X-Com creator casts Kickstarter campaign for Chaos Reborn

As Kickstarter reboots go, I suspect Chaos Reborn might be attempting to resurrect one of the oldest games yet. The original Chaos was released in 1985 - meaning it came out three years before inXile's similarly revived Wasteland. Julian Gollop, best known as the creator of X-Com: UFO Defense and/or UFO: Enemy Unknown, is now casting Kickstarter necromancy on his classic ZX Spectrum turn-based fantasy strategy.

To help him with the wizard-battling pitch, he's also summoned Ken Levine.

Putting aside the fact that there's something inherently funny about the words "last wizard standing", Chaos Reborn pits the magic men against each other in a turn-based battle of spells and summons. Creatures will be at the forefront of the attack, doing the majority of the fighting across the hex based arenas. As seen in the pitch's pre-alpha demo, though, there are plenty of opportunities for direct damage and AOE crowd control too.

The full game will offer online competitive and co-op modes, and will also support a full single-player campaign. You'll find the full details on the Kickstarter page , where Gollop hopes to raise at least $180,000 by April 17th, but you'll also find the game's feature list below.

  • Quick playing, turn-based combat. Battles typically last 10-30 minutes.

  • 80 unique spells, including 24 creatures - from dragons to goblins - fully animated in the 3D Unity Engine.

  • Classic spells from the original Chaos - including the Gooey Blob, Raise Dead, and Magic Wood.

  • Bluff and deception - summon creatures as illusions for 100% success, and use Disbelieve spell on suspected enemy illusions.

  • Manipulate the balance of the Cosmos between Law and Chaos to your advantage.

  • Procedurally generated 3D battle arenas with various types of terrain, and different levels of elevation.

  • Multiple game modes, including Classic Chaos mode - fully random battle set-up with random selection of spells.

Phil Savage
Editor-in-Chief

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.