Wickworks

Wickworks is an independent game-development micro-studio founded in 2012. Its work combines systems-driven design with tactical strategy, educational simulation, and tabletop-inspired digital tools. The studio began with the arcade space-shooter project Rubicon, later released as Starship Rubicon, under the early Wick Studios imprint.

The studio develops original games and licensed independent projects rather than offering work-for-hire services. Its portfolio ranges from experimental narrative and game-jam work to tools designed for tabletop communities and more ambitious commercial productions.

Games and interactive tools

• Lancer Tactics is an isometric, turn-based tactical mecha RPG based on Massif Press's Lancer tabletop role-playing game, developed under a third-party license. The project includes modular campaign and combat-sandbox editors, player-facing modding support, and tactical combat systems.
• Crescent Loom is a biological neural-network simulator and creature-building game in which players wire neural circuits and assemble musculoskeletal structures for underwater organisms.
• Witch Dice is an open-source shared dice roller and interactive character-sheet tool for virtual tabletop play, including support for Lancer and D&D 5e.
• Earlier and experimental releases include Starship Rubicon, the Twine narrative Aesthetic, Root Pig, Murmur, Spark a Memory, As We Are, and Pyxis.

Development approach

Wickworks specializes in systemic game design, tactical turn-based mechanics, biological neural-network modeling, and browser-based tabletop utilities. Its technical work includes Godot Engine architecture and GDScript systems programming, custom level and campaign editors, and modding integrations.

The studio's projects often translate complex systems into approachable interactive experiences: Crescent Loom draws on neurobiology and electrophysiology concepts, while Lancer Tactics adapts tabletop rules into a digital tactical format. Wickworks also maintains a firm human-authorship policy, prohibiting generative AI tools in its code, writing, and visual-asset workflows.