilty of booting up a new save file and re-doing the early and mid-game instead of plowing through the remaining 150-200 turns on my original save.

We agreed that the time investment of 4Xs endgames can be a bit daunting when you’re just looking to have a quick bit of fun. You could have a fantastic early and mid-game, but eventually you’re going to have to pick a lane and stick to it for quite some time to see your payoff.

And so we thought…

What if you could have that dynamic early and mid-game experience with a punchy “blitz” of an endgame to round everything off? What if you could play a game that gave you a Civ-like feeling of discovery and decision making during day’s commute? Edinburgh to Glasgow in the morning (a 1hr 10m commute roughly) giving you time to set up and reach the mid-game, and Glasgow to Edinburgh in the evening letting you finish your preparations for an almighty endgame clash before you pull into the station?

A miniaturised 4X game that can be played in 2-3 hours, no daunting days-long commitments to finish the perfect game, and playable on mobile devices to-boot? It sounded exactly like something we’d all play.

And so we sat down and started working.