20 Things You Didn't Know About Gears Of War
3. Gears Tactics Started As A Board Game
The new Gears Tactics title takes the series away from its standard
third-person shooter format, instead playing as an XCOM-esque strategy game controlling your own Gears squad in turn-based combat.
To brainstorm this game, the developers first decided to put Gears Tactics into paper form. Back in 2017, associate creative director Steve Venezia was using the office printer to create a table-top experience for Gears of War.
Utilising one large map, and miniatures from an old copy of the Gears of War: The Board Game, Venezia and publishing design lead Tyler Bielman devised how Gears Tactics would appear and run for players. They did not want the game to feel like a rip-off of other strategy video games already on the market.
It's a fascinating approach to game design and one that's paid off, with the game briefly becoming the top-selling game on Steam a day before release.