I'll take this one as well (not sure if Leo's played much Artifact):

The games are totally different from a gameplay design perspective to the point that it's kinda hard to compare them. I think the most standout thing they have in common is a very high skill ceiling.

If I had to pick one difference, I'd say that Mythgard emphasizes tactical gameplay while Artifact is oriented somewhat more towards the strategic. That said, tactics is still extremely important in Artifact and strategy is similarly very important to being successful at Mythgard.

Part of that difference in feel probably comes from the turn structure of the games, where Mythgard has each player take multiple actions during their turn. But on a more fundamental level, the low-level background RNG in Artifact (which, to be clear, I personally take no issues with as a player), changes how players approach the game. I think sequencing errors are more immediately punished in Mythgard, whereas in Artifact, mistakes can be obscured a bit by the RNG.

That said, I'm not a high-level player of either game: this is purely from the perspective of a game designer, and it wouldn't be surprising if skilled players feel differently.

Oh, I guess the other completely obvious thing is that we have a policy of communicating with the players, while Valve takes the exact opposite approach with respect to Artifact.

(edit) One more thing - Mythgard has 2v2, which is crazy fun, especially for people who want to approach the game from a looser, more casual, mindset. When I first heard about Artifact and its three board setup, I totally though that it would be a 3v3 game!

I'll leave Leo to answer most of the questions on the podcast, but this one is a bit personal, so I'll answer it here.

I get almost no sleep most nights worrying about whether or not this game will succeed. I wouldn't characterize it as fear exactly - thankfully I'm a pretty great engineer living in the Silicon Valley, so I won't starve if it all goes south. But I've convinced my friends to come work on this dream project with me, and they've all taken pay cuts and devoted a couple years of their lives to try to make this happen. I've put in a huge chunk of my (and my wife's) savings into funding this project (and, I assume, paxton's contribution has been a similarly substantial part of his savings), and gotten additional funding from friends and family as well.

So, yeah, in that respect it's scary.

But at the same time, I'm weirdly confident that we have a good chance to succeed where so many others have failed. I've been working in games my entire career (25 years now), and I've seen a lot of what makes a successful studio and what doesn't. I've been lucky enough to work with some pretty great teams over that span, making some of the most lauded games of all time, and without a doubt the Rhino Games dev team is the highest caliber group of people of them all. We planned for this for a long time, and attacked a genre that we're familiar with, passionate about, and where, frankly, we saw a huge need.

We plan on staying communicative with our players, constantly working to improve the game, and eventually, over time, making sure that every single aspect of it is better than anything any of our competitors has to offer. So, even though it's impossible not to be worried, I'm not really afraid. I think the game is really good, and over the next year or so, with the support of our players, it's going to become truly incredible.

Hope that answers your question!

I'll leave Leo to answer most of the questions on the podcast, but this one is a bit personal, so I'll answer it here.

I get almost no sleep most nights worrying about whether or not this game will succeed. I wouldn't characterize it as fear exactly - thankfully I'm a pretty great engineer living in the Silicon Valley, so I won't starve if it all goes south. But I've convinced my friends to come work on this dream project with me, and they've all taken pay cuts and devoted a couple years of their lives to try to make this happen. I've put in a huge chunk of my (and my wife's) savings into funding this project (and, I assume, paxton's contribution has been a similarly substantial part of his savings), and gotten additional funding from friends and family as well.

So, yeah, in that respect it's scary.

But at the same time, I'm weirdly confident that we have a good chance to succeed where so many others have failed. I've been working in games my entire career (25 years now), and I've seen a lot of what makes a successful studio and what doesn't. I've been lucky enough to work with some pretty great teams over that span, making some of the most lauded games of all time, and without a doubt the Rhino Games dev team is the highest caliber group of people of them all. We planned for this for a long time, and attacked a genre that we're familiar with, passionate about, and where, frankly, we saw a huge need.

We plan on staying communicative with our players, constantly working to improve the game, and eventually, over time, making sure that every single aspect of it is better than anything any of our competitors has to offer. So, even though it's impossible not to be worried, I'm not really afraid. I think the game is really good, and over the next year or so, with the support of our players, it's going to become truly incredible.

Hope that answers your question!