Octopus Overlords

All in Age of Darkness pledge (mainly to get the extra characters and monster varieties) with Apocalypse Adventures as an add-on. I don't care about all the things in the all-in bundle, but it's cheaper to get the all-in pledge than to try and piecemeal it all out I think.

Beyond the Rift - A Perdition's Mouth card game is on KS now:



I wanted to like the board game, but ultimately it just wasn't for me. This seems to be getting some positive preview buzz.

I had the same experience with Perdition. A game that has managing attrition as its primary mechanic sounds cool...but in practice, if there isn't a carrot for me to chase in the form of leveling up or loot, I lose interest pretty quickly. A strong story might have helped, but it didn't even have that.

The rondel mechanics is what attracted me initially, but yeah, there just wasn't enough "meat" to the game in my opinion to keep me interested. The theme would need to be overwhelmingly exciting for me to consider the card game, but as I said, it does seem to be getting good preview impressions among deck-building fans.

Chronicles of Drunagor has been getting a bit of buzz on BGG lately and looks really good with tons of content, but man the "ALL" all-in is a pretty hefty sum.

Seems like in 2018/2019 the giant games with big price tags were coming in around $250 to $300 and in 2020 that went up maybe 20% but this year it's seems like $500-$600 is the price point. I only just started really getting in to board gaming a few years ago, have there always been a class of super expensive games I just wasn't aware of?

I own Kingdom Death Monster. You can't scare me.

EDIT: But yes, prices have been creeping up. I remember seeing and not backing Chronicles of Drunagor because they were an unknown (to me) publisher /creator. However, after copies were shipped earlier this year, the reviews have been consistently great. I am a big fan now of getting in on re-print KS projects (which this is) as I know they're going to fix/update whatever issues came up from the first printing and tweak problems that might have gone unnoticed.

My days of giving an unknown publisher $100+ on a KS project are over and there are plenty of publishers I just won't ever back on KS ever again regardless (like DVG). It's definitely been a learning experience for me. I know I'm lucky that Drunagor is in reprint so quickly (they're taking advantage of the positive reviews) and that it was just as likely it would never be printed again. I've learned (unfortunately) it's sometimes easier to get a game and sell it than to try and find a copy once it's out of print.

Freight expenses for the Assassin's Creed board game. They're requiring backers to pay a freight surcharge to receive their pledge rewards:

If you want to back a Kickstarter without worrying about trans-Pacific freight charges:

AWS260 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 20, 2021 2:39 pm Freight expenses for the Assassin's Creed board game. They're requiring backers to pay a freight surcharge to receive their pledge rewards:

That's insane! Now I'm starting to think I should probably just hold off on backing ANYTHING for the foreseeable future.

hepcat wrote:That's insane! Now I'm starting to think I should probably just hold off on backing ANYTHING for the foreseeable future.

I came to the same conclusion. I currently have AuZtralia's two expansions, Freedom Five, Nemo's War expansion, and Hoplomachus: Victorum waiting in the wings. Not going to tempt fate anymore for awhile.

That is probably the smart move here. I've cut down considerably but I can't completely cut out.

I was about to post that I, too, have cut back on board game kickstarters, but then I checked my pledges and, uh, never mind.

I only have 3 outstanding now. I think I have broken the addiction completely and it had nothing to do with the state of the market. The fact that two of three (Zombicide and Final Girl) are terrible relapses of mistakes I've already made notwithstanding.

Glorantha, John Company, Stationfall, Transcontinental, Distilled...

I should at least get rid of my John Company pledge. Almost everyone in my gaming group is getting a copy.

Hour of Need, the superhero entry in the Street Masters franchise of games from Blacklist Games, is literally just sitting on a dock somewhere in China waiting for a container and ship to become available. And I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Boardgames-wise I have Conan, Sword & Sorcery, Nemo's War, and Tiny Epic Dungeons outstanding. I have a couple of miniatures projects and a couple of RPG rules projects that are still outstanding, plus one accessory and Critical Role. Most of it is from established publishers, at least. I haven't backed anything at all since last March, and only two this year. Everything else is long-production stuff I'm still waiting for (some of it has turned into very long production stuff - Ares Games, I'm looking at you.)

Beyond that I'm just not Kickstarting anymore.

hepcat wrote: ↑Wed Jul 21, 2021 10:40 am Hour of Need, the superhero entry in the Street Masters franchise of games from Blacklist Games, is literally just sitting on a dock somewhere in China waiting for a container and ship to become available. And I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Yeah, I think they've been printed and ready to go for almost 2 months now but are still sitting idle and waiting for space. It's a situation I'm hearing over and over again from the various projects that I'm part of that had already slipped with development and COVID-19 delays and are now just waiting for ships.

I'm waiting for my a reprint copy of Hunters AD 2114. It's been shipping to the EU without incident for the last few weeks (from Poland) but the creator just said in the KS updates they're still meeting with the company handling U.S. shipments and discussing options. That did not leave me feeling good.

hepcat wrote:Hour of Need, the superhero entry in the Street Masters franchise of games from Blacklist Games, is literally just sitting on a dock somewhere in China waiting for a container and ship to become available. And I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Wave 1 of Tanares (in this case the Arena: The Contest reprint) was stuck in China around 4 months. It finally just reached US customs, but could be stuck there another few weeks (hopefully not).

I saw that and was tempted. If it were a little less I’d probably bite as that is one of my favorite parts of AS Valhalla.

hepcat wrote: ↑Thu Jul 22, 2021 8:47 pm I saw that and was tempted. If it were a little less I’d probably bite as that is one of my favorite parts of AS Valhalla.

I was totally ignoring this until you called out the price. That made me look out of curiosity and I was surprised to see the price was not as bad as I expected. I'm pretty sure I am able to skip it but I am now considering it specifically because you complained about the price. Brains are weird.

The guy typing on the gold inlay keyboard writes.

hepcat wrote: ↑Fri Jul 23, 2021 10:59 am The guy typing on the gold inlay keyboard writes.

I mean it's a MacBook Pro so basically the same thing.

I think if they offered a version without all the bling and sold it for about 25 bucks, I'd jump on it. But add in shipping...which is obviously an unknown quantity right now....and you're looking at at least 50 bucks USD for what is essentially a handful of dice and some cards. I know the bling makes it worth it to folks, but I'm not that much of a fan of the game.

Yeah I assume it's a premium because of the IP. It would only be a curiosity for me, not something I would actually be excited to play which is why I am not backing it.

Earthborne Rangers is a customizable, cooperative, adventure card game set in the wilderness of the far future for 1 – 4 players. You'll begin by building a deck that reflects your character's personal history. Then, as you explore the open world and your story takes shape, you'll augment your deck with improved equipment, refined skills, and the memories of your journey.

Coming from Andrew Navaro:

Graphic Designer, Art Director, Creative Director, Head of Studio at Fantasy Flight Games from 2004 to 2020.
Studio Director at Chip Theory Games 2020 to present.

Above and beyond the game, what's most interesting is the manufacturing. They're committing to using sustainable resources for all components and the only stretch goals unlock regional manufacturing. In short, the more people from a given part of the globe that back it, the greater the chances it will be manufactured (and shipped) locally. It's not going to be bloated with add ons or extra KS exclusive stuff - the funds are going towards production and production improvements.

I'm interested in the game and this approach.

I got Bones 5 in yesterday. It wasn't just my order - my friends also placed their order through me, and they spent big. Altogether I got a little over 72 pounds of miniatures in that I need to sort through, check, and inventory before they get here to pick theirs up.

Please tell me one of your friends splurged on the Bones pirate ship and it's as glorious in person as it appears in the YouTube videos.

I knew it would be way over the top and rarely used, but I was so tempted.

We both did, and it is.

If anyone likes Dungeon Crawlers, this may be of interest:

Taelmoor is a cooperative narrative adventure game played with both physical board game pieces and a free scan-and-play mobile app. Working together, you and your friends will explore dungeons and underground lairs, talk to the strange denizens within... and sometimes fight them! Scanning QR codes on interactive objects enables a fun tabletop experience with the best parts of both a board game and a video game.

Taelmoor will ship with 8 unique scenarios, each with its own goals and objectives. Some scenarios are designed to be one-shots and some are designed to be played sequentially with persistent characters to create a multi-part campaign. Each adventure typically involves a combination of exploration, puzzle solving, storytelling, and combat in a classic sword-and-sorcery setting.

I'm indifferent about Dungeon Crawlers, but I do like narrative games, so I'll be keeping an eye out for it.

Just received a notice that a game is being shipped to me by t-gg via pirateship.com. I have no clue what that is.

T GG is apparently The Gaming Goat, which is a game store chain. But I have never ordered from them. So maybe they’re handing the shipping for a Kickstarter?

TGG looks like they're involved in a fair number of kickstarters.

I need my top guy on this, Issie. MY TOP GUY!

Get back to me when you have more info.

But on a serious note, I went through all my kickstarters and nothing is supposed to be shipping yet.

Everyone laughed when I said I had a spreadsheet to track KS projects. Well, who's laughing now? (seriously, who is is, I can hear you in the back).

All I can say is that...nothing on my spreadsheet is shipping from The Gaming Goat. So..you're out in the deep KS waters somewhere.

What do you have outstanding?

Look at me, man. EVERYTHING about me is outstanding!

hepcat wrote: ↑Sat Jul 31, 2021 10:18 pm Look at me, man. EVERYTHING about me is outstanding!

Possibly something from a non-KS crowdfunding platform, or a late back pledge directly through a pledge manager?