It seems that once you are done being one of the high-ranking developers of a Civilization game, you suddenly feel the need to take that experience and set off on your own journey to create something new and exciting for the strategy genre. After working on Civilization IV, Soren Johnson set out to make the criminally overlooked RTS Offworld Trading Company. Civilization II‘s designer Brian Reynolds went on to create the Rise of Nations series. And now, Civilization V‘s designer Jon Shafer has stepped out on his own to leave his mark on the strategy genre with At the Gates.
Like most other 4X games, At the Gates constantly lives in the shadow of the Civilization series. But in that shadow, it manages to retain an indie feel while addressing many of the issues I’ve come to have with the Civilization series over the years and carve its own identity.
Source: Destructoid Review: Jon Shafer’s At the Gates