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Prismata

A perfect-information strategy game inspired by RTS, deckbuilders, and board games. Choose from three distinct technology classes and outwit your foes by snowballing your starting resources into a powerful cybernetic army. ABSOLUTELY NO PAY-TO-WIN.

All Reviews:

Very Positive (1,186) - 81% of the 1,186 user reviews for this game are positive.

Release Date:

Mar 8, 2018

Developer:

Lunarch Studios

Publisher:

Lunarch Studios

	Interface	Full Audio	Subtitles
English	✔	✔	✔

Early Access Game

Get instant access and start playing; get involved with this game as it develops.

Note: Games in Early Access are not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development. Learn more

What the developers have to say:

Why Early Access?

“At long last, after more than three quarters of a decade in development, Prismata has made its way to Steam Early Access!

Prismata is the first title in a genuinely new genre of strategy game. Prismata's original design was extremely experimental, and it took years of refining, testing, and iterating to bring that design to a high level of balance and polish. Steam Early Access represents the final phase of this long period of feedback-driven development as we add a large amount of new content (missions and units) to the game.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“Prismata is essentially a complete game already—with competitive multiplayer, single player challenges, puzzles, bots, blitz mode, events, and more.

However, the game's single player campaign is still in development and is being released episodically. As of August 2019, chapters 1-3 have been released, with chapter 4 shipping in the fall. Once all 5 chapters are out, we'll transition from "Early Access" to "Full Release".”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“As Prismata's core feature set has already been fully implemented, we expect that Early Access updates will mostly consist of new content, small changes to the game software, and small balance tweaks if needed. A major planned new feature is the addition of a "battle pass".

We also regularly add new units, skins, emotes, events, and quality-of-life improvements to the game's interface, graphics, and sound.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“All of the features listed below in the 'About This Game' section are already fully implemented.

Prismata has undergone continuous alpha testing since late 2014, so we've had years to iron out all the major bugs and optimize usability within the core game. During that time, millions of games were played on the Prismata servers with a relatively low number of crashes and around 99.9% server uptime.”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“We offer two versions of Prismata:

The Founder's Edition (available now), containing the full 5-episode single-player story campaign and many other features.
The Lite Edition, a free-to-play version of the game with substantially less single player content.

We don't plan to increase the price of the Founder's Edition during or after Early Access.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“Most of the changes we made to Prismata during our alpha period came as the result of player feedback, and we expect that the trend will continue during Early Access.

There are many ways you can reach us, including our Discord server, Steam Forums, and subreddit. Lunarch Studios founder Elyot Grant also regularly streams on Twitch; Q&A and suggestions are always welcome.

Additionally, you can report bugs, request features, and make balance suggestions right from inside the Prismata software itself! Each and every piece of in-game feedback you submit goes directly to our inboxes and we read them all!

We're extremely grateful to all of our alpha and Early Access players for their valuable feedback!”

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Reviews

“Prismata is incredible. It’s like a war between RTS build orders, in card form. Genius.”
Jerry "Tycho Brahe" Holkins, founder of Penny Arcade

“A unique and brilliant blend of the strategy found in deck building card games and real time strategy games.”
Indiegames

“It’s impressively fair. Lunarch Studios have stuck to their guns on not selling advantages. I recommend strategy fans give it a try, partly as it defies easy description and mostly because it’s very clever.”
Rock Paper Shotgun

About This Game

Prismata's new free-to-play edition is radically fair, featuring no card packs, no grinding, and absolutely no pay-to-win. We steadfastly refuse to sell items that provide advantages in competitive multiplayer. Instead, you can support us by purchasing cosmetics or premium single-player content. Thank you!

Prepare yourself for the ultimate strategy game.

Prismata—the gripping debut from Lunarch Studios—radically redefines the strategy genre by combining elements of real-time strategy, card games, and tabletop strategy games to create something entirely new and unique.

Competing against other humans or ruthlessly efficient AI, you'll plan devastating attacks through a series of quick-fire turns. Will you outwit your opponents by striking at the perfect moment? Or will you fall victim to a devious trap?

Game Modes

Campaign: an enthralling 40-mission story-based single player adventure
Casual Match: play friendly games against other humans or one of 30 different AI personalities
Combat Training: over 50 hand-crafted puzzles and scenarios dripping with fascinating strategy insights
Ranked Play: get paired against opponents of similar skill and compete for a spot on the leaderboards
Custom Games: play bots or friends with fully editable unit pools, time controls, handicaps, AI difficulty, and more
Expert Challenge: ultra-difficult mission variants for players seeking extreme challenges
Event Mode: heart-pounding blitz brawl tourneys and crazy mode-of-the-week events with prizes

The Story

Hundreds of years in the future, humans have engineered a prosperous new civilization on the distant planet Beacon, where the sun never sets. Meanwhile, the planet's frigid dark side has been colonized by an enigmatic faction of intelligent machines that threaten humanity with conflict.

In these new cybernetic times, human soldiers are obsolete. Instead, warfare is conducted swiftly with massive armies of robots. The Swarmwielders—human commanders of these mechanical forces—are the defenders of society, training relentlessly for the day when the machines strike again. However, when their own robots start to mysteriously malfunction, the humans find themselves endangered by something much closer than the machines lurking beyond the fringe.

Features

State-of-the-art enemy AI created by Professor David Churchill, winner of the 2013 StarCraft AI competition
A custom replay browser where you can watch, share, and analyze game replays
New Prismata units added regularly, each with a unique role and purpose in combat
100+ Steam Achievements to unlock
Real-time spectator mode: watch live matches featuring top players
Absolutely zero pay-to-win—no card packs to open; all units are free for all players
Over 500 customizable emotes and 250 awesome unit skins to collect
No randomness! Your fate is determined by your skill alone
Over 100 trillion unique gameplay scenarios, each with a different optimal strategy to discover

Gameplay

In Prismata, you’ll collect resources, create workers and technologies, assemble an all-conquering army, and trade blows with your opponent until one of you is obliterated. Prismata blends elegant turn-based mechanics with the tactical decision-making elements that are at the heart of real-time strategy games.

Featuring simple and intuitive economic and combat systems, Prismata is incredibly easy to learn. However, no two Prismata matches are ever the same. Every game, players get a new pool of extra buildable units that must be used to their fullest potential. There are always new builds to plan and discover, and new threats to respond to. Each battle is fresh and unique.

Containing no pre-built decks, random advantages, or luck-of-the-draw moments, Prismata’s cat-and-mouse duels celebrate quick-fire tactics, deep thinking, and decisive strategy. Will you execute a perfectly-timed attack, or will you build up a monstrous economy and overpower your opponent with a massive army?

Testimonials from supporters and Kickstarter backers:

"Almost nothing comes close to achieving this level of polish, depth, and replayability."

- Kevin "qxc" Riley, retired StarCraft pro-gamer and game designer

"This game is unbelievable. Someone said it’s like Magic the Gathering meets Chess meets Starcraft and they weren't lying."
- Paradox Gaming Network

"Full skill, full focus, no RNG. It is beautiful!"
- Adrian "Lifecoach" Koy, Hearthstone and Gwent professional

"It's so good. I wake up and I'm like 'Yes, I get to play this game again.' I love it."
- Frederick "Freddybabes" Bird, Gwent Challenger, Open, and Slam champion

"I'm over-the-top addicted. Best game I've ever played."
- Mike "Timex" McDonald, poker professional

"A game I have been looking for all my life."
- Steel_hs

"One of the most intricate, well-thought-out, and best games I have ever played... the first and only game of its unique genre."
- Rachenite

"More worthwhile than any other game."
- Aetherllama

"Truly unique in its ability to refine RTS and card game themes down to the core strategic decisions without the RNG or APM."
- DiamondGP

"Finally, a card game that removes the ‘luck’ aspect."
- hepcecob

"When I start Prismata, it feels like my inner child is opening a bottomless toy box that's always holding something new and exciting."
- daxtrax

"I honestly feel like a genius after I play a good game."
- DDarkray

"Prismata is very approachable, yet there's always more to learn."
- zihkrihk

"I'm a filthy casual and I love playing a quick competitive game."
- RupertE

"10/10 strategy game! Phenomenal concept, unlimited replay value."
- 4nonym0u5

"Why did I even bother with those other games."
- arisuMizuki

"I feel fortunate to live in the age of Prismata—the best game I've ever played."
- Gameking511

"No mortal has 400 real APM. That's why we play Prismata, and leave StarCraft to the demigods."
- jrkirby

"If you ever thought you'd be great at StarCraft if only you had the APM, now you can prove it."
- Lenor4ever

"After 3 years and 11,000 games, I'm still innovating new strategies, and I don't expect that to ever stop."
- Apooche

"Prismata is the best thing that ever happened to me."
- Arkanishu

"It's as good as they say."
- Naitso

System Requirements

Windows

macOS

Minimum:

OS *: Windows 7 or later
Processor: 2.33GHz or faster x86-compatible processor, or Intel Atom 1.6GHz or faster processor
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: 0.5GB VRAM
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 800 MB available space
Additional Notes: *Extremely* old (2006 or earlier) graphics chipsets may not support the hardware graphics acceleration used by Prismata. In this case, the game's performance may be reduced.

* Starting January 1st, 2024, the Steam Client will only support Windows 10 and later versions.