About Us | StratMech Studios

About StratMech Studios

StratMech Studios is an independent studio built around a love for thoughtful, decision-driven strategy games that reward patience, foresight, and commitment.

INCEPTUM: Dawn of Civilizations is our debut title. What began as a focused passion project evolved through years of iteration, playtesting, and refinement. Every system, component, and detail was shaped so that no two playthroughs feel the same.

We've always felt that the best games stay with you long after the table is cleared.
We hope INCEPTUM leaves you with that same feeling.

The Team Behind INCEPTUM

INCEPTUM was designed by a team of four. Here's who shaped it.

Prabu Ambravaneswaran, Lead Game Designer at StratMech Studios

Prabu Ambravaneswaran

Lead Game Designer

Prabu grew up glued to strategy games from the early 90's, first Command & Conquer, then Age of Empires, then years of StarCraft, Civilization, and various tycoon games. That obsession never really left him, it just turned into INCEPTUM. As lead designer, his fingerprints are on every system in the game.

Veena Gowrisankar, Founder, Lead Illustrator and Graphic Designer at StratMech Studios

Veena Gowrisankar

Founder, Lead Illustrator & Graphic Designer

Veena has been obsessed with drawing and painting since childhood, spending countless hours on craft, painting, and especially fabric painting, before she found her calling in INCEPTUM. She has over 15 years of experience teaching the Veena, the Carnatic string instrument she shares her name with, and is also a Guinness World Record participant for the Largest Carnatic Band (2020). As founder and Lead Graphics Designer, she leads the studio's entire visual identity.

Krishna Prabu, Game Designer at StratMech Studios

Krishna Prabu

Game Designer

A board gamer at heart, Krishna grew up on Catan, Terraforming Mars, Scythe, Brass, and Twilight Struggle, and made sure every night at home was a board game night. He's the numbers guy for INCEPTUM. When he's not doing computer science research at IIT Kharagpur, he's the one making sure the game's economy holds together. He built the game's entire cost and reward structure from the ground up. If INCEPTUM feels balanced, that's largely his doing.

Mukundan Prabu, Game Designer at StratMech Studios

Mukundan Prabu

Game Designer

Mukundan is a hands-on maker who is always building something new. One week, he might be up at midnight forging Mjölnir; the next, he is crafting a diamond sword from Minecraft. Give him some cardboard and a YouTube tutorial, and he can build almost anything.

That same experimental spirit shaped his work on the game. He helped define its civilizational traits and, through his constant search for new build orders and strategies, uncovered several imbalances that were later corrected. His contributions were key to creating a game that feels asymmetrical, yet balanced.