Moonbreaker

Last updated

Moonbreaker
Moonbreaker cover art.jpg
Developer(s) Unknown Worlds Entertainment
Publisher(s) Krafton
Director(s) Charlie Cleveland
Writer(s) Brandon Sanderson
Engine Unity [1]
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
ReleaseSeptember 29, 2022
(early access)
February 2, 2024
(full release)
Genre(s) Turn-based strategy
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Moonbreaker is a turn-based strategy video game developed by Unknown Worlds Entertainment and published by Krafton for Windows. The game was released via early access on September 29, 2022, and full released on February 2, 2024.

Contents

The game was described by the team as a "digital miniatures game", as it was heavily inspired by both tabletop role-playing games and collectible card games. The game is set in an original universe created by Brandon Sanderson.

Gameplay

Moonbreaker is a turn-based strategy video game. In each match, players must commandeer a captain and their squad and eliminate their enemy counterparts. The player's captain is supported by nine other crewmates, which can be deployed once the player has collected enough "cinder", which is gained after each turn. Each character has their own unique abilities, and players need to spend cinder in order to utilize each character's special abilities. [2] In each match, players need to carefully consider the positioning of their units. Hard cover can block incoming attacks, while soft cover can reduce enemy's accuracy. [3] The positioning of each character may also block the movement of both friendly and enemy units. [4] Players can also call in Ship Assist. These abilities have a longer cooldown time, but they do not cost any resource. Players can fight against units controlled by artificial intelligence, though the main mode of the game also supports 1-versus-1 competitive multiplayer. The game also features another mode named "Cargo Run", a mode that is strictly single-player and features elements from roguelike games, [5] with plans to add an additional single-player campaign mode currently titled in-game as "The Reaches".

The characters in the game are reminiscent of miniatures from tabletop games. Each character can be painted by the player. Moonbreaker features an extensive suite of painting options such as drybrushing, stippling, and airbrushing for players to paint their digital figures. [5] The studio also released fully-voiced audio dramas. Players can listen to these podcasts while they are painting the characters. [6] All existing character units are available to players upon game start. Extra paint sets, sticker packs and decals, and other customization items in the game can be unlocked through playing the game and gaining experience.

Development

Development of the game began in 2017 by Unknown Worlds Entertainment. Charlie Cleveland, the director of Subnautica , served as the game's director. According to Cleveland, the original pitch of the game was to make a "digital miniatures game". The game was heavily inspired by the Warhammer series of tabletop game. In addition to giving the ability for players to paint their digital figures, they also wanted the game to have engrossing lore and an interesting backdrop. The team, therefore, enlisted the help of novelist Brandon Sanderson to help create the game's setting. [7] The goal for Sanderson was to build an "optimistic" universe, and he collaborated with Unknown Worlds in a weekly basis. Due to the game's large roster of characters and Unknown Worlds' intention to support the game for years, Moonbreaker will have a "long-form" story that will "last a decade or longer". He compared the game's storytelling to that of The Canterbury Tales , a story told from the perspectives of 30 different pilgrims. [8]

Gameplay wise, the game was also influenced by both tabletop role-playing game including Magic: The Gathering and Cosmic Encounter , and collectible card games such as Hearthstone . The studio wanted to limit the amount of planning players can do before starting a match. For instance, at the beginning of a match, players must choose from 3 pairs of ship assists; the combination of each pair is randomly selected by the game. The studio initially envisioned a system in which players cannot build their own roster; the game would randomly select a squad for the players based on the characters they already unlocked. However, this was scrapped as the team thought that it made the game too imbalanced and luck-based, and discouraged players from collecting additional characters. The team initially worked on a story-based "Adventure Mode", but the team abandoned this idea because they were unable to create a campaign mode that was replayable, and it failed to showcase all the units the team created for the game. [7]

The game was officially announced at Gamescom 2022. The game entered early access on September 29, 2022. The early access version included three captains (Zax Ja'kar, Extilior and Astra), and around 50 other units. New units and captains would be introduced every four months. [9] Accompanying the game's early access launch was the release of Moonbreaker: Tales From the Reaches, a podcast written by Dan Wells. Three audio dramas would be released in the game's first season. [10] Cleveland, speaking about the future of the game, noted that Unknown Worlds hoped the game to "last a decade or longer", and that it may potentially go free-to-play in the future. [7] Prior to the EA1.1 Update, Moonbreaker briefly contained microtransactions through an in-game "store" menu. [11] The game was released in full on February 2, 2024. [12]

Related Research Articles

<i>Warhammer 40,000</i> Miniature wargame

Warhammer 40,000 is a miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop. It is the most popular miniature wargame in the world, and is particularly popular in the United Kingdom. The first edition of the rulebook was published in September 1987, and the tenth and current edition was released in June 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Games Workshop</span> British maker of miniature wargames

Games Workshop Group is a British manufacturer of miniature wargames, based in Nottingham, England. Its best-known products are Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000.

<i>Blood Bowl</i> Board Game

Blood Bowl is a miniatures board game created by Jervis Johnson for the British games company Games Workshop as a parody of American football. The game was first released in 1986 and has been re-released in new editions since. Blood Bowl is set in an alternate version of the Warhammer Fantasy setting, populated by traditional fantasy elements such as human warriors, goblins, dwarves, elves, orcs and trolls.

Space Marine (<i>Warhammer 40,000</i>) Fictional futuristic supersoldiers

In the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000, the Space Marines, also known as the Adeptus Astartes, are superhuman warrior-monks who fight for the Imperium of Man. They wear mechanised suits of armour and have modified genomes that grant them superhuman strength and endurance. Some Space Marines have betrayed the Imperium and serve the Gods of Chaos, and are thus known as Chaos Space Marines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miniature wargaming</span> Wargame genre

Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming in which military units are represented by miniature physical models on a model battlefield. The use of physical models to represent military units is in contrast to other tabletop wargames that use abstract pieces such as counters or blocks, or computer wargames which use virtual models. The primary benefit of using models is aesthetics, though in certain wargames the size and shape of the models can have practical consequences on how the match plays out.

Battlefleet Gothic is a naval miniature wargame that was produced by Games Workshop from 1999 to 2013 with Andy Chambers as the primary developer. A spin-off of the science-fantasy setting of Warhammer 40,000, the game has players command fleets of large spaceships belonging to one of several spaceborne factions. Although the wargame's miniatures and rulebooks are no longer supported by Games Workshop, two video game adaptations have been made since its cancellation in 2013.

<i>Warhammer</i> (game) Miniature wargame

Warhammer is a tabletop miniature wargame with a medieval fantasy theme. The game was created by Bryan Ansell, Richard Halliwell, and Rick Priestley, and first published by the Games Workshop company in 1983.

<i>Warmaster</i>

Warmaster is a ruleset for tabletop wargames written by Rick Priestley, published by Specialist Games, and set in the Warhammer Fantasy setting. It is different from Warhammer Fantasy Battles in both appearance and gameplay. It is intended for 10 –12 mm miniatures. Basic troops are based on stands, of which typically three make a unit. Generals, Heroes and Wizards are mounted individually or with their retinue.

<i>Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game</i> Tabletop miniature wargame

Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game, previously marketed as The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Strategy Battle Game, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Strategy Battle Game and The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies Strategy Battle Game is a tabletop miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop. It is based on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies directed by Peter Jackson, and the books that inspired them, written by J. R. R. Tolkien.

<i>Warhammer: Mark of Chaos</i> 2006 video game

Warhammer: Mark of Chaos is a real-time tactics game set in the Warhammer universe. It was developed by Black Hole Entertainment and co-published by Namco Bandai Games in the US and Deep Silver in PAL territories. The game was released for Microsoft Windows in the US on November 14, 2006, with subsequent release in PAL territories on November 23, 2006.

<i>Warhammer 40,000 Apocalypse</i> Book by Jervis Johnson

Warhammer 40,000 Apocalypse is an expansion to the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop miniatures wargame by the British gaming company Games Workshop. It contains rules which allow players to field massive armies the likes of which are unwieldy using the basic Warhammer 40,000 ruleset. It also allows players to field units that are not available in normal Warhammer 40,000 games, such as large super-heavy tanks and robot-like titans, some of which can stand up to 400 feet in game-scale height.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unknown Worlds Entertainment</span> American video game developer

Unknown Worlds Entertainment is an American video game developer based in San Francisco. The studio is best known for the Natural Selection and Subnautica series. In October 2021, the studio was acquired by South Korean video game developer Krafton.

The following is a list of Army Books and Supplements for the various armies released for the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy Battle game.

<i>Hearthstone</i> Digital collectible card game by Blizzard Entertainment

Hearthstone is a free-to-play online digital collectible card game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. Originally subtitled Heroes of Warcraft, Hearthstone builds upon the existing lore of the Warcraft series by using the same elements, characters, and relics. It was first released for Windows and macOS in March 2014, with ports for iOS and Android released later that year. The game features cross-platform play, allowing players on any supported device to compete with one another, restricted only by geographical region account limits.

<i>Subnautica</i> 2018 video game

Subnautica is an action-adventure game developed and published by Unknown Worlds Entertainment. Players control a maintenance chief named Ryley, who is the only survivor of a spaceship crash on an alien planet. They are free to explore the oceanic planet. The main objectives are to find essential resources, survive the local flora and fauna, and find a way to escape the planet. It combines elements of survival games and non-survival games.

<i>Magic: The Gathering Arena</i> Video game

Magic: The Gathering Arena or MTG Arena is a free-to-play digital collectible card game developed and published by Wizards of the Coast (WotC). The game is a digital adaption based on the Magic: The Gathering (MTG) card game, allowing players to gain cards through booster packs, in-game achievements or microtransaction purchases, and build their own decks to challenge other players. The game was released in a beta state in November 2017, and was fully released for Microsoft Windows users in September 2019, and a macOS version on June 25, 2020. Mobile device versions were released in March 2021.

<i>Space Hulk: Tactics</i> 2018 video game

Space Hulk: Tactics is a turn-based tactics video game developed by Cyanide and published by Focus Home Interactive. The game is set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe and is based upon the turn-based strategy tabletop miniatures board game Space Hulk. The game was released on 9 October 2018.

Krafton Inc. is a South Korean video game publisher and holding company based in Bundang-gu, Seongnam. It was created in November 2018 to serve as the parent company for Bluehole, founded by Chang Byung-gyu in Seoul in March 2007, and its subsidiaries. The company has published several notable video game titles including TERA, PUBG: Battlegrounds, New State Mobile,The Callisto Protocol and Moonbreaker. According to Forbes, Chang has a net worth of $2.9 billion and is one of the seven gaming billionaires in South Korea.

A digital tabletop game is a video game genre that includes video games that have gameplay similar to physical tabletop games, including board games, card games, and role-playing games. Many digital tabletop games are adaptions of existing physical games into the video games, though some of these are wholly digital games that use tabletop game mechanics. There are also tabletop game simulators that allow for users to recreate tabletop games from a variety of game pieces.

<i>Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Storm Ground</i> 2021 video game

Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Storm Ground is a turn-based strategy game developed by Gasket Games and published by Focus Home Interactive in collaboration with Games Workshop. Based on the Warhammer: Age of Sigmar miniature wargame, the game released for Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on May 27, 2021.

References

  1. ↑ Saver, Michael (December 27, 2022). "Made with Unity: 2022 in review". Unity Technologies . Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  2. ↑ Purslow, Matt (August 27, 2022). "Moonbreaker Mixes Exciting Hearthstone Strategy With Chilled Warhammer Painting". IGN . Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  3. ↑ Bell, Alice (August 23, 2022). "The Subnautica devs are doing a turn-based, space-pirates, tabletop miniatures game called Moonbreaker". Rock, Paper, Shotgun . Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  4. ↑ Caballero, David (September 20, 2022). "In Moonbreaker "every unit's position affects basically every other unit"". GameZone. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  5. 1 2 Miller, Matt (August 23, 2022). "Subnautica Studio Reveals Moonbreaker". Game Informer . Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  6. ↑ Wood, Austin (August 24, 2022). "Mistborn author Brandon Sanderson worked with Subnautica devs on their new game". GamesRadar . Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 Maher, Cian (October 2, 2022). "Moonbreaker blends Warhammer love with Brandon Sanderson lore and an audio drama". Polygon . Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  8. ↑ Marks, Tom (September 29, 2022). "Brandon Sanderson Says Moonbreaker Collab Isn't Like George R. R. Martin and Elden Ring". IGN . Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  9. ↑ Wales, Matt (August 23, 2022). "Subnautica dev unveils "analogue" turn-based tactics game Moonbreaker". Eurogamer . Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  10. ↑ Takahashi, Dean (September 29, 2022). "Unknown Worlds and Krafton launch Moonbreaker into early access". VentureBeat . Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  11. ↑ Ankers-Range, Adele (September 27, 2022). "Moonbreaker Completely Removes Its Microtransactions and Monetization". IGN . Retrieved August 19, 2023.
  12. ↑ Bolding, Jonathan (February 4, 2024). "Moonbreaker, the digital miniatures game from Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds, has released". PC Gamer . Retrieved February 4, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.