If you had asked me whether or not you could get a copy of Go on Steam I would have definitely (and incorrectly) guessed “yes”. Go is an abstract board game where two players attempt to outmaneuver one another with careful placement of their corresponding black and white tiles. It’s a simple game, one that’s very easy to pick up and explain while also having a remarkably intense layer of strategy and depth.
Go hails from ancient China, and despite being about ten times older than the United States has never really garnered much popularity here. Even so I had always assumed the game was big enough to have a version on Steam so I was naturally surprised when I discovered Hart Laboratories’ endeavor to release the first version of the game on the platform.
The game uses Unreal Engine 4 to render the board in full 3D. It will include a tutorial, a basic AI opponent (though it sounds as though with the right amount of popularity that AI could become significantly more advanced), and full functionality for online play.
If you’ve never played Go you can try out a very simple web-based version here. If you like what you see you can go support the game on Greenlight by following this link.
