Jon Shafer is a name well known to strategy games fans. A 'prodigy developer', he was selected to be Sid Meier's Civilization V Game Director and Designer at the age of 21 after working on the Civilization IV expansions Warlords and Beyond the Sword.
After leaving Firaxis and Stardock (where he did a brief stint), he decided to go solo and crowdfund his next project, the indie strategy game At the Gates, via the then-rising Kickstarter platform.
Over three thousand backers pledged a total of $106,283 in March 2013. However, the game's development proved to be difficult and yesterday Jon Shafer explained exactly why in a massive blog post published on his personal site.
In short, Shafer had personal issues due to his diagnosed ADHD and the drugs he started taking to cope with it. Eventually, his work/life balance was so out of whack that he barely ate or slept, let alone work on the game.
All is well that ends well, anyway, as Shafer was gradually able to restore himself to a healthy state. Now At the Gates is due to release on January 23th, at long last, and we'll be sure to give it a spin for a review.
At the Gates is a 4X grand strategy game from Jon Shafer, designer of Civilization 5.
You are a Dark Age lord. Your destiny is to build a kingdom in the shadow of the crumbling Roman Empire. Explore the dangerous landscape around you, harvest its resources, and build a mighty economic and military machine. Your clans have their own personalities and desires, so carefully consider how you use them.
It won't be easy. Your path is unsure. Overcome your immensely strong neighbors. Outlast the frigid winters of the far north to discover a source of gold and vast riches.
Are you the leader who will usher in a new era of European history? Or will you be forgotten?
An Evolving Map
Seasons and weather dramatically transform the landscape around you. The river that once served as a barrier in the summer might become a highway in the winter - for both you and your enemies!
Character Management
Each of your clans has unique traits and desires, so choose carefully how you use them.
Survival & Roguelike Elements
Keep your clans fed through the harsh winter. Resources run out so always be hunting for more. Your neighbors can be immensely strong. Every game poses new challenges and opportunities.
Watercolor Art Style
A beautiful watercolor landscape serves as the canvas for your clever economic and military strategies.
Tooltips-in-Tooltips!
AtG features a revolutionary user interface which utilizes "tooltips-in-tooltips" for the very first time, making it far easier to learn without sacrificing any gameplay depth.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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