The Game Design Round Table Civ Series 13 - Rogue Hex with Reed Erlandson
Feb 24, 2026
Reed Erlandson, designer of Rogue Hex and now a combat designer at Larian, talks game design and indie development. He explains Rogue Hex’s hex-based roguelite 4X deckbuilding, why deckbuilding tightens 4X turns, and how pacing, fragile cards, and barbarians shape tension. Reed also reflects on scope, post-launch updates, and learning to code to deepen design.
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Single Barbarian Foe Creates Continuous Pressure
- Rogue Hex replaces many peer civ opponents with a single advancing barbarian enemy to change tension dynamics.
- The barbarians continually pressure the player and advance eras, creating a survival-like opponent that shapes pacing.
Repeatable 'Pick Three' Motif Drives Emergent Builds
- Reed leaned into roguelike randomness and 'here's three pick one' offers as a repeatable motif to encourage improvisation.
- Community suggestions (e.g., scouts getting picks from ruins) guided him to expand that motif across systems.
Leader Choices Aim To Encourage Improvisation
- Reed prefers emergent play and jazz-like improvisation, so leaders grant unique win paths but he wanted pivotable strategies too.
- He initially locked leaders to unique victories (Tesla, Siddhartha) then opened conquest as well after player feedback.