High Iron Studios

08/04/2021

03/31/2021

Early look at the Bellwether prototype board layout...

03/26/2021

Here are some early mock-ups of potential game card layouts and breakdowns for the initial card set.

Card back is by Richard Allstree (1675) and card art is by Eugene Isabey (1836).

03/19/2021

BELLWETHER: VAST AND ENDLESS SEA

Slated for a 2021 digital release (Steam Early Access), Bellwether:Vast and Endless Sea is a “Ship of the Line”, open-world, deck-building card game for PC where players assume the role of naval officers in a fictional Europe during the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815).

With gameplay inspired by Iron Crown Enterprises’ 1995 Middle Earth CCG and open-game adventures akin to those of the great sea-faring novels by C. S. Forester (Hornblower) and Douglas Reeman (Bilitho), players will build decks of crew, officers, and items and then plot a course to unlock cards from the set's game deck.

Cards will feature forgotten maritime art pieces of the period (teaser image: Aivazovsky Konstantinovich’s “Wrath of the Seas”, 1886).

More coming soon, and you can join the game's Discord is here: https://discord.gg/TTuEnkSnqv

02/26/2021

New year, new office, new game, new opportunity...

I finished moving into the new office in Lodi this week 🥶. (few pics below). A quick nine minute drive from the farm, it has some nice walking paths, a big conference room, and a small bakery just across the street.

I stepped away from High Iron back in 2017, taking a break to learn more about what I was doing and explore some other opportunities. Four years later I'm very glad to be back, with a bit more clarity on how to do this game dev thing.

The boxes are unpacked, and it's time to get the forges relit and get this ship rolling!

12/30/2020

A quick peak at "Bellwether", the new expandable card game (ECG) prototype now in development at the studio. Slated for a 2021 digital release, it is a "Ship of the Line" deckbuilding adventure game set in a fantasy 1700s Europe.

12/02/2020

We're back! New game in production, using all we have learned in our time away. More news soon :)

06/28/2018

Pardon the Dust.

We are currently away…..learning how to build solid game teams, establish strong client relationships, properly scope project deliverables, forecast financials, negotiate contracts, pitch to investors, and deliver quality products on a schedule.

So, no worries. That dust is bits of suck that are being sandblasted away.