Octopus Overlords

I ordered Descent Legends of the Dark through miniature market. I wonder if TGG is handling the shipping or fulfillment for that? Other than that I’m not expecting anything.

Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread (from the creator of Xia) has launched. It's spendy and the funding goal is quite high, but it looks so damn good



I can say that based on my experiences as a Xia backer, he's easily one of the best (the best?) KS project owners I've ever backed. Not only from a product quality standpoint, but his communication and overall attitude.

It must be open-world cooperative adventure day on the crowdfunding sites. Lands of Galzyr just launched on Gamefound.

Lands of Galzyr is an adventure board game set in an open, story rich world. In the game, you are an adventurer seeking fame and excitement in Galzyr – a region known for the historic strife between three city-states and their former motherland and the thrill-seeking nature of its colourful inhabitants.

The adventure you embark on is built upon a massive storybook that guides you to face all kinds of situations, animalfolks, and challenges as your journey continues from one game to the next. Lands of Galzyr can be played either competitively or co-operatively with 1 to 4 players, and despite its continuous nature, players can drop in and out freely between games.

It's so weird how project themes cycle. I wouldn't have guessed we'd be see an open-world coop adventure upswing, but I'll take it.

Right now, I am debating whether to keep my Chronicles of Drunagor pledge. It has such big buzz, but the reviews seem to indicate it is not great for solo, has low treasure/gear variability, and gets "samey" after a few levels. I am just not sure, other than the minis, there is anything there I can't get from Middara, Core Space, or my Dungeons Unversalis pledge (hopefully coming this year).

Now that Arydia opened, and I plan to pledge for that, I think the case for dropping Chronicles is strong. It is WAY too expensive for what it is.

Hmm...where are you seeing it's no good for solo? I'd seen the opposite.

I don't think it's a deep game. My impressions are that it's a mid-weight dungeon crawling romp. I do think there are so many similar games out now that at this point it likely comes down to specific mechanics along with the art/theme.

That's not a bad problem to have...unless you don't know what you like.

I think it just might be too much crossover with everything else I have. When First Born comes, I will have more Core Space than I can ever play. When DUN comes, I will have a completely customizable dungeon adventure with some depth. I also have more Shadows of Brimstone than I know what to do with. While I am happy to see the dungeon crawl resurgent in this new era, I may have too many options!

Lands of Galzyr also looks very good and I have been wanting to break into the Peacemakers world. Cutesy animals would go a long way to getting my wife to play it!

AWS260 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 03, 2021 9:27 am It must be open-world cooperative adventure day on the crowdfunding sites. Lands of Galzyr just launched on Gamefound.

Preview from One Stop Coop Shop

Oddly enough, I don’t find that one compelling. Could….could I be resisting a Kickstarter?

I did just update my pledge for CoD to the core box reprint and the core expansion. I did so after cancelling my Descent Legends of Dark pre order. Too many negative reviews now that folks are starting to play review copies.

hepcat wrote: ↑Tue Aug 03, 2021 8:55 pm I did so after cancelling my Descent Legends of Dark pre order. Too many negative reviews now that folks are starting to play review copies.

No Pun Included's first impressions of Descent, in their latest podcast, were quite positive. They're generally quite thoughtful in their criticism, so now I'm mildly intrigued. Not buy-it intrigued, but put-it-on-the-wishlist-so-someone-might-get-it-for-me-for-Christmas intrigued.

The Dice Tower with Tom and Rob from miniature market reviews weren’t horrible, but they weren’t positive either.

Vassal’s summation that at one point he just stopped putting the game together and played just using the app was what caused me to drop my order. He also stated it didn’t have anything that made it more compelling than the numerous other dungeon crawlers out there at a significantly cheaper price points.

Rob also thought it relied too much on the app. But he also isn’t a fan of app driven games. Still, if he doesn’t like something that’s a bit telling. He usually likes everything.

hepcat wrote:Vassal’s summation that at one point he just stopped putting the game together and played just using the app was what caused me to drop my order.

This was my biggest fear after seeing the previews. I don't mind app-assisted games at all and own several of them, but any game where I can *feel* that it would be easier to play digitally takes me right out of it. Coupled with the high price point, this is a hard pass.

It's really a shame, as I've never gotten into the Descent series and was looking forward to this maybe being a way to get in on the ground floor. To justify the price, this game really needed to be spectacular, and it sounds like it's OK at best.

It took me a week, but I finally finished going through the Bones 5 order, inventorying and checking it. The majority of the order wasn't mine - it was my friends, who always back through me. But they're big spenders, and the net result was a $1550 order of Bones, and probably 800-900 individual models. Each had to be counted, checked for casting errors, and each multi-part miniature had to be dry-assembled to make sure that all of the parts were present (and the correct parts - there's one dragon out there that a bunch of people got two sets of left legs for.) Now that I'm done, some observations:

~Bones 5 isn't Bones 1. They've perfected the material, and they've perfected the techniques. They're still flexible, light, and cheap. But they're not soft and droopy anymore, they're not so translucent you can't see what you're looking at half of the time, and they hold far more detail (no more potato faces.) They're still not metal/resin level, but they're better quality now.
~They seem to have their QC in place. In shipping tens of thousands of orders, most of which were custom combinations of items, there are going to be mistakes. But there were far fewer than in previous campaigns. I ended up with a total of three missing miniatures and one set of missing arms out of one core set, 11 expansions, two ships, and ~75 individual add-ons, that's not bad.
~Reaper's communication still sucks. They have a 'one update every two weeks' rule that they follow to keep people informed. That's great during manufacturing, but they tried to stick with that during shipping when things were happening every day (including delayed container that affected some order but not others), and it just wasn't working. Questions weren't getting answered. Requests for information weren't being responded to. It was just radio silence, and it wasn't great.
~The ship is forking huge. I don't have mine assembled (I don't have anywhere to put it, and it's easier to store not assembled), but I dug up someone else's photo:

hepcat wrote:Vassal’s summation that at one point he just stopped putting the game together and played just using the app was what caused me to drop my order.

This was a big thing that stopped me being interested. Plenty of tactical RPG PC games exist out there for WAAAAAY cheaper. For example, go buy Wildermyth and you will get the Descent itch scratched for a fraction of the cost.

Cool, thanks. I'll check that one out.

In on Arydia because I like Xia, the player boards, and removable headz. I’m hoping to see a few more previews on content.

Zarathud wrote: ↑Wed Aug 04, 2021 11:53 am removable headz

wait what

Relax, he means in the game.

Snicker-snack

By the way, cancelling my pre-order for Descent LoD did NOT result in TGG not sending me that mysterious package. It's scheduled to arrive Friday.

I feel like a character in the Monkey's Paw who just wished for the return of a dead relative...and now I can hear them coming up the path from the graveyard.

Go find your coughin' drops.

Okay, looks like it's The Fair Youth expansion for Black Sonata. Mystery solved.

Just a quick PSA: If anyone is backing the MagHolder (a line of magnetic card racks that actually look really cool), get out now. The red flags are flying that it is a scam - including them admitting that they misled backers about their team, and people figuring out that their corporate address is actually a UPS store in a strip mall in Colorado, while their posts are coming from China.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Wed Aug 04, 2021 9:43 am ~The ship is forking huge. I don't have mine assembled (I don't have anywhere to put it, and it's easier to store not assembled), but I dug up someone else's photo:

That ship is awesome! I have absolutely no reason to own it yet the desire runs strong...I wonder if I could repurpose it for that one Conan scenario...

Who has the power? You do.

Masters of the Universe: Fields of Eternia

Super spendy

SPOILER: Does not ship to United States

With the resurgence of both She-Ra and He-Man that actually looks interesting. I doubt I would have backed it but I can see myself picking it up in retail on sale at some point in the future (if available in US).

If your looking for a "animated series + board game" mashup fix...

I saw this the other day and immediately went to Target and bought it, this was/is one of my favorite animated series, and I was definitely an adult when this came out so not a case of childhood nostalgia. I haven't unboxed it yet so no comments on gameplay for the moment.

Gargoyles The Awakening

Also saw this on Kickstarter and am surprised it took nearly 15 years for someone to develop, although maybe there were others that I never noticed. Wish I had a gaming group I could play this with as this is another of my top 3 favorite animated series.

Avatar The Last Airbender (the good one)

Tao wrote: ↑Tue Aug 10, 2021 1:58 pm

Also saw this on Kickstarter and am surprised it took nearly 15 years for someone to develop, although maybe there were others that I never noticed. Wish I had a gaming group I could play this with as this is another of my top 3 favorite animated series.

Avatar The Last Airbender (the good one)

I am officially old. Avatar was on TV when I was in college. How is that 15 years ago?!

Lordnine wrote: ↑Thu Aug 12, 2021 4:40 pm

Tao wrote: ↑Tue Aug 10, 2021 1:58 pm

Also saw this on Kickstarter and am surprised it took nearly 15 years for someone to develop, although maybe there were others that I never noticed. Wish I had a gaming group I could play this with as this is another of my top 3 favorite animated series.

Avatar The Last Airbender (the good one)

I am officially old. Avatar was on TV when I was in college. How is that 15 years ago?!

Saying shit like that around here can be dangerous, kiddo.

Lordnine wrote: ↑Thu Aug 12, 2021 4:40 pm

Tao wrote: ↑Tue Aug 10, 2021 1:58 pm

Also saw this on Kickstarter and am surprised it took nearly 15 years for someone to develop, although maybe there were others that I never noticed. Wish I had a gaming group I could play this with as this is another of my top 3 favorite animated series.

Avatar The Last Airbender (the good one)

I am officially old. Avatar was on TV when I was in college. How is that 15 years ago?!

If you were only in college when this came out that would make you a whippersnapper.

Smoove_B wrote:Who has the power? You do.

Masters of the Universe: Fields of Eternia

Super spendy

SPOILER: Does not ship to United States

They are still waiting for CMON to use their license to make the US version.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Fri Aug 06, 2021 11:06 am Just a quick PSA: If anyone is backing the MagHolder (a line of magnetic card racks that actually look really cool), get out now. The red flags are flying that it is a scam - including them admitting that they misled backers about their team, and people figuring out that their corporate address is actually a UPS store in a strip mall in Colorado, while their posts are coming from China.

...and the company just posted a whole bunch of tracking numbers, effectively giving out multiple backers' names and addresses.

Yikes. Still not as bad as the CEO of Golden Bell sending harassing/threatening emails and text messages to various backers during the Unbroken campaign, but still not good.

In unrelated KS news, a game I've been following for a few years (while in development) finally hit KS the other day and has been funded and a solo system unlocked. It's Point Blank, Lock N Load Publisher's version of UpFront:



This is the third LnL KS project I've backed and they're always well run and pack a ton of extras in for the backers - extra items that are eventually sold retail through their online store.

I watched the Youtube round-table discussion they had last night and of course the crazy printing and shipping delays was a big concern. In short, the LnL owner has said he's just about ready to set up his own print shop and warehouse in the United States as prices for anything related to Chinese manufacturing are off the charts and threaten his ability to make games. He acknowledged he tried to do this years ago (10+) and the quality just wasn't the same, but he's confident there are better options now and despite the costs of doing it domestically, a "print on demand" ability and quick turnaround make it financially worthwhile. This all came from people noting the March 2022 shipping date (which does seem unrealistic given everything).

Anyway, I've been following the LnL publisher for years and he definitely is trying to do new things - the whole expansion to digital via STEAM is part of that. His belief is that without digital versions of their games, the hobby is going to disappear. But if he can get younger generations into war gaming via digital means, it's more likely they'll eventually want to play paper versions of the games they enjoyed on their computers as "kids". Overall, he's really trying to push the hobby into new directions and the idea that he's seriously looking to get into domestic printing is just another bonus.

I just got an update on the Frosthaven kickstarter that they've cut their relationship with Broken Token over an accusation of harassment against the CEO of the company by a former employee. This feels pretty drastic. So far there is only a single allegation and it was posted just 2 days ago. Though other businesses are apparently doing the same.

Hello! Right off the bat, we need to address the Broken Token issue. If you are unaware of the situation, this is probably a good place to start. In light of the accusations and Cephalofair Games' commitment to making this hobby a safe space for everyone, we are ending all our licensing agreements with Broken Token, which includes the wooden organizer sold as part of this Kickstarter.

Although we will no longer be proceeding with Broken Token produced organizers, we are dedicated to upholding our obligation to you by vetting responsible solutions and paths forward, i.e. alternative partners, producers, refunds, etc. This will require some more time on our part, and we ask for your patience as we pursue what those options are and promise to keep you closely informed over the coming weeks. In particular we ask that any refund requests specifically related to the organizer wait until we do have a concrete solution in place so that you can make the most informed decision possible.

With all that said, I do want to emphasize that these Kickstarter comments are not the place to litigate the inciting incident and, as always, be respectful.

malchior wrote: ↑Sat Aug 21, 2021 1:53 pm I just got an update on the Frosthaven kickstarter that they've cut their relationship with Broken Token over an accusation of harassment against the CEO of the company by a former employee. This feels pretty drastic. So far there is only a single allegation and it was posted just 2 days ago. Though other businesses are apparently doing the same.

We discussed this some yesterday. I'm actually going to respond over there just to avoid derailing here.

In case anyone is interested and happened to miss the Kickstarter, as I did, the pledge manager for Primal: The Awakening opened up today and they are accepting late pledges (pre-orders). There was a minor, $10 dollar, price bump from the original KS price, cause you know, $2 million wasn't quite enough.

Primal:The Awakening

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Sat Aug 21, 2021 1:30 pm

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Fri Aug 06, 2021 11:06 am Just a quick PSA: If anyone is backing the MagHolder (a line of magnetic card racks that actually look really cool), get out now. The red flags are flying that it is a scam - including them admitting that they misled backers about their team, and people figuring out that their corporate address is actually a UPS store in a strip mall in Colorado, while their posts are coming from China.

...and the company just posted a whole bunch of tracking numbers, effectively giving out multiple backers' names and addresses.

I'm continuing to follow this out of curiosity. The founder of the corporation is also tied to two other Kickstarter projects - SparkMaker and PrintHero 4k, which made 500k and 100k respectively, and never delivered (or delivered unusable items to a small fraction of the backers and nothing to the rest.) The project has been reported to Kickstarter dozens of times now. They have responded to some elements of the complaints (the tracking numbers, plus removing some user posts that got a little too vociferous), but haven't touched the campaign itself.

I'm very curious to see if they actually respond to the actual project prior to them collecting $65,000 in a couple of weeks.

If there are US backers they need to turn these people into the FTC. FTC has successfully gone after a number of these clowns.

I’m a little curious about this minis paint Kickstarter.

Duncan Rhodes Painting Academy: Two Thin Coats Paints

Don’t think I’d go all in but 15 pots for $55 perhaps, especially since I do have a bunch of paint already.
Going to have to do some reading about the Duncan Rhodes Painting Academy….

(Apologies if this was posted in the mini painting thread)

$iljanus wrote: ↑Tue Sep 07, 2021 7:46 pm I’m a little curious about this minis paint Kickstarter.

Duncan Rhodes Painting Academy: Two Thin Coats Paints

Don’t think I’d go all in but 15 pots for $55 perhaps, especially since I do have a bunch of paint already.
Going to have to do some reading about the Duncan Rhodes Painting Academy….

(Apologies if this was posted in the mini painting thread)

I do love this guy's painting. But I'm so far down the contrast paint just get it on the table that I'm loathe to invest in another set of paints.

This isn't a Kickstarter (or even a crowdfunded game), but since this thread is typically where we talk about up and coming stuff I'll toss it here since it's only available for pre-order at the moment. At any rate, I have my eye on it:

Vagrantsong

It's a cooperative campaign game in which you play vagrants riding the rails of a haunted train. Through 20+ scenarios, you must accomplish certain objectives and save the "haints" on board, restoring them back to their humanity. But of course they're trying to kill you and ensure you stay on board with them forever.

The art style is similar to Cuphead (and Townsfolk Tussle), which really appeals to me. As does the premise, because hey - haunted trains are cool.

There's a demo on Tabletop Simulator of the first two scenarios, and after messing around with it a bit, it definitely has me intrigued. There are a couple of mechanics at play here that I'm really drawn to:

1. You have 3 coins that can be spent on any combination of skills/actions. However, you can strengthen these skills or actions by adding more coins. I like the idea of being able to go "all in" on a single needed action, or spread things out a bit.

2. There's a "bindle bag" full of random tokens that, for players, gives them valuable boosts. For a coin, you can rummage in there and hopefully get something useful. However, this same bindle bag is also used by the haints to determine their AI step. I find the concept of using a token draw for AI (vs predetermined or cards) pretty interesting.

Gameplay-wise, it feels to me a bit like taking the boss battler style of Townsfolk Tussle and wrapping it in a narrative with some story events. Unlike TT, however, it feels like you have a bit more player agency with the choices of where to spend your action coins and how strong to make them. I've got a bit of non-backer's remorse for not backing TT since the theme appealed to me so much, but I knew it just didn't feel great as a solo/2H game. This one, at least initially, feels much more solo friendly.

You can watch a lengthy designer playthrough here.

Coming out this fall for $75.