Matthew Davis, co-founder of Subset Games, explains how Into the Breach developed from early drafts into the finished turn-based tactics game. The session covers discarded content, repeated design changes and the decisions behind its balancing.
In Into the Breach, your mechs defend cities from giant creatures. The enemies reveal their next attacks before you act, so each turn is a chance to work out how to stop the damage. Civilian buildings supply your power: protecting them matters, not just destroying enemies.
I’d start with the interface chapter at 23:59. In a game that shows you what the enemy will do next, how clearly you can read those threats is part of the tactics. Subset’s game overview explains those rules before you get into the development talk.
Speaker: Matthew Davis, Subset Games
Event: Game Developers Conference, 2019
Running time: 59 minutes 25 seconds
Topics: game design, iteration, interface design and balancing
Choose where to start
The video is hosted by the official GDC channel. Speaker, session details, running time and chapter links checked on 16 October 2026. Thumbnail credit: GDC.
