Open, Pour: Massive Chalice Out In Early Access

I wouldn't pay £17.24 to have a got at a work-in-progress giant cup. A wad of wet clay flapping about on a wheel and the constant risk of a spectral Patrick Swayze? I certainly wouldn't drink out of that. Massive Chalice, however, is something I might consider paying for an early look at. (Do you see what I did there?) Double Fine's lineage-o-turn-based-strategy launched into Early Access this week, letting all and sundry command armies and make babies to carry on the fight. Our Alec dubbed it "SEXCOM!" after playing an earlier build last month, the wag. Sure, I'll play SEXCOM.

Massive Chalice is about a long war, a war so long that natural deaths of old age are as much a problem as casualties from your turn-based battling. You'll need to make generation after generation of warriors to keep the war going, carefully partnering them so their offspring carry certain traits. Look, here are some of the other, perhaps more informative words Alec had to say:

This is a game with substance and a heraldic warriors concept it doesn't treat lightly. It is lacking something in its current, early form – there's a starkness to it, both in tone and in the limited choices you can make in battle – but at the same time I think this is the most promising horse in the DF stable right now.

If you're interested in seeing how it develops, Massive Chalice is on Steam Early Access now for £17.24, thanks to a launch discount. It'll go up to £22.99 on Tuesday. I'm still a little wary after what happened with Spacebase DF-9, mind.