Mojang is probably best known for its blockbuster hit Minecraft, but the Swedish gaming studio is still hard at work developing even more new games. According to a report from Slash Gear, the company recently released a brand new strategy game, called Crown and Council, available for free on Steam – and it’s pretty sweet.

The company, owned by Microsoft, has been hard at work developing the new game. While it is certainly a “side project” in relation to other things the company has going on, the new fast-paced strategy game combines classic aesthetics with advanced gameplay to create a truly addicting product.

The game incorporates a 16-bit pixelated look, and plays like Civilization or Risk. The object of the game is to stake out territory, conquer other players’ kingdoms and expand your empire. Players will face opponents sporting armies and a long list of cool defensive weapons, and only the strongest of kingdoms will rise to the top.

The game has a number of other interesting aspects as well – players can go on the offensive or choose to build up their own kingdom with natural resources and other supportive facilities like universities. Players that gobble up as much land as early as possible have an advantage, but like any other good strategy game, there is more than one way to win.

The game was developed as a side project of a single Mojang employee, Henrik Pettersson. The game, available for free on Steam, takes up a modest 300MB of space and is sure to keep you entertained in waiting rooms, on the subway, or when other online games just aren’t cutting it.

Still not convinced? Check out this video offering a sneak peek at the game:

A press release from Mojang describing the new game can be found here.