Despite attempts to topple the king of the mountain, the Civilization series remains the crown jewel of the 4X genre. There may be better games released, but nearly every 4X strategy game is compared to the classic series. News that veterans of past Civilization games are working on a new IP, a historical 4X grand strategy game, is always big news; the upcoming 10 Crowns from Mohawk Games is exactly that.
Publisher Starbreeze has announced a partnership with Mohawk Games to release 10 Crowns, which promises a historical, dynasty-driven strategy game with major innovations to the genre. Mohawk Games has the chops to make promises like this: they previously released the excellent Offworld Trading Company, and with Civilization IV lead designer Soren Johnson and Civilization V Art Director Dorian Newcomb, the design pedigree is definitely there.
Johnson had this to say about the publishing deal with Starbreeze: “Everyone here at Mohawk is very excited to work with Starbreeze on 10 Crowns, going back to our game development roots to make a classic historical 4X strategy game with some important and radical innovations to the genre. I look forward to sharing more about the design with the strategy game community and involving them in development as early as possible.”
Starbreeze CEO Bo Andersson-Klint was also excited about the project, stating:
“As an avid Civilization IV fan and gamer, I couldn’t be more excited about 10 Crowns promise of refreshing the classic strategy genre. I’m greatly looking forward to working with Mohawk on the game.”
Will 10 Crowns dethrone the king of the 4X genre? We do not have a ton to go on yet, as the game is only in prototyping development stage, but we will be watching this one closely. Check out a few more examples of concept art to get a sense of the scale and style of the game below.