The Hexadome: Aristeia Showdown is our first game, the first project of our studio. We’re putting so much love into it, so much care, that it gets very easy to get stuck in analysis paralysis where you ponder the pros and cons of everything for ages.
I think we can safely say that the process of naming our game took us longer than the process of rebooting the game’s gameplay. I’ve stopped counting the discussions, heated debates, brainstorming sessions. We went through many stages to name the game. Here are a few of them:
[h3]Stage 1: Be happy and feel like you have everything figured out.[/h3]
Our video game being inspired by an existing license, Aristeia, and based in the Infinity Universe, we figured that keeping its original name would do the trick. We don’t need to think about it, we have other things to focus on, let’s move on!
[h3]Stage 2: Realize that it’s not going to do the trick after all.[/h3]
Branding wise, it didn’t make sense to name it the same as the game it’s inspired by. Or did it? The team was split in two:
- The ones who felt like simply naming the game “Aristeia” would be a nice homage, it’s also catchy, unique, and as a bonus, starting with the letter “A” puts you on top of lists.
- The ones who felt like it could be misleading to players who would find two games under the same name, negatively impacting the referencing on search engines.
[h3]Stage 3: Define what you want.[/h3]
We wanted it to be short and memorable, – yes, yes, we know, our game name is long, more about that later, keep reading – a name that you can easily remember, pronounce, spell. We soon realized that unfortunately, many anglophone people we spoke to had trouble pronouncing “Aristeia”, let alone spelling it. But we liked that name! What should we do?
[h3]Stage 4: Brainstorm. And when we’re done, brainstorm some more. [/h3]
So many ideas, so many names pitched, so many vetoes. We wanted our game name to have everything:
- A catchy name that makes it clear that it’s a turn-based tactics game.
- A name that sounds like an epic show.
- A name that is unique yet easy to remember.
We had a list of about a hundred names, and we were stuck with it for months. Our teaser reveal date was approaching fast and still no decision was made. We realized that by trying to be catchy and original, we might have overthought the whole game name thing, and that the answer might be right in front of us.
In our universe, the Hexadome is where the action takes place. It feels grandiose, it feels important, it’s THE place to be if you want to see your favorite champions engage in epic combats. It’s easy to pronounce and it works in many languages. It has the “Hex”, typical of tactical games. It as the “Dome”, hinting at where the action is going to take place. The domain names are available. No other game is named like that.
We decided to add a subtitle even though it goes against the “make it short” rule, because we wanted to add a clear link between our game and the license it’s based on, without making it the main focus. And there you have it – The Hexadome: Aristeia Showdown was born.
In the end, we know that players will rename the game the way they like it best, and as a matter of fact, our community already simply calls it “Hexadome”, which we love. We wish good luck to all game devs struggling with naming their game, and we to all turn-based tactics game fans, we say: see you in The Hexadome!
[h3]Stay in the loop!
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Cutscene prototype of 8-Ball giving visibility to a sponsor
Prototype of the choice of bonuses given by sponsors
Cheer Gauge and Consumables - UI is FAR from being final ;)