And just like that, we have our 5 starter minions modeled and textured for Early Access, plus six captains to choose from. We’ve been putting a lot of thought into Hex Gambit‘s Kickstarter this past week, and here’s what we know so far:

We’re planning to launch the campaign in July and you’ll have two options for backing HG early: the Standard Edition and the Deluxe Edition. Both of these offer a great value vs. the launch day price of the game, especially if you’re quick enough to grab the Early Bird prices.

• The Steam Standard Edition gets you into Early Access later this year, updating to be exactly like the launch day version of the game with a nice discount.
• Upgrading to the Deluxe Edition adds a copy of the soundtrack, an exclusive, legendary skin for your crystal pillars (which can’t be purchased outside of Kickstarter and will make your opponents very jealous), plus free DLC for life! There will be no Outwitters-style Über Pack in Hex Gambit, so this is your ONE shot at securing that privilege. We’ve got 10 DLC minion concepts we’d love to add to our launch lineup, one every few months, and you’ll have gotten your money’s worth as soon as the first one drops!
• A Deluxe Edition Friend Pack will also be available, letting you grab two Deluxe keys at a discounted price.

The higher tiers will tack on some other exclusive goodies that we’ll be ready to show off a little later. If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for our mailing list to get an email reminder when the Hex Gambit Kickstarter goes live!

Still a lot of checkboard placeholders to fill in, and I’d like to make a little blimp that circles in the air, but the Hex Gambit metagame is starting to look snazzy. Shout out to Unreal’s advanced cinematic grass blueprint.

Want to know more about our upcoming turn-based strategy game, Hex Gambit? Stick around! We’ll be posting lots of artwork and details here weekly. If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for our mailing list to get email reminders when we hit big milestones, like the launch of our Kickstarter, Early Access/beta, and the official release.

The last of our Early Access minions, meet the Brute! Compared to Outwitters‘ Heavy class, the brute is still slow, but more durable and harder hitting. You’ll only have two to use in a match, so knocking both of them out as soon as possible will be a priority for your opponent. If you can keep one alive to the very late game, they get an unlockable speed boost called Doubletime to make them extra scary.

Another of their special abilities is called Toss, which lets them pick up a neighbor and throw them up to 2 spaces away, even over barriers. You can use it to move people up the field faster, or to get a pesky enemy out of your way.

Want to know more about our upcoming turn-based strategy game, Hex Gambit? Stick around! We’ll be posting lots of artwork and details here weekly. If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for our mailing list to get email reminders when we hit big milestones, like the launch of our Kickstarter, Early Access/beta, and the official release.

Haven’t had a chance to check out our culinary card adventure, Space Food Truck? Got some cost-conscious holdouts among your crew? Fret not, because from today forward we’re dropping the game’s price in half permanently on all platforms. That’s $9.99 for the Steam version or just $4.99 on iOS and Android tablets.

Build your deck as you scour an unforgiving galaxy in search of exotic ingredients with 1-4 players, taking on the unique roles of Captain, Engineer, Chef, or Scientist. Each role has a totally different focus, and you’ll all have to pull your weight to complete your signature dishes and reach the final planet in one piece.

Here’s our quick tutorial series if you’re curious to learn more:

So rather than animating the complete Motivator, I’m shifting focus immediately to the last Early Access minion so we can fill out this nice family portrait for Hex Gambit‘s Kickstarter. I’m giving myself until the end of this week, then it’s pencils down to start putting all this together into a video. It’s a painful thing for an artist, showing off unfinished work, but I’ll suck it up somehow.

If things go smoothly this month, expect to see Hex Gambit on Kickstarter sometime in July! And you definitely don’t want to miss that campaign, because supporting us early comes with an awesome discount plus some cool, limited edition reward stuffs. You’ll also have your foot in the door for the very first season of Hex Gambit: Early Access later this year. The better our Kickstarter and Early Access do, the more minions we can add to the game (I’ve got blueprints for about 17 unique ones). Sign up for an email reminder right here!

He’s looking even more dapper in 3d. This guy should have some pretty interesting animations.

Want to know more about our upcoming turn-based strategy game, Hex Gambit? Stick around! We’ll be posting lots of artwork and details here weekly. If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for our mailing list to get email reminders when we hit big milestones, like the launch of our Kickstarter, Early Access/beta, and the official release.

Another fresh class for Hex Gambit, the Motivator is a very different support unit from Outwitters‘ medic. He’s got a flexible passive ability called “Inspire” to help or hinder units standing beside him, plus a nifty “Shout” that can reactivate a spent character. He’s another of the 5 minions we’ll have playable for Early Access later this year.

Lots of big changes to the alpha this week. We’re messing with shorter play sessions, reducing the Victory Point goals from 20 to 10. In Hex Gambit terms, that’s 5 pillar taps or 10 minion kills to win (or a mix of both), completing a match in about 10 turns. At 1-2 minutes per turn for familiar users, that’s 10-20 minute matches for players that know what they’re doing. Pretty cool to fit a few matches into a single sitting. We’d love to hear your thoughts on that approach in the comments.

Want to know more about our upcoming turn-based strategy game, Hex Gambit? Stick around! We’ll be posting lots of artwork and details here weekly. If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for our mailing list to get email reminders when we hit big milestones, like the launch of our Kickstarter, Early Access/beta, and the official release.

Here’s an early mockup of how our league territory control metagame works in Hex Gambit. You’ll choose a space on the big map to play for, and the Victory Points you earn in that game (win or lose) get applied there for your faction. Whoever owns the most territory at the end of the season gets the big victory trophy! Above, we’re simulating a bunch of wins and losses to see how things might progress.

Want to know more about our upcoming turn-based strategy game, Hex Gambit? Stick around! We’ll be posting lots of artwork and details here weekly. If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for our mailing list to get email reminders when we hit big milestones, like the launch of our Kickstarter, Early Access/beta, and the official release.

Here’s a goofy little animation I just wrapped up for the Soldier’s idle state. We’ve just about got three minions down, 2 more and a board for the league metagame are next on the list! That should give us a decent showing for Kickstarter and enough content to get Early Access started later this year.

Want to know more about our upcoming turn-based strategy game, Hex Gambit? Stick around! We’ll be posting lots of artwork and details here weekly. If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for our mailing list to get email reminders when we hit big milestones, like the launch of our Kickstarter, Early Access/beta, and the official release.

Here’s an early pass on one of our Defender’s stronger late-game abilities: blockade. He can throw up two temporary, indestructible barriers that last through your opponent’s turn. It also has a one turn cooldown, so you’ll need to get ready for whoever you’ve trapped behind that wall. They won’t be very happy next turn.

Want to know more about our upcoming turn-based strategy game, Hex Gambit? Stick around! We’ll be posting lots of artwork and details here weekly. If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for our mailing list to get email reminders when we hit big milestones, like the launch of our Kickstarter, Early Access/beta, and the official release.