Lead designer for Civilization 5 starts a Kickstarter for new empire builder At The Gates

If you’re into empire building strategy games, the name Jon Shafer may just ring a bell. He was the lead designer for a little game you may have heard of called Civilization 5 by Firaxis Games. The new studio is called Conifer and the empire builder strategy game is going by the name Jon Shafer’s At the Gates. How else can a well-known designer fund a brand new project than to start his very own Kickstarter.

Starting today, you can fund At the Gates. Taking place in antiquity during the decline of the Roman Empire, you play as a budding barbarian tribe trying to both survive and make their mark in history. Through conquest, diplomacy, or a little bit of both, your tribe will grow and flourish. Unlike other strategy games, the environment will change with the seasons. You’ll have to micro manage food, location, and materials to keep your people alive and well during winter. Did you remember to stock up enough food during the spring and summer months? Even your military units will need supplies to keep at the war effort. Manage all the things!

From what I understand, At The Gates will be much like previous Civilization games but on a much smaller, focused, and refined space. You’re not worrying about the world; rather your focused on your region. You’ll make ties with the locals, live off the land, and deal with the dying Romans and adapt to them. With all that said… that sounds pretty damn awesome. I’m an openly biased fan of the Civilization series and everything I’ve seen in the early stages of At The Gates is making me very hopeful for this new project.

Check out the Kickstarter, read the site, watch the videos, and if you like what you see – pledge and support this small team.