Double Fine's second Kickstarter, Massive Chalice, weds XCOM with medieval bloodlines

Double Fine, the company that kickstarted Kickstarter games with last year's Broken Age , has returned to the fields of crowdfunding flying the banner of Massive Chalice . Helmed by Iron Brigade creator Brad Muir, this new offering is a tactical, turn-based strategy game with a kingdom management layer that tasks you with fostering heroic bloodlines over multiple generations.

Players will take on the role of an immortal monarch charged with protecting their realm from demonic invasion for hundreds of years. Heroes in your employ who don't die on the battlefield will eventually succumb to old age, leaving behind relics that can be used by their descendants. Part of the game will be knowing when to retire a hero, allowing them to start a family and breed the next generation of warriors. Death is permanent, like in XCOM, but the legacy of a truly great hero can be passed down and stay with you throughout a campaign.

You only need to pledge $20 for a copy of the game, which currently has an estimated release of September 2014. For $100, you can have your name and a custom sigil, motto, and castle name included as one of the heroic bloodlines in the game. Double Fine is asking for $750,000, and has raised about $50,000 of that in a half hour as of the writing of this article. You can read more on the Kickstarter page , and check out the pitch video above.

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Len Hafer is a freelancer and lifelong PC gamer with a specialty in strategy, RPGs, horror, and survival games. A chance encounter with Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness changed her life forever. Today, her favorites include the grand strategy games from Paradox Interactive like Crusader Kings and Europa Universalis, and thought-provoking, story-rich RPGs like Persona 5 and Disco Elysium. She also loves history, hiking in the mountains of Colorado, and heavy metal music.