The Indie Informer

PAX East was a raucous event, and buried within the booths near the center of the convention hall, The Hexadome: Aristeia Showdown was described to me in an elevator pitch as Overwatch meets XCOM. It’s an instantly evocative combination and one that could not better explain the upcoming competitive game.

The Hexadome: Aristeia Showdown spins the aforementioned concepts together into a futuristic sports setting, where two teams of four Champions battle it out on a hexagonal grid for the delight of the fans in the stadium. The goal is to get a team member into a scoring zone before the end of the round. However, they must be the only ones to occupy the space, or else the zone moves without a team earning any points. 

As I stumbled through the tutorial missions, I spoke with Alison Auzias, brand manager at Blindspot Games. She told me about the history of developing The Hexadome: Aristeia Showdown, which originally started as a faithful digital client for the Aristeia tabletop game. However, as the game was coming together, not everything translated from paper into digital as hoped. So, instead of aiming for a one-for-one recreation, Blindspot pivoted and leaned into using the property’s dynamic roster and making a more fun video game. The game still has a ways to go, but what was available to play was quite fun.

Much like Overwatch, players take turns moving their characters strategically around the board and using their unique abilities to get a leg up on the competition. Once I learned the basics of movement, turn order, scoring, and attacking, I was introduced to the complexities of the game, which really piqued my interests.

Some Champions, like the armored behemoth Maximus, fulfill the tank’s role, allowing them to take more of a beating and shove opponents out of their positions. Others, like the cyber cat girl, Gata, are more agile and cover more distance on the board. Some Champions utilize ranged weapons and magic, while others get up close and personal. The bulk of competitors can even stop smaller characters when moving through the next hex over. Like any other hero-centric game, putting together a good team is needed to perform at a high level.

On top of team composition, the turn-by-turn tactics have nuanced details throughout, and you’re also aiming to give the crowd a good show. Making spectacular moves earns a resource called Cheers that can be spent on explosive abilities. Your team’s sponsor will drop items around the arena that can either help or hurt anyone who lands on that space. The Hexadome has layers upon layers of factors to consider, and while that can be a bit overwhelming, it’s not impossible to learn after giving the systems some time to sink in.

A couple of days later, I dragged Axe of the Blood God and Destructoid’s Eric Van Allen to be my unsuspecting victim in an actual match of The Hexadome. Unfortunately for me, Eric cut his teeth immediately on the advanced challenges available in the demo and breezed through them, impressing the dev team. I was in trouble.

The match was tight. I gathered a team anchored by Maximus and supported by characters like the sniper specialist Major Lunah, while Eric drafted a team led by a scarlet witch (no relation) called Hexx3r and the self-healing Señor Massacre. We each scored points in the opening rounds. I focused on downing his team to keep them out of action for a couple of turns, while Eric was actually two steps ahead of me the whole time. When it all came down to the last turns of the final round of the game, my team was ousted from the scoring zone, as Massacre from team Van Allen smugly strutted into the goal to take the win.

Each turn had my brain firing on all cylinders. I had fun puzzling out every move, trying to position my team for the coming rounds, and considering how to achieve my immediate goals simultaneously. Blindspot was sure to mention The Hexadome: Aristeia Showdown is far from finished, but despite the early state of the game, there’s a great foundation to build on. 

The studio has now started a monthly beta test, inviting players to check out the game and give the team vital feedback before taking the title to Early Access later this year. To request the chance to play in future betas, check out The Hexadome’s Steam page.