Octopus Overlords

Posted: **Fri Dec 08, 2017 5:35 pm**

A new kind of board game shelf, modular metal shelves for flat game storage. 5 days left. I already have a gigantic Kallax (5x5), but I am still looking at this.

Posted: **Fri Dec 08, 2017 5:45 pm**

Yeah, I was looking at that too. A bit expensive but the high level of customization seems like it would be a good investment.

Posted: **Sat Dec 09, 2017 10:25 am**

I've been looking at these shelves as well, needing to replace shelves lost in Hurricane Harvey flooding. Not sure I want to wait until April, when I could buy Kallax shelves now. Wish I could see them side by side.

Posted: **Sat Dec 09, 2017 10:36 am**

Fishbelly wrote: Sat Dec 09, 2017 10:25 am I've been looking at these shelves as well, needing to replace shelves lost in Hurricane Harvey flooding. Not sure I want to wait until April, when I could buy Kallax shelves now. Wish I could see them side by side.

So, I've been looking into shelving solutions, including Box Throne. Just took a look at the Kallax shelves mentioned, I assume you are talking about their "cube" shelves?

Posted: **Sat Dec 09, 2017 11:49 am**

MonkeyFinger wrote: Sat Dec 09, 2017 10:36 am
Fishbelly wrote: Sat Dec 09, 2017 10:25 am I've been looking at these shelves as well, needing to replace shelves lost in Hurricane Harvey flooding. Not sure I want to wait until April, when I could buy Kallax shelves now. Wish I could see them side by side.
So, I've been looking into shelving solutions, including Box Throne. Just took a look at the Kallax shelves mentioned, I assume you are talking about their "cube" shelves?

I think we are talking about the same thing. I know many gamers use Kallax shelving because they work so well with standard-sized board game boxes. I like the simple, clean look of them. Since my wife is allowing me to turn our formal dining room into a game room, I'm looking into storage solutions.

Posted: **Sat Dec 09, 2017 12:30 pm**

I have just finished assembling ~$500 worth of Kallax shelves for my game room. I hope I have enough room when I all is said and done...

Posted: **Mon Dec 11, 2017 9:34 pm**

Holy jeebus, Gloomhaven is freaking intimidating just to sort out, let alone begin playing. I have no idea how folks are playing this game with baggies and the like. I never buy game inserts, but if I hadn't picked up the Broken Token insert I'm not sure how I'd ever organize all these bits.

At least my game was in perfect shape, All my fears about peeling and damaged cardboard, misaligned tokens or poorly cut pieces were put to rest this afternoon.

I was whining like a spoiled brat that my game didn't arrive during the weekend, but now I think it might be for the best. I can spend the week fiddling with bits, reading rules, and maybe I'll have it down enough to play this weekend.

Posted: **Tue Dec 12, 2017 1:29 am**

Yeah I was a little surprised when my Gloomhaven crate arrived tonight. It easily rivals Cthulhu Wars and Mechs Vs Minions as the largest game box in my collection and I'm pretty sure it beats both of those on outright weight.

Posted: **Tue Dec 12, 2017 2:04 am**

I shall continue hating all of you...Haven't even gotten a shipping notice...

Posted: **Tue Dec 12, 2017 10:32 am**

Fishbelly wrote: Mon Dec 11, 2017 9:34 pm Holy jeebus, Gloomhaven is freaking intimidating just to sort out, let alone begin playing. I have no idea how folks are playing this game with baggies and the like. I never buy game inserts, but if I hadn't picked up the Broken Token insert I'm not sure how I'd ever organize all these bits.

At least my game was in perfect shape, All my fears about peeling and damaged cardboard, misaligned tokens or poorly cut pieces were put to rest this afternoon.

I was whining like a spoiled brat that my game didn't arrive during the weekend, but now I think it might be for the best. I can spend the week fiddling with bits, reading rules, and maybe I'll have it down enough to play this weekend.

I had some cardboard bits that were not glued properly. So far, the boards seemed intact, but I need to make sure. The other bits were easily fixed with a little glue stick.

Posted: **Tue Dec 12, 2017 10:11 pm**

Fishbelly wrote: Sat Dec 09, 2017 11:49 am
MonkeyFinger wrote: Sat Dec 09, 2017 10:36 am
Fishbelly wrote: Sat Dec 09, 2017 10:25 am I've been looking at these shelves as well, needing to replace shelves lost in Hurricane Harvey flooding. Not sure I want to wait until April, when I could buy Kallax shelves now. Wish I could see them side by side.
So, I've been looking into shelving solutions, including Box Throne. Just took a look at the Kallax shelves mentioned, I assume you are talking about their "cube" shelves?
I think we are talking about the same thing. I know many gamers use Kallax shelving because they work so well with standard-sized board game boxes. I like the simple, clean look of them. Since my wife is allowing me to turn our formal dining room into a game room, I'm looking into storage solutions.

Just went over it with my wife and backed at the BoxLegend level for now. I think I may have to add more during pledge manager. Don't think it will fit all my current games and I stall have a bunch more incoming from various Kickstarters over the next year.

Posted: **Wed Dec 13, 2017 9:59 pm**

Punisher wrote: Tue Dec 12, 2017 2:04 am I shall continue hating all of you...Haven't even gotten a shipping notice...

For those who have been losing sleep over my animosity, there may be a change on the horizon. I received my tracking today and it should be here tomorrow! If not, my hatred shall continue!

Posted: **Thu Dec 14, 2017 8:52 pm**

Gloomhaven box arrived today. Despite reading about what would be inside, I was not prepared. Holy cats!

I cannot imagine the financial beating FunAgain and/or Issac are going to take rushing just the base boxes out because they're so far behind. Though I guess it shouldn't be too expensive to ship out the solo scenarios and standees. Looking forward to trying to spend a few hours this weekend to sort it all. Might need an intern.

Posted: **Thu Dec 14, 2017 9:05 pm**

Mine to arrived today! Yay! UPS left it out in the snow.Boo! Funagain did a good job packing it with foam on all sides, so outside box was wet, Actual gamebox was dry! Yay! Box is heavier than I expected.. Haven't opened it yet though, saving it for the weekend. Have NO idea when I'll play.

Posted: **Fri Dec 15, 2017 9:25 pm**

hepcat wrote: Tue Dec 05, 2017 1:27 pm For anyone that missed out on the absolutely beautiful Nemo's War from VPG, they have a new kickstarter for a 12 card expansion that includes a level for the base game too.

They also recently added two new tiers that include additional accessories (i.e. a pair of Token draw bags and a cloth map board):

Kickstarter.com wrote:

For owners of the first printing just picking up the Nautilus Upgrades Expansion Pack, you can now add on this campaign’s new exclusive bundle: a pair of new Token draw bags and (brace yourself) a bonus cloth map board.

For first-time Nemo’s War backers acquiring the game from this campaign, you too can add on this campaign’s new exclusive bundle: a pair of new Token draw bags and a bonus cloth map board (this in addition to the usual mounted board you would already be getting).

Posted: **Sun Dec 17, 2017 5:05 pm**

...

Facing Accusations Of Mismanagement, Project Phoenix Dev Opens Up About Kickstarter And Production

Developer takes in money on the promise of 1 game, then runs out of funds, but shows off another game at the trade show

"What we can say is that the allegations are untrue, but we've been warned by our lawyers that we can't talk s*** about other people. Even if it's untrue

Posted: **Sun Dec 17, 2017 7:52 pm**

That guy sounds like he's really obsessed with that music composer Uetmatsu. Brings up the name all the time. Also sounds like that project will never see the light of day.

Posted: **Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:30 pm**

I have decided that backing PC games on KS is just too risky. There are a few studios I might consider, but indies are a no-go for me now. Even the Bard's Tale has taken far longer than I feel it should.

Posted: **Thu Dec 21, 2017 11:19 am**

I got an address confirmation email on my boardgametables.com table. It may happen after all!

Posted: **Thu Dec 21, 2017 5:29 pm**

I'm not sure if anyone here has followed the Darkest Night miniatures drama. Short version: minis are an optional upgrade, early samples of the minis looked terrible, later samples looked better but not amazing, lots of backers are still unhappy with the quality.

Anyway, VPG is now offering a refund on the miniatures, but you have to contact them by noon Friday (tomorrow). Thought I'd mention it here, since I think a few people on OO have backed the game. (I backed it, but not at the mini level.)

Posted: **Thu Dec 21, 2017 5:40 pm**

Yeah, I'm part of that KS...what a ridiculous ride it's been. I'm not even sure if I'm going to be keeping the game at this point. The fact that it's been held up so long because of miniatures is absolutely insane. I didn't order them as part of the game - I'd actually supported because they didn't have miniatures. To have them drag this out so whatever percentage of people ordered those damn things could get them...I just don't understand.

Posted: **Thu Dec 21, 2017 5:44 pm**

Because... drama! And that percentage was very vocal, it would seem.

I'm in the same non-miniatures boat, waiting.

Posted: **Thu Dec 21, 2017 5:49 pm**

MonkeyFinger wrote:Because... drama! And that percentage was very vocal, it would seem.

I'm in the same non-miniatures boat, waiting.

Same boat here. And it puts more pressure on the company because there's gonna be quite a few angry folks if the game turns out to be a piece of crap. I'm tending towards the positive side.

The Nemo's War kickstarter went more smoothly and had some beautiful components.

Posted: **Thu Dec 21, 2017 6:03 pm**

I didn't realize non-miniature backers were in the minority (roughly 371 backers to 1218 backers). Had I realized my non-miniature order would be held hostage, perhaps I wouldn't have backed this at all. It's hard to say because this was funded in June of 2016 and is on track to be a year late...because of optional miniatures.

Posted: **Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:46 pm**

Smoove_B wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2017 6:03 pm I didn't realize non-miniature backers were in the minority (roughly 371 backers to 1218 backers). Had I realized my non-miniature order would be held hostage, perhaps I wouldn't have backed this at all. It's hard to say because this was funded in June of 2016 and is on track to be a year late...because of optional miniatures.

I didn’t know this. It sounded like a neat game and I’ve been satisfied by their other offerings but it wasn’t a game that I couldn’t live without. And this game did...not...need...miniatures!

Posted: **Thu Dec 21, 2017 8:02 pm**

coopasonic wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2017 11:19 am I got an address confirmation email on my boardgametables.com table. It may happen after all!

Congrats. I've had mine for two weeks, and must confess--my guilt over getting a table before you and your long wait did not prevent me from taking the table for a spin.

I've enjoyed playing on it quite a bit, though the one-piece cover/topper is more unwieldy than I expected. It's certainly light enough for me to remove solo, but trying to set it back is problematic. Holding a 6.5 foot hunk of wood horizontally is more of an ab workout than I generally look for. The cover is quite beautiful, though, and works great for use as a dining table.

I've played games on it every day since it has arrived, so I can't complain too much. Gloomhaven arrived 4 days later and hasn't left the table since. The game is such a beast that I'm grateful every day that I can throw the cover on top and not hassle with putting it away.

I hope your table is worth the wait. Be prepared to take quite a bit of time to unpack your table from the shipping materials. My pallet weighed 500 lbs, so I had to unpack everything on my driveway and carry the table in sections. It's definitely a two person job, unless you are a man mountain or handy with a dolly.

Posted: **Wed Jan 03, 2018 9:29 pm**

.
.
...

.... Successful video game projects on Kickstarter flatline while tabletop spikes

In 2017, only one-in-eight successful game projects on the platform were video games

More game-related projects were funded on Kickstarter in 2017 than any other previous year, but video games continued to flag on the platform.

Luke Crane, head of games at Kickstarter, revealed on Twitter that the number of game projects launched on the platform was 7,033, just under half of which (2,997) were successfully funded.

Last year, only $17 million was pledged to video game projects on Kickstarter compared to over $136 million offered from board game backers.

Based on data provided to Polygon by Kickstarter, crowdfunding for games overall in 2017 was up by 29%. Tabletop accounted for the majority of this spike with an increased overall backing of 36%, and average support per-campaign rising from $59,000 to $65,000. The number of projects successfully funded was up by 400 to over 2,100 across the year.

Meanwhile the number of video games successfully backed was 358, down by 30 on 2016. There was still a modest increase in the average support however, which rose slightly from from $45,000 to $48,000.

Earlier last year, ICO Partners released data illustrating that the number of successful board game campaigns had been steadily growing since the launch of Kickstarter, while video games remained consistent. According to the data, around one quarter of video game projects succeed, compared to two thirds of board game projects.

Posted: **Thu Jan 04, 2018 10:32 am**

I'm one of the ones that gave up on video game kickstarters. The wait is not worth it. Of course I also have heavily cut back on board game kickstarters. I should go put together my 2017 numbers.

DinoGenics: Dinosaur Park Management $49.00
Flash Point: Tragic Events $20.00
Gloomhaven (Second Printing) $109.00
POWERSHIPS (a future race through our solar system) 44 Euros, whatever those are

That's even less than I thought. Powerships is a space themed update to Powerboats which is one of my top racing games that nobody plays.

My last video game project was Torment: Tides of Numenera and that was 2013.

Posted: **Thu Jan 04, 2018 11:20 am**

My 2017 backed Kickstarters included 3 tabletop games (led by the incomparable DinoGenics, of course) and 2 video games (both from Fallen London devs):

DinoGenics
Hands in the Sea 2nd Edition
Monikers: The Shut Up & Sit Down Nonsense Box (already received!)
Cultist Simulator
Sunless Skies

I also received in 2017 four games that I had backed in previous years:

Nemo's War 2nd Edition (half a year late)
Wizard School (half a year late)
High Frontier 3rd Edition (year-and-a-half late)
Paranoia (almost 2 years late)

I am a patient man.

Posted: **Thu Jan 04, 2018 12:58 pm**

I've come to the conclusion that 6 months to a year is not that bad of a wait on kickstarter table top games. Especially from new(ish) developers.

Posted: **Thu Jan 04, 2018 6:34 pm**

hepcat wrote:I've come to the conclusion that 6 months to a year is not that bad of a wait on kickstarter table top games. Especially from new(ish) developers.

Same. It used to bother me. Now I barely pay attention to expected delivery dates. I now go by "it'll get here when it gets here"

Posted: **Fri Jan 05, 2018 1:58 pm**

Seems so bizarre to see my game listed on end of year lists...even here...

Posted: **Sat Jan 06, 2018 8:46 pm**

And another email for Shadows of Brimstone. Wave 2 shipments still going out to the rest of the world. And apparently a large number never got completed for the states. I'm sure people either gave up or decided that they didn't want to deal with it (or died... or changed emails... who knows).

As for me, I'm down to my last 6 figures to glue together (though I either didn't get, or accidentally threw out my Orphan models).

I've also got most of the smaller ones stored now. I purchased some 1" furniture foam and glued it to some foam core; then cut out holes for the figures. I've got 4 of them stacked in a plastic tub. For the bigger ones, I've got a 2" deep plastic organizer. I built a foam core holder for all the cards a while back. It's still way too many storage containers to lug around.

@#$%.... just remembered that I still haven't taken apart the Caverns of Cynder expansion. So I guess I'm not done gluing yet.

Posted: **Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:43 pm**

Just got an email saying Darkest Night has arrived in port. I guess the long night is over! Hope the game doesn’t suck...

Posted: **Mon Jan 08, 2018 10:56 pm**

It doesn’t. I have the first edition and I still backed this. Although without the minis. It really plays best solo, IMHO.

Posted: **Tue Jan 09, 2018 12:14 am**

hepcat wrote: Mon Jan 08, 2018 10:56 pm It doesn’t. I have the first edition and I still backed this. Although without the minis. It really plays best solo, IMHO.

Good to know! Until it comes I certainly have no shortage of games and right now I’m playing Imperial Assault with the Legends of the Alliance app. It’s a heck of a lot of fun.

Posted: **Tue Jan 09, 2018 11:07 am**

Hey Hentzau, go ahead and grab this one so I can play it.

Western Legends is an open-world sandbox tabletop adventure for 2-6 players set in the American Wild West designed by talented newcomer Hervé Lemaître. Players assume the roles of historical figures of the era, earning their legendary status in a variety of ways. Gamble, drive cattle, prospect for gold, rob the bank, fight bandits, pursue stories, become an outlaw, keep the peace... the possibilities are darn near endless. How will you build your legend?

Posted: **Tue Jan 09, 2018 11:26 am**

hepcat wrote: Tue Jan 09, 2018 11:07 am Hey Hentzau, go ahead and grab this one so I can play it.

Western Legends is an open-world sandbox tabletop adventure for 2-6 players set in the American Wild West designed by talented newcomer Hervé Lemaître. Players assume the roles of historical figures of the era, earning their legendary status in a variety of ways. Gamble, drive cattle, prospect for gold, rob the bank, fight bandits, pursue stories, become an outlaw, keep the peace... the possibilities are darn near endless. How will you build your legend?

Was already eyeing it.

Posted: **Wed Jan 10, 2018 1:12 pm**

Yea! Just got an email saying that a shipping label has been generated for my copy of Maximum Apocalypse. I didn't back it during the Kickstarter campaign but due to Smoove_B's glowing opinion about the game I decided to jump in post-kickstarter. I've been pretty excited about this game with the various characters you can play and the different ways that mankind will meet its demise.

Post-apocalyptic wasteland here I come! (in 3-7 business days)

Posted: **Wed Jan 10, 2018 1:16 pm**

It really was a fun experience and being able to play with the designer while he was taking notes on what we were doing was cool as hell - almost like having developer's commentary enabled in a video game.

I think that it's lite enough that it'll hit the table (both solo and with others) with increased frequency. I'm definitely excited to get my copy as well.

Also: I'm a backer and did not get notification about a shipping label, so bully for you.

Octopus Overlords

Kickstarter and other crowdfunding platforms

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