IGR has reviewed the turn based strategy RPG Massive Chalice from Double Fine Productions:

Massive Chalice – What We Think:

Developed by Double Fine through a highly successful Kickstarter campaign, Massive Chalice is a turn-based strategy RPG that combines elements of random chance, permadeath, and loads of selective breeding. As your heroic ruler delicately slurps the wisdom from a golden talking mug of sparkling water, you are to embrace the power within, forge an unstoppable empire, and bring the destructive Cadence to their knees (or lack thereof).

[...]

The Fever

Despite its few flaws and sometimes seemingly endless meandering in the fog of war, this crowd-funded strategy game really packs a punch in terms of replay value. With all the turn-based tussling, ill-advised marriages, and destructive decision making you could ask for, Massive Chalice will have you playing for hours on end.

Score: 4/5

Garbage File checked out Massive Chalice and like the game, but feel something is missing as well.

The oddest but biggest problem I find with this game is the wasted potential. There could have been more maps, more classes and more customization. Not to say I didn’t like the game, I don’t waste 6 uninterrupted hours as a godly trophy for no good reason, but I kept thinking “I wish I could do X”. I am not talking about complex thing here, there are always theoretical improvements to a game which in practice are not worth the thing, but little things like being able to make my own house. I want the “Defective Inspectors” to rule the realm, wielding Caber’s like blood thirsty maniacs, I want to feel SHAME when one of my kin does something stupid and PRIDE when the final strike finishes the battle. I feel like there is a missing connection with my characters and it falls short. For me the 300 year war is the end goal and the death toll is simply a number of broken eggs in my quest to make the world’s oldest omelette. In X-Com when my favourite mechanical unit “Talos” died I almost lost it, I didn’t play the game for a week because I was THAT annoyed a lucky shot killed him. This request is constant however and has yet to be implemented which is a HUGE shame really…

It all comes down to what you wanted from the game, when I started playing I had no idea what to expect beyond a giant solid demitasse controlling bloodlines. While I got exactly that I felt like I needed more, like something is missing. What I must say it there I still hope, Massive Chalice has mainly been occupied with a behind the scenes video “Massive Knowledge” which has yet to be completed, I suspect once that is done we may get what we want, or at least Steam Workshop will open up…

Thanks Eye.

Gamespot has reviewed this game with a score of 6/10. I'll quote from the conclusion:

The game's lifeless artwork did little to alleviate this problem. Although watching the members of your Vanguards or Regencies age and wither away until death was fascinating, the look of the heroes was devoid of detail, and left me with an endless trail of blonde/brunette/ginger men and women with caberjack/crossbow/alchemist claws. That's ultimately Massive Chalice's most unfortunate shortcoming. It's a game with enough ambition and execution to spark the imagination, and enough organic entropy to let you suspend your disbelief about the families you help sire. But Massive Chalice extends you the invitation and then offers you a half-empty world in return.

Steven Strom reviewed Massive Chalice for Ars Technica - some snippets:

Massive Chalice review: Penning a smaller, simpler strategic legend
A lighter, more forgiving translation of a XCOM's familiar strategy formula.

It's unfortunate that Massive Chalice was released in the very same week that a sequel to Firaxis Games' XCOM reboot was announced. The game’s commercial prospects might improve a little, gaining extra attention from tactical strategy fans searching for something to play as they wait for an XCOM follow-up later this year. But thinking about XCOM doesn’t really make Massive Chalice look very good in comparison.

Massive Chalice should of course be judged on its own merits. But considered alone, Double Fine's latest and possibly greatest Kickstarter success already draws many drastic comparisons to its sci-fi counterpart. So with the latter game's announcement trailer fresh in one's mind, it's damn near impossible to separate the two.

(...)

Personal stories within the game form not over the course of a single character's military career, but over decades of lineage within a great house. Your armies are mostly populated by the offspring of a region's regents. If said couple is a pair of nearsighted drunkards, for example, yours will be the legend of some very clumsy heroes who protected the last vestiges of humanity in spite of themselves. You'll just never remember any of their names or specific deeds.

If the game does determine that an individual has done well for themselves, it commemorates their achievements with a "relic." These stat-boosting items can only be equipped by other members of that soldier's house, and they gain in power over time. It's certainly useful, but it's also just another example of how Massive Chalice smelts a legacy of moments into cold numbers.

Not that the combat leaves room for any terribly memorable moments anyway. Combat is a solid simulacrum of XCOM but a fair sight simpler. It's turn-based, as you'd expect, with each unit having two chances to move, sprinting, attacking, or using class-specific abilities. Hunters have a percentage chance to miss their target based on their range, while Caberjacks will always hit with at least a glancing blow.

Alchemists (the third starting class) have a limited supply of bombs to throw per encounter. They can hit multiple enemies in the blast, but there's a chance they'll throw wide or too close, missing their target completely, or even hitting your allies. Classes and their capabilities tie back to regents too. Marry an Alchemist to a reigning Hunter, for instance, and their minnows will be raised as Trickshots, with explosives-tipped arrows in their bow-zookas.

(...)

Verdict: Massive Chalice doesn't surpass XCOM: Enemy Unknown as the tactical strategy RPG of note, but it does offer a bit of the same satisfaction with a great deal less frustration. Try it.

A few more reviews for Massive Chalice, including its first rave, from Chaz Miller at Twinfinite. He gives the game a 5/5 and writes:

Where Massive Chalices's real scale hits the most is the age system. As makes sense, all of your heroes progressively grow older. They’re also mortal; whether it’s in the glory of battle, or merely wasting away on a throne, your heroes will die. If they’ve achieved enough, they may leave behind potent family relics that can be passed on to others of their house. Otherwise, their only legacy is the children they’ve left behind to carry on the family name. 

Between the far-reaching scale, the slick and intuitive combat, and the fun of raising heroes through the years, Massive Chalice brings a whole lot to the table. ... Well-made, filled with life, and enjoyable in its many facets, this is one of those rare occasions where I’ll recommend a title without condition.

Matt Whittaker at HardcoreGamer gives a 4/5:

This isn’t going to be thought of as a title that can contend with XCOM on the back of its combat alone, but managing each hero’s genetic traits adds another level of depth to an already deep genre. One of the most challenging titles to come out in quite some time [...] pick all the nits you want, Massive Chalice is incredibly engaging and that’s truly what matters.

Andrei Dumitrescu at Softpedia gives an 8.5/10 and waxes philosophical thus:

Massive Chalice is a game in which loss and time destroy everything that the player builds, a commentary on the futility of our efforts to create order in a world where entropy will at one point dominate all existence.

Well that's a bummer. But then he goes on to say:

It is also a very enjoyable mix of turn-based tactics, resource management and character development that allows players to choose their own path as they try to defend a fantasy world over the course of three centuries.

I started a runthrough myself last night, and after quickly realizing that the no-reloads Iron Mode was going to be way too depressing I restarted and found it was quite a bit of fun.

ETA: Hey, sorry for the increasing length, but there's another rave, this one from Dan Whitehead at Eurogamer. He gives no numerical score but glowingly writes:

the game ... takes a beloved genre, delivers on all the basics with aplomb and then layers the sort of smart, left-field ideas that Double Fine specialises in on top.

Slyly funny, satisfyingly deep and yet slick and simple to play, Massive Chalice is a huge return to form for a studio that is overdue a comeback.

Reviews for Broken Age are beginning to come in -- and both the ones I've seen are pretty half-hearted with their praise, both giving unflattering comparisons to XCom (which happens to be on sale today at Steam).

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell at PC Gamer gives the game a score of 75 and writes:

There’s more to Double Fine’s latest than what it gleans from XCOM, which is just as well given that it doesn’t quite glean enough to be a serious rival. In a nutshell, it’s all about the perils of badly organised sex.

Massive Chalice’s handling of character genetics is its strongest feature by far. There’s something both ugly and beautiful about how the game perverts one of XCOM’s staple sensations: the fondness players build up for the troops under their charge. As your 300-year (15-20 hour) reign wears on, you’ll come to look at heroes not with affection but the brisk eye of a cattle trader. Is it worth marrying this spindly greyhair to a 16-year-old, in hopes that he’ll crank out one last sproglet before the reaper arrives?

And Ben Reeves at Game Informer gives it an 8.0 and says:

Massive Chalice is like a well-bred animal that hasn’t been properly cared for; it might be an impressive beast if it weren’t buried beneath a layer of shag.

Playing matchmaker in Massive Chalice’s tiny kingdom is far more compelling than I ever suspected... I spent hours comparing my heroes stats, making sure they were compatible with each other and hoping to weed out genetic traits (like dimwittedness) that were making my armies weak.

While Massive Chalice isn’t much to look at, I couldn’t wait to see this century-spanning adventure through to the end... With more polish, Massive Chalice could have been one for the ages.

Double Fine announced the release date for Massive Chalice on Kickstarter. The date is set to June 1st.

Whilst we’ve got a lot of fixes and polish heading in your direction, version 1.0 won’t just be about making the game shinier, we’ve also got some final features to send your way too. 

After listening to lots and lots of useful feedback on the mid to endgame, the team has spent a considerable amount of time rebalancing the game to be more fun, fair, challenging, or punishing, depending on how you look at it. Thanks to everyone who helped us with this fine tuning, we got some invaluable feedback from you guys.

Controller support for the Steam version will also appear in 1.0, enabling you to play from the comfort of your couch with the same polished control scheme and UI navigation as the Xbox One version. We’ve added achievements into the game for all those completists out there, but probably most excitingly of all we’ll also be enabling access to Backer Relics, like the one wielded by this chap below...

In addition they also let us know that there will be a live twitch stream on release day, that they are also working on a documentary made during development of the game and they show the new box art.

Thanks Kordanor.

Double Fine sent out a short press release with information that composer/music producer Brian Trifon, and Brian Lee White will be doing the music for Massive Chalice.

Original Fantasy Game Soundtrack on iTunes February 2

Oakland, CA (January 30, 2015) - Composer duo  Brian Trifon and  Brian Lee White, aka music producers  Finishing Move, have created a unique, modern fantasy score for  Massive Chalice, the single player tactical strategy game from the creators of  Psychonauts,  Brütal Legend, and  Iron Brigade. The  Massive Chalice Original Soundtrack is now available for streaming on Soundcloud and will be released on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Google Play and Xbox Music on February 2.

The game's development team at Double Fine Productions approached Brian Trifon and Brian Lee White, best known in the recording industry as purveyors of melodic acoustic manipulation and heavy electronic synths, to create an original sound for their game that would transcend a traditional orchestral palette for a more unconventional and experimental soundtrack specific to the individual artistic vision for Massive Chalice.

"The game doesn't rely on standard fantasy tropes like elves, dwarves, or dragons and I knew that I wanted a unique soundtrack that would match the originality of the game," explains Brad Muir, Project Lead for Massive Chalice. "We relied on the music to carry a lot of the emotional weight of the game, and Finishing Move really understood what we were going for. The score quickly became the core of the game's emotional content for us as we developed the game."

Developed by Double Fine Productions, the award-winning, independent game studio founded by Tim Schafer, Massive Chalice is currently in beta for Windows, Mac, and Linux. For more information visit  http://www.massivechalice.com.

I found a new twenty five minute preview video for Massive Chalice from a site called Should You Play This Game? Anyway I still have doubts about this game.

Video preview of MASSIVE CHALICE showing options, kingdom management, heroes, research, enemies, and combat.

A written preview can also be found on the site.

Following yesterday's sad news from Double Fine, we have a new preview of Massive Chalice from Rock Paper Shotgun:

Score one for diversity in games: the realm has just been saved by a nearsighted, asthmatic, drunk lady. Marginalised wheezing pissheads rejoice! (Though do keep an inhaler and bucket close to hand.) Massive Chalice combines XCOM’s turn-based permadeath squad combat with Crusader Kings’ management of bloodlines across multiple generations, inducting heroes into a ruthless breeding program intended to foster a roster of noble characters with superior physiques. But, well, you have to work with what you’ve got and what I’ve got is a malformed, shuffling host of genetic wreckage. For the first time in games, I am among my people.

While RPS laments some of the randomization elements, they seem positive overall:

Perhaps it’s more aesthetic than mechanic, that sense of ages passing, sweeping beloved heroes into the dusty annals. When Alyx’s beleaguered liver finally packs in, she becomes nothing but a red skull icon, flying across the timeline at the top of the screen and into the past, further and further. I dearly wish the game offered some way to salute her – a statue, or one of those blue plaques. She wasn’t the toughest or the fastest. She wasn’t a sure shot or a braveheart. But she still stepped up and did her bit: truer heroism games have rarely seen.

And, by god, could she drink. You have to raise a glass to that.

Double Fine released Massive Chalice on Steam Early Access, and offers a 25% discount until November 18th, Here is the new launch trailer to go with the announcement.

MASSIVE CHALICE is a tactical strategy game set on an epic timeline from Double Fine Productions. As the Immortal Ruler of the Nation, you'll take command of its heroes, forge marriages to strengthen your Bloodlines, and battle a mysterious enemy known as the Cadence in a war lasting hundreds of years.

Double Fine announces the beta build of Massive Chalice will be available for premium backers to download October 21st, and mention a new twitch stream.

Premium Backer Beta Coming Your Way Tuesday!

The beta release of any game is a big deal and ours is just a few days away! This Tuesday, October 21st our $50+ backers will be receiving Steam keys for the MASSIVE CHALICE Premium Backer Beta! This will be the first time that you, the people that supported us from the very beginning, will be playing MASSIVE CHALICE from the comfort of your own gaming rig! :D!

Receiving Your Steam Key

On Tuesday you will receive an email from our friends at Humble Bundle with a link to your personal Humble Bundle page. You’ll be able to get your Steam key there as well as future digital backer rewards as they become available. Oh and if Tuesday comes and goes with no sign of your email and you’re positive that you backed at the $50 tier or higher (Slacker Backers included!) then make sure to contact Humble support here: https://support.humblebundle.com

Report Bugs and Provide Feedback!

This is a true beta build and there are a lot of bugs and imbalanced things running around in there! We’d love to have your help destroying these bugs and tuning the balance of the game. The MASSIVE CHALICE Steam Community page and forums won’t be live during this beta period. This is a secret time just for you guys. :D!

We’ll be collecting bugs exclusively through the MASSIVE CHALICE forums here (massivechalice.com/forums). If you don’t have an account on our forums then please head over and set one up! It only takes a minute. Once logged into the forums you’ll have a chance to talk about the game with other MASSIVE CHALICE backers, report bugs, and interact with the team directly. We’re really looking forward to your help in making MASSIVE CHALICE a better game for everyone!

Double Fine announces that the final build of Massive Chalice will be available for premium backers to download off Steam on Tuesday, October 21st.

A lot of you have been asking when you’re going to be able to play the final version of MASSIVE CHALICE now that September has come and gone. It’s going to take some more time to get you the highest quality game possible, but it’s already in a fun, playable state! We want to get it in your hands as soon as we can!

If you backed at the $50 tier (or higher!) to get in on MASSIVE CHALICE early, you’ll get access to the PC version of the game via Steam on Tuesday, October 21st! We’re referring to this build as the PREMIUM BACKER BETA!

We’re looking forward to gathering a ton of feedback from you. We’ll set up a bug thread here on the forums when we send out codes! We’re super excited to see what you guys think of the game!

It has been a while since I even looked for news about Double Fine's funded kickstarter Massive Chalice. I never even knew what it was about during the kickstarter.

Well the puzzle is solved now. Here is a new walkthrough video from Double Fine.

A tactical strategy game set on an epic timeline. As the immortal ruler of the nation, you'll take command of its heroes, forge marriages to to strengthen your bloodlines, and battle a mysterious enemy known as the cadence in a war lasting hundreds of years. Visit blog.massivechalice.com for more info!

PC Gamer also has a new hands-on preview from Pax Prime with some answers.

At first, Massive Chalice seems like a competent, post-XCOM, fantasy turn-based strategy game. That, on its own, wouldn't get me excited (especially since I always prefer lasers to swords), but Massive Chalice innovates on the parts of XCOM that got me hooked: my emotional and strategic investment in the characters I trained, equipped, and sent on missions. It raises the stakes with an intergenerational scope, where the heroes I take into battle age over time, mate with other heroes, and produce children who will fight on for the cause. When one of them dies, I'm not just losing a soldier, but a family member—or worse, an entire bloodline.

On the tactical layer it plays exactly like XCOM. The Cadence, an army of monsters, trade turns moving and attacking on a tile-grid with your forces, The Nation. Chalice even mixes some of XCOM's elite, special forces motifs into the fantasy setting. The Caberjack unit, a heavy melee character, carries a big battering ram like a medieval SWAT member. The Archers' crossbows are so big that they have to hoist them up on their shoulders and fire them like rocket launchers. The Alchemist unit serves as the explosives expert, tossing potent flasks that deal damage across an area.

Double Fine has a bunch of new updates for Massive Chalice since I last posted anything about the game. Frankly I still have no clue what this game is.

Your Bloodline Editor is Only Available for a Limited Time!

Hey MASSIVE CHALICE Backers!

We’ve got some time-sensitive info for our “Legacy Backers”! If you backed at our $100 tier or higher then we want to let you know that the Bloodline Editor is now accepting Bloodline submissions from YOU! But not forever...

Create Your Bloodline Now!

By now you should have received an email from noreply@doublefine.com that contains your PRIVATE super secret Bloodline Editor link. If you haven’t then please check your email client’s spam folder! Also be sure to check out the Bloodline Editor FAQ here.

If you still feel you haven’t received your Bloodline Editor code then please email support@doublefine.com RIGHT AWAY.

Bloodline Editor Shuts Down July 31st!

The Bloodline Editor will no longer be accepting submissions as of July 31st at midnight (Pacific)! So please make sure to get in there and create your Bloodline as soon as possible! This will give us enough time to review your Bloodline and it will allow you to make any changes based on our review, if they’re needed.

Thanks again for supporting MASSIVE CHALICE. We really want to include your creativity as part of the game! Please be sure to get your Bloodline in under the deadline!

Massive Chalice has a new post-funding update bring news of a new team stream, and changes in how the updates will be released.

The pre-production party continues! Sorry for the late notice, but due to PAX Prime we’re going to be doing Teamstream #5 TODAY, August 29th at 4PM Pacific (23:00 GMT)! Tune in to twitch.tv/doublefine where we’ll be talking about the current state of design, art, and programming of MASSIVE CHALICE. As always we’ll end with a Q&A session to let you guys tell us what’s on your mind!

PAX Prime Panel

Brad is going to be at PAX Prime this weekend! Double Fine is hosting a panel about Open Game Development on Sunday, September 1st at 3PM Pacific (22:00 GMT) in the Kraken theater featuring Greg Rice, Chris Remo, Brad, and none other than Tim Schafer himself! We’d love to have you join us as we share our thoughts about being more open with our community.

You can find more details about all of our PAX Prime activities here!

Changes to Updates

You might be wondering why we are sending this out through Kickstarter again. Well we had to do some upgrades and tweaks to our mailing list and so future updates will be coming from massivechalice@doublefine.net. Please update your spam filters, and thanks for hanging with us while we work out these kinks!

And just a reminder that if the MASSIVE CHALICE forums aren’t your thing then be sure to keep an eye on our blog here! We’ll also be posting our Teamstream on the Double Fine YouTube channel here.

Double Fine brings us the second video with some inside information on the pre-production of Second Chalice. In it Brad, Anthony and John discuss what's going on in this phase, discussing topics like new demon concept art, design pillars, task and feature planning!

You can also check out the first part here.

Gamasutra has a new interview with Brad Muir. It goes into detail about Massive Chalice and explains why the kickstarter was done the way it was.

How has the Kickstarter been treating  you mentally and emotionally?

It was like a roller coaster. Leading up to it, I was super stressed out about it. I had a lot of reservations about it. When I pitched Tim [Schafer, Double Fine president] the idea of the game, it was going to be my Amnesia Fortnight game this year. We'd prototype it, hopefully, if people vote for it. We'd been pitching Brazen for a whole year, it looked like it wasn't going to happen.

So we started talking about what we were going to do next, so I pitched him an idea for Massive Chalice. Tim was like, "Yeah, sure, that sounds pretty cool." But then later said, "Actually, that sounds really cool. I've thought about it more!" Then he said we should just Kickstart it.

I'm like, "...What? You want what?! No! We can't do that." He asked me, "Why not? We have multiple teams, we'll be open about development, be very transparent, we'll tell people I'm not working on it because I'm working on Broken Age. It'll be totally fine," he said. "It's a new IP and everyone will be excited about that."

I was still thinking, "Are you sure this is going to work?"

So the Kickstarter has already hit the target. What are you doing right now?

We were really freaking out about focusing on the campaign. We had a pipedream, that we'd be able to work on the design while we're running the campaign. But there's so much feedback and chatter.

Mostly it's awesome, because it's people who are excited about the game. But now we're just full-time running the campaign with a few people at the studio right now, focusing on that for now.

Mentally, I was still in freak-out mode up until we were well beyond the $725,000 mark. I was still freaking out! Then around $850,000, $900,000, I just remember having this moment where I woke up, and it was just like, "I don't have to pitch video games anymore! I get to make video games again! I get to focus on making a fucking video game!" That is what I get to do now, once this thing closes. We hit the goal, we put the campaign together, it worked, we got our funding! And now we're actually going to start making this video game.

It was just a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders, getting my second project off the ground. It's been a while since Iron Brigade came out -- the initial game came out two years ago, basically. And we did DLC and the PC version, so we worked on it for another six to eight months or something. But there's been nothing since then that I've really been working on -- just a lot of prototypes, pitches and all this other stuff. But now it's just about making the game.

Does it seem like tactics games are making a comeback? That new people are discovering these games?

It really does. I was studying them for a while, but it wasn't until the new XCOM game last year -- love that game, I'm a huge fan of the original and played the shit out of that game. To have a reboot that makes somebody like me happy, someone who holds the original in very high regard, and also bring in people who never played the old XCOM enjoy it [is an achievement]. And Fire Emblem: Awakening that's bringing a lot of people into strategy games and turn-based tactics.

That was kind of the thing...I didn't really think I could pitch this to publishers and have it work. But it's awesome seeing people get excited about a turn-based tactics game in the year 2013.

Would you work with publishers again?

I have to be really careful about what I say about publishers, because we're going to work with publishers again, you know? We totally will if the deal terms are alright, things look good and it makes sense to have them as a partner and they can bring stuff to the relationship. That's awesome, nothing against that.

But there's still this underground, behind-closed-doors thing that goes on with those deals and relationships. I like that we don't have to go underground for a year, then try to announce it later.

The Massive Chalice Kickstarter campaign ended at $1,229,015 out of an initial $725,000 target. It's officially funded now. Time will tell what the game will turn out to be as I have no clue at this point.

We Did It! Because of YOU!

Well backers, it’s been a wild ride! Thank you so much for making MASSIVE CHALICE a reality!

Campaign is Over

Brad sunk into a deep sleep today (some would call it a “three-day hibernation”) but he managed to record one last message before his head hit the pillow!

Reminders

Although the MASSIVE CHALICE Kickstarter is over, there are still a few things you should keep in mind:

Payment Issues

By now you should have received an email from Kickstarter saying that MASSIVE CHALICE has funded. YEAH! In that email are the details of your pledge. If there were any issues with processing your payment you have one week to fix them. Check out Kickstarter’s FAQ for more details.

Slacker Backer Options

Our Slacker Backer options are live! They’re more limited than what was offered during the Kickstarter campaign, and lack certain perks such as physical goods, extra copies, and name in the credits, all of which were intended to reward those who helped make the campaign a success. But if you have friends who missed out, spread the word! Visit massivechalice.com/back to check it out. We support payment through PayPal and Bitcoin. 

Let’s Keep the Conversation Going!

We’re all ears and would love to hear what you have to say! Head over to the MASSIVE CHALICE forums to join the conversation. www.massivechalice.com/forums

Surveys

Many of you have asked about when our rewards survey will be going out. Once we’ve finalized all the payment issues, have updated our backer database, and are ready to start shipping rewards, we’ll send out the surveys. That’s going to take some time, so we appreciate your patience! We’ll let you know when the time comes.

Massive Chalice had a few updates in the lat week. To start with I added the artwork to the games gallery on the site.  Next we have the interview and artist livestream.

Interview with John Swisshelm

Today we’ve got a an in-depth interview with MASSIVE CHALICE designer John Swisshelm. You’ve seen him on the forums and in a lot of our video content. Hopefully this video gives you some insight into his background and design inspirations!

Artist Livestream #2 - Today at 1pm Pacific (20:00 GMT)

Derek Brand, concept artist on MASSIVE CHALICE, did a great livestream last week where he worked on 4 very awesome environmental mood pieces for the game. If you missed it, you can check out the cached stream here: http://www.twitch.tv/doublefine/b/416960640

Massive Chalics has has been updated on it's kickstarter page. Not to much to say really just two videos and some E3 informaion.

XCOM’s Jake Solomon on MASSIVE CHALICE

Recently Brad and John Skyped with Jake Solomon, lead designer of XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Jake spoke about some of the challenges he encountered during the development of XCOM and how the team at Firaxis overcame them. Along with lessons learned from making a modern turn-based strategy game, Jake gave his unique perspective on the early design direction of MASSIVE CHALICE. Check it out below or on Double Fine's YouTube channel!

To see veterans like Jake back the project is super exciting for us! If you’d like to discuss this chat then head over to the forums!

Reddit AMA Tomorrow

Brad and Tim are going to be on Reddit answering questions tomorrow, June 18th starting at 11am Pacific! Keep an eye on the MASSIVE CHALICE Facebook page and the Double Fine twitter feed for more details!

Bitcoin Support

You asked for it and we listened! Our tireless web team has added another method of backing MASSIVE CHALICE by supporting Bitcoin. Head on over to www.massivechalice.com/back and select either Bitcoin or PayPal to show your MASSIVE love for MASSIVE CHALICE!

Massive Chalice has another quick update on it's kickstater page. This time it's a podcast with with John Swisshelm and Chris Remo, and a livestream video with the games Lead Artist Derek Brand.

MASSIVE CHALICE Backer Q&A Podcast

Recently Brad sat down with John Swisshelm and Chris Remo to answer questions from backers about MASSIVE CHALICE. This is a great chance to get even more insight into our design direction and influences, so grab the recording here!

http://www.doublefine.com/dfactioncast

Artist Livestream

Today at 1PM Pacific (20:00 GMT), MASSIVELY TALENTED artist Derek Brand will be livestreaming straight from his desk here at Double Fine while he works on new concept art for MASSIVE CHALICE!

http://www.twitch.tv/doublefine

Derek created the striking concept image of a hero going into battle alongside his ancestors:

And here's a new concept of a warrior that we discussed on our art commentary from the last update!

So be sure to tune in at 1PM Pacific (20:00 GMT) today to watch Derek at work!

If you can’t make the live stream you can always go here http://www.twitch.tv/doublefine/videos?kind=past_broadcasts to watch the recording.

Thanks again and have a fantastic weekend!

Sincerely,

Brad and the MASSIVE CHALICE Team :D

Massive Chalice is back with a new update that finally shows some artwork for the game.

Art Commentary with Mark Hamer

Earlier this week Brad sat down with art director Mark Hamer to discuss the current visual direction of MASSIVE CHALICE. This commentary starts with our initial reference images, then proceeds into some exploratory work, finally landing on a style that we’re really happy with. You’ve probably seen that main image a lot, but here it is again, from talented concept artist Derek Brand.

We’ve been working directly with old time friend of Double Fine and amazing freelance artist Peter Chan to help craft the world of MASSIVE CHALICE. Mark and Brad discuss Peter’s high level direction and share some techniques that Peter uses to develop the visual language of brand new worlds. We’re excited to share this in-depth look at the early exploration of the aesthetic of MASSIVE CHALICE!

Just a reminder that everything that you see in this video is still extremely early and should be considered a work in progress. The final art direction of MASSIVE CHALICE will not be fully formed for many months, and a lot of this art will not be represented in the game. But, we love open development and we really want to embrace it by sharing with you not only the final game, but also how we arrived at it. Enjoy!

Well as you know I stopped reporting on Massive Chalice due to the updates not really showing anything good. Well let me recap the new updates.

Interview with Brad: Part 1

The talented guys at 2 Player Productions interviewed Brad to find out what makes him tick. You’ll find out more about Brad beyond his work here at Double Fine and even the games industry. 

Apparently when you give Brad some bourbon aged barley wine he tends to ramble on and on. This epic—nay, MASSIVE—interview is so long, we’ll be releasing it in several parts, so stay tuned for the rest! :D!

Team Update Forum and PayPal Counter

Two small bits of miscellania for you:

We have a new MASSIVE CHALICE Team Update forum! Click here to check it out!

This is where we’ll post game update threads and other content that comes straight from us. Backers will be able to post in those threads, but not create their own threads. This makes it a little easier to keep up with official Double Fine updates and content.

And for those curious how much is being contributed by PayPal backers, We’ve added per-tier and total project counters. It’s a small number right now, but it’ll grow!

The MASSIVE CHALICE MILLION DOLLAR TEAMSTREAM

MASSIVE CHALICE just cracked $900,000 today! Thanks so much for your support!

We've had such a great time interacting with you guys on our live streams, and we have a lot more planned. But once the campaign closes we’ll need to focus more on making our own awesome game than playing a bunch of other awesome games with you guys! :D!

We’d love to keep doing them, though, so we ran an idea by the higher-ups. If we raise over $1,000,000—and we’re so close!—we feel like we'll have enough budgetary breathing room to commit to a solid schedule of streaming. And so, we present to you the...

We'll play more great games that inspire us, show MASSIVE CHALICE concept art as it develops, answer your questions, and once the game itself starts to take shape we’ll be able to start sharing that with you as well! If we hit a million, we’ll do this every other week on a dedicated live stream from Double Fine HQ. We'll take questions from the stream and get you guys even more involved in the development of MASSIVE CHALICE! 

Thanks for your support and thanks for helping spread the word so that we can get to ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

Why is it called news roundup well that's because I have three news story's about the game. It's easier to put them together. Here we go.

Kickstarter Update# 5

New Languages

Now that we've cleared our goal by a significant amount we’re super pumped to announce that in addition to English, we’ll be able to translate MASSIVE CHALICE to French, Italian, German and Spanish (EFIGS)! We want to make sure that MASSIVE CHALICE can be played by as many people as possible and supporting EFIGS is a great step in that direction!

PayPal Support

We've been listening to those of you who want to support MASSIVE CHALICE but can't do it through Kickstarter for a variety of reasons. We hear you! Our web team has been working hard to support PayPal payments for new potential backers. Head on over to http://www.massivechalice.com/back to make a pledge through PayPal! We appreciate the support! :D

Finally, Fantasy Tactics!

We showed XCOM a lot of love earlier this week with a two-hour-plus live stream. It was a ton of fun and we answered a lot of questions that people have about MASSIVE CHALICE. Click here in case you missed it! 

Now we're turning our eyes to one of the other major inspirations for MASSIVE CHALICE: the amazing PS1 classic Final Fantasy Tactics from Square. We'll be going live at 4pm Pacific Time (11pm GMT), so click here and join us if you can!  

And just a reminder that if you can't make it live you can always watch any of our previous streams right here!

PressplayTV Video Interview

Brad Muir talks about Double Fine's upcoming tactical strategy game, Massive Chalice. Points discussed are space elevators, blood relics, "Roid Demons" and more!

RPS has a new editorial article called "How Kickstarter Got Gay Marriage Into Massive Chalice."

In Double Fine’s Massive Chalice, heroes follow one of (videogame) life’s most well-worn paths: fight demons, fight demons, fight demons. But these heroes age, and their blood slowly ceases its boiling. They grow old and begin to seek out someone else to warm their weary bones. Also, to birth and raise the most powerful combat babies in all the realm because, you know, demons. Still, it’s a rather traditionally minded system at heart, so I had to ask: where do gay couples enter the picture, if at all? Massive Chalice lead Brad Muir was honest: that issue totally slipped his mind… at first. But then Kickstarter backers swooped in to save the day. Hurrah! It is, however, an ending that Muir doesn’t think would’ve been quite so happy had a traditional publisher been in the mix.

Massive Chalice is back with update number three. This time it's a video talking about the design of the game.

Design Chat

We’ve got a special treat for you today: a lengthy video from 2 Player Productions documenting an early design conversation between Brad and MASSIVE CHALICE designer John Swisshelm. As you’ll see in the video, we’re pretty early on in the development of MASSIVE CHALICE—still in pre-production to be exact! This is a really exciting time for the project, as it’s all about defining what the game is and what features we’re going to strive to include.

We’re generating new ideas at a ridiculous pace, and now that we’re actively talking with the community about the game we’re getting even more awesome ideas. The great part about involving you guys at this early stage is that it’s much more likely for your voice to be heard. We’re putting all of the backers’ ideas together with ours into a big melting pot. In some cases, your ideas are even better than ours! This is a great time to chime in with your feedback on MASSIVE CHALICE. What’s the coolest game feature you can think of that’s inspired by the Epic Timeline? We want to know! :D!

As we approach the start of production in the coming months we’ll be whittling this list down into something that fits within the scope of our budget. The more money we raise, the more resources we can use for developing these great ideas. So please continue to help spread the word and help us make MASSIVE CHALICE the amazing game we all want it to be! And now, I present you with some of our current thoughts on the design!

Audio Stream

If you don’t have time to watch the chat then how about just listening to it?! We’ve also provided an mp3 version so you can listen on the go! You can grab that here!

Twitch XCOM: EU Stream

We had a blast answering MASSIVE CHALICE questions and interacting with the community during our XCOM: Enemy Unknown playthrough on Twitch.tv yesterday! If you missed the event or just need more Brad in your life, you can still watch the playthrough here.

E3 is right around the corner and we’ve got more updates coming your way! Thank you so much for your continued support—be sure to join the conversation over at the MASSIVE CHALICE forums here!

Massive Chalice has a new update available on it's kickstarter page. Still no info or videos for gameplay yet. They promise it's coming soon we shall see.

XCOM Live Stream

Hey everyone! Brad and John will be playing XCOM: Enemy Unknown live, today at 4 PST! http://www.twitch.tv/doublefine 

We’ll be talking about why XCOM is one of the key inspirations for MASSIVE CHALICE. We are also going to take plenty of questions from the chat about our current design direction. And If you can’t make the live stream you can always watch the cached video on our page! :D!

Press

There have been some great articles written about MASSIVE CHALICE that not only feature Brad’s sparkling mug but also some deeper information about the game’s design! Check out the articles here:

Polygon

IGN

GamesIndustry.biz

Kotaku

We have more updates coming including some revealing chats with some of the people on MASSIVE CHALICE! Thanks again for your support and be sure to check out all the discussions happening on the MASSIVE CHALICE forums (here)!

Double Fine posted a new update for Massive Chalice. The game is already funded with 22 days left.

Stretch Goals

A lot of people have asked us about stretch goals. MASSIVE CHALICE is still in the pre-production phase of development. We’ve got a TON of ideas around Double Fine HQ that sound awesome, but as with every game, not every idea can make it through production. And now that we’ve announced the game and shared the idea with you guys, we have another TON of ideas! So that’s two tons of ideas we’re trying to fit into a modest budget!

The exciting thing about taking the game to you guys at this early stage is that some of your ideas are even better than ours. As we go through pre-production into production, some of these ideas are going to trump ours, leading to a game that’s more in line with what our community wants! That’s amazing and we love having you involved in the process!

Ultimately it’s about making the best game possible with the total amount we receive. We’ll be using any amount of extra funding to add new features and iterate on the ideas generated not just by us, but by you—the community!

Thanks Again!

We’re incredibly humbled by your outpouring of love for MASSIVE CHALICE! We’re really excited to have the opportunity to make this game a reality with your support and input. Thank you so much! :D!

Massive Chalice has it's first update, but it's more of a thank you messsage really. As of right now the project made $624,013 of $725,000 with 25 days to go.

Hello MASSIVE CHALICE Backers!

Wooooo! :D! From the moment we launched the MASSIVE CHALICE Kickstarter it has been crazy around here. We are blown away by your support. The MASSIVE CHALICE team and all of Double Fine can’t thank you enough. You are all so very beautiful! :D!

The response has been overwhelming and you guys are asking a ton of great questions. We’ve added a FAQ to the Kickstarter page so please check there first—there’s a good chance someone might have asked your question already! The FAQ is located at the very bottom of the page. If you still can’t find a good answer, feel free to send a message. We’re answering as fast as we can, but there’s a big backlog, so please be patient and we’ll get to you ASAP.

We’ve also got some great updates coming your way! Next week look out for a video of Brad and MASSIVE CHALICE designer John Swisshelm talking about the current state of the design and where it’s heading. If Brad’s dashing smile doesn’t put you in a trance, John’s melodious voice surely will!

Okay that’s it for now, but we can’t wait to talk more about MASSIVE CHALICE! Spread the word!

Double Fine started another kickstarter called Massive Chalice. The game already made $475,325 of it's $725,000 goal with 27 days left.

If turn-based tactics and feudal fantasy had a lovechild, and that offspring founded a mighty century-spanning dynasty, it would be MASSIVE CHALICE.

With your help, MASSIVE CHALICE will become a reality—forged by Double Fine with our 3D in-house Buddha Engine and unleashed on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

We're inspired by classic tactical strategy games like X-COM, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Fire Emblem, as well as Game of Thrones’ array of noble families. With these influences in mind we’re creating an epic, replayable turn-based tactics game where you train generations of heroes to repel a demonic invasion.

And with Kickstarter, we can do it. We have a great concept and team ready to go, and we want to work closely with our community to control the future of MASSIVE CHALICE free from outside interference.

MASSIVE CHALICE is a single player turn-based tactics game within a multi-generational strategy campaign built for replayability.

As an immortal King or Queen, you must unite your kingdom under a powerful dynasty, eliminate the demonic threat, and reforge the MASSIVE CHALICE!

The game is structured into two main layers: strategy and tactics. In the strategy layer, you oversee your kingdom, arrange royal marriages, conduct research, and make the far-reaching decisions that will determine the fate of your legacy.

In the tactics layer, you fight brutal turn-based battles to defend your kingdom using small squads of customizable heroes.

Permadeath is inevitable: your heroes will grow, age, and eventually die. You'll have to choose between keeping your favorite heroes on the battlefield or retiring them from combat to foster a new generation of warriors.

Drawing from roguelikes we love, content is modular and randomized. Each playthrough begins with a random assortment of male and female heroes from various bloodlines, guaranteeing that each game is unique. Your knowledge and skill will increase over multiple playthroughs, but the details of every game will change based on your decisions and the whims of fate.

Core Game Features

• Your story emerges as you defend against attacks, complete quests, and respond to randomized events in your attempt to preserve the kingdom.

• Line of sight and fog of war mechanics come into play as your squad explores beautiful dynamic 3D battlefields where danger may lurk behind any corner.

• Distinct, customizable heroes learn new melee, ranged, and arcane abilities as they age and gain combat experience.

• Arrange marriage alliances to ensure your heroic bloodlines can handle any future combat situation.