TG Crowdfunding Thread 3: Far West has been released. That's not a joke.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > TG Crowdfunding Thread 3: Far West has been released. That's not a joke.

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Infinitum: Jul 30, 2004

Hamlet is launching March 8 and is a Pickup+Deliver Tile Placement game

Rahdo posted a screenshot to his community channel.

It has definitely piqued my interest. :nyoron:

--------------------------------

Autobahn is also launching sometime in March-April, and looks like it might interest a few folks here - Giving me Brass Birmingham vibes.

https://i.imgur.com/ugiqdpb.mp4

Rahdo also posted a shot of this, so I would expect it sooner rather than later

# ? Feb 27, 2022 14:20

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# ? May 22, 2024 13:12

homullus: Mar 27, 2009

Infinitum posted:

Hamlet is launching March 8 and is a Pickup+Deliver Tile Placement game

Alas, poor Hamlet; did you play it, Horatio?

# ? Feb 28, 2022 04:10

Jedit: Dec 10, 2011; Proudly supporting vanilla legends 1994-2014

homullus posted:

Alas, poor Hamlet; did you play it, Horatio?

An Infinitum jest!

# ? Feb 28, 2022 15:11

Dawgstar: Jul 15, 2017

The new edition for Fragged Empire launches tomorrow. :toot:

# ? Feb 28, 2022 16:12

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

Dawgstar posted:

The new edition for Fragged Empire launches tomorrow.

Font still sucks. Also, given that the author is splitting it into a system book and a setting book, I don't understand why they're not making the system book an ur-Fragged System book. I'm not looking forward to having to buy another system book for Kingdom/Aeternum/Cyber/Mecha/Seas/whatever the next book is.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 17:25

FirstAidKite: Nov 8, 2009

A developer I've backed in the past put up a post talking about wanting to do an alternative to kickstarter. Kinda doubt it'll be successful but I figure if I at least link and quote the post here then others smarter than I am will have something of substance to say about it.

https://www.long-tail.games/p/what-is-slowfunding-february-2022

quote:

Most creators don't want to be publishers

The first question I ask new designers is: what do you want to do with this?

And the answer is usually: bring it to Kickstarter.

That's an interesting answer given that publishing - particularly at the very small end of the industry - has very little to do with human joy.

Sure, it always begins with thinking about rad elves, but eventually, you need to nail this spreadsheet otherwise the European Union will bankrupt you specifically. Or maybe you have an interesting idea about dice and then 18 months later you're staying up until 4AM to make sure the factory got your last email (they didn't).

For many indie publishers, the core task of producing, selling and distributing their titles is a necessary evil... which is an odd way to think of the heart of your business.

In a previous update, I briefly mentioned something ludicrous I was going to test.

The mission: launching an alternative crowdfunding platform to Kickstarter.

The budget: about $100 / year.

The reason: because blockchain sucks.

However, that last point isn't correct.

There's actually a cluster of other problems with the current crowdfunding model, going well beyond the pivot to blockchain (which still doesn't have a good explanation). Putting together my own spin on things helped me identify what they are, and what an alternative could bring to the table.

And it pretty much all stems from my main thesis: most creators don't want to be publishers.

This is a pretty uncontroversial take in the boardgame world, where tradition and barriers to entry have bifurcated roles for a long time. For indie RPGs... I don't think it's so clear. But if it is true that most creators really don't want to be publishers, what do they want? And how can a crowdfunding model help them get it?

In a surprise to nobody, I actually did (kind of) launch an alternative model! It's called slowfunding.

In future posts, I hope to dive further into how it works and exactly why I think it fills a useful niche in the crowdfunding landscape.

Their attempt at a kickstarter alternative

https://cardboard.monster/pages/what-is-slowfunding

quote:

For creators:

Funding your project doesn't have to be stressful. Slowfunding is an alternative model - gradually collect pre-orders over an extended period. When the minimum order quantity has been reached, Cardboard Monster handles production and ships to the backers. There are no tiers, stretch goals, or early bird rewards. Simple.

For backers:

This game is produced as soon as enough pre-orders have been collected. You pay absolutely nothing until the game is ready to ship. There are no tiers, stretch goals, or early bird rewards. Simple.

I'm not sure how well it'll work because it feels... well, like this comic.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 18:13

potatocubed: Jul 26, 2012; *rathian noises*

On the plus side, their logo is way nicer than everybody else's.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 18:25

theironjef: Aug 11, 2009; The archmage of unexpected stinks.

I might have reconsidered "We don't collect your money until the game is ready to ship" language, maybe replace it with "Until the game is ready to manufacture" since it looks like that's what they actually mean anyway.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 18:33

Sefer: Sep 2, 2006; Not supposed to be here today

I feel like it's going to miss out on economies of scale, but I guess if you weren't going to get funded during a normal Kickstarter period you weren't going to hit those anyway. It just means that a different audience would use this than Kickstarter.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 19:00

The Eyes Have It: Feb 10, 2008; Third Eye Sees All
...snookums

Sounds like it has some structure in common with GMT's P500 system. The other part seems to be "we'll take care of the manufacturing and shipping" which is a really big part of the job.

If the pre order purchasers don't particularly care when a game is done/arrives I can see this could work. They act as the publisher, and their way of deciding what to accept or not is simply put it up for pre orders and see which ones pass the goalposts. (Again, a lot like GMT's P500)

# ? Feb 28, 2022 19:38

Hollandia: Jul 27, 2007; rattus rattus; Grimey Drawer

FirstAidKite posted:

TG Kickstarter Thread 3: It always begins with thinking about rad elves

# ? Feb 28, 2022 22:40

Magnetic North: Dec 15, 2008; Beware the Forest's Mushrooms

Worldbreakers: Advent of the Khanate launches tomorrow. KS link

Marketing Blurb posted:

It is the late 13th century and history is altered by the rise of the Worldbreakers, individuals who harness the mysterious substance mythium to magnify their natural talents. The Mongol princess Khutulun, a Worldbreaker and a descendent of the great Chinggis Khan, is reuniting the distant tribes of the Mongol Empire. But other factions are rising to oppose her, each with their own agenda.

Clash with your opponent in Worldbreakers, a fast-paced, customizable two-player card game. Draft your deck from a selection of over 100 cards representing four unique guilds. Recruit followers to control the board and develop Location cards to gain power. The first player to reach 10 power wins, forever reshaping history!

If you go to the page or website, you can see tons of art and design work has already gone into it. Small changes are still being made, but the game looks whole at this point, it seems. The rules are online.

Based on what I've seen, (just watched stuff, haven't played it), it is clearly most similar to Android: Netrunner but is not asymmetrical. Players have interwoven turns, alternating their 4 actions each, but the player who is first each round switches, so the last action is followed by the same player taking the first next turn, giving it a weird hairpin double-action moment to strike. Cards are restricted to play by 'standing' which is 1-4, but is not normally expended when used; if you have 2 standing, you can play 1 or 2 standing cards (kinda like resources in Shadowfist, if anyone is familiar). There are locations you essentially extract resources from, but if they are attacked, you remove those tokens to no effect, so you need to protect it. The tokens are removed in ordered and seem to generally go from least to most powerful, so if you stage an attack too early, you might not hurt them enough.

You can play it now on Tabletopia. If you'd rather watch some gameplay, you can find a video of TTS gameplay with The Metropole Grid. (Note: this video was produced around the time that the TTS bad behavior was still disseminating through the mindshare, so they were not aware at the time, but were informed during the video.)

If you're curious about the theme and fearful of it being 'orientalist' with the featured Mongols and Arabs, the designer has worked with cultural consultants and seems to be operating out of a sincere hope to bring a different theme to the table, as far as I can tell. He said more in a blog interview, part one of which is here.

This is the type of thing I think Kickstarter was meant for: a small passion project that is clearly close to finished that could never get off the ground otherwise. I don't know if I'm going to get in on it because I don't know if I'd have anyone to play it with since I'm still working on converting people to Netrunner, but it looks cool as crap.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 01:41

Infinitum: Jul 30, 2004

I'll support whatever crowdsourcing platform that can filter board games, RPGs, and minis into seperate categories :v:

There's a bunch of poo poo launching tonight. Going to be a lazy poo poo and use a lot of comparisons :v:

Live - Factory 42 - A very unfortunately timed game about Comrade Dwarves mining resources
Live - Downfall: Wargame Series - War gamers and strategists will likely want to check this one out

March 1st
- Gigawatt - A modern colourful take on Power Grid
- Illiterati - Coop word building game, check it out if Scrabble But Azul is a sentence that raises an eyebrow
- Shhnable Wabble - Monikers But For Families With Kids
- Western Legends - Latest expansion looks like it just fulfilled, and they're launching a Big Box. Hope you like laser-cut wood.
- Alice in Wordland - What if Just One, but you're forbidden from using certain letters in your answer.
- Worldbreakers - See Magnetic North's post above
- Solar 175 - You won't Adam & Eve it, a ~~4x Set In Space~~ Midweight Euro described as a mix of "Orleans and El Grande"

March 3rd
Small Samurai Empires: Rise Tokugawa - Expansion for base game for What If Tiny Epic Did A War Game About Japan

Told you I'd be a lazy poo poo with descriptions :v:

There's a few others, but they didn't look super polished.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 13:29

The_Doctor: Mar 29, 2007; "The entire history of this incarnation is one of temporal orbits, retcons, paradoxes, parallel time lines, reiterations, and divergences. How anyone can make head or tail of all this chaos, I don't know."

Rumors and Legends launched back on Feb 22nd, still hasn't reached funding but likely will scrape it. It seems to be a reimagination of Clue with lots of lovely looking components but a very boring play board.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 13:37

Infinitum: Jul 30, 2004

Speaking of, Cole Wehrle allegedly wants to do Clue But Better after his next game Arcs is done.

Could be interesting to see his take on it.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 13:40

Jedit: Dec 10, 2011; Proudly supporting vanilla legends 1994-2014

Orleans meets The Big is interesting enough for me to take a look. UK project as well, which helps.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 13:42

Ballbot5000: Dec 13, 2008; Fabricati diem, pvnc.

For those interested Fragged Empire 2nd edition has launched.

For those not in the know it is a far future sci-fi RPG with pretty good and unique lore that gives a huge amount of scope for customisation and storytelling.

I wasn't really keen on the combat and nor were my players so I'm afraid first edition got shelved pretty quickly but I have been waiting for this for a long while.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 15:06

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

Jihad Joe posted:

I wasn't really keen on the combat and nor were my players so I'm afraid first edition got shelved pretty quickly but I have been waiting for this for a long while.

May I ask why? (Specifically, why have you been waiting if it didn't work for your table?) Does 2nd retool things in a way that speaks to you?

# ? Mar 1, 2022 15:25

HidaO-Win: Jun 5, 2013; "And I did it, because I was a man who had exhausted reason and thus turned to magicks"

Our group went into Fragged Empire really excited, we thought the character building looked great, but the combat gameplay felt really meh, we were very disappointed and ditched it soon after.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 16:19

Lord_Hambrose: Nov 21, 2008; *a foul hooting fills the air*

HidaO-Win posted:

Our group went into Fragged Empire really excited, we thought the character building looked great, but the combat gameplay felt really meh, we were very disappointed and ditched it soon after.

This was pretty much my experience. I am curious how different 2nd edition is different, and if would be) even be worth a second look.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 16:21

Frozen Peach: Aug 25, 2004; garbage man from a garbage can

I'm so excited for Worldbreakers. I've been talking with the designer for about a year now, doing consulting on representation. The art and world design are extremely well done, and I love the idea of a cube draft LCG like game.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 17:20

Truther Vandross: Jun 17, 2008

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gtgames/sentinels-of-the-multiverse-rook-city-renegades-expansion?ref=user_menu

The first expansion for the Sentinels Definitive Edition launched today. Kind of came out of nowhere, at least for me, but the definitive edition base is really good so I'm in.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 18:05

Dawgstar: Jul 15, 2017

sportsgenius86 posted:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gtgames/sentinels-of-the-multiverse-rook-city-renegades-expansion?ref=user_menu

The first expansion for the Sentinels Definitive Edition launched today. Kind of came out of nowhere, at least for me, but the definitive edition base is really good so I'm in.

Yeah, it's nice this is coming around tax refund time. Maybe that's why GtG dropped it now.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 19:02

Magnetic North: Dec 15, 2008; Beware the Forest's Mushrooms

Frozen Peach posted:

I'm so excited for Worldbreakers. I've been talking with the designer for about a year now, doing consulting on representation. The art and world design are extremely well done, and I love the idea of a cube draft LCG like game.

Hey, that's awesome! That means it's :c00l:

technically a goon project :c00l:

# ? Mar 1, 2022 20:55

Infinitum: Jul 30, 2004

Glad to see struggling indie artist Steve Jackson has launched.. *checks notes* Batman Munchkin on Kickstarter.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 21:25

Saltpowered: Apr 12, 2010; Chief Executive Officer
Awful Industries, LLC

Return to the Dark Tower came in today and the box is much smaller than I expected. No idea when I'll actually get it to the table but it definitely looks nice.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 21:39

armorer: Aug 6, 2012; I like metal.

Lawlicaust posted:

Return to the Dark Tower came in today and the box is much smaller than I expected. No idea when I'll actually get it to the table but it definitely looks nice.

I got my address confirmation email from quartermaster logistics maybe two weeks ago, but no shipping notification yet. What geography are you in if you don't mind?

# ? Mar 1, 2022 23:36

dwarf74: Sep 2, 2012; Buglord

I'm pretty sure the 12 lb package I got a notification about is that, so I'm expecting it pretty soon.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 23:41

Echophonic: Sep 16, 2005; ha;lp; Gun Saliva

Got my copy of Monster Care Squad today!

# ? Mar 1, 2022 23:58

scribe jones: Sep 17, 2008; One of the key problems in the analysis of this puzzling book is to be able to differentiate a real language from meaningless writing.

what does the thread know about Unsettled? looks like it could be right up my alley (big chunky space co-op) but I�m worried about it being too fiddly

# ? Mar 2, 2022 00:01

Ballbot5000: Dec 13, 2008; Fabricati diem, pvnc.

CitizenKeen posted:

May I ask why? (Specifically, why have you been waiting if it didn't work for your table?) Does 2nd retool things in a way that speaks to you?

Yeah, so to echo those who posted below there's a lot to be excited about but three areas that let it down for my group were the clunky combat, the complexity of weapon customisation and the need to know a hell of a lot of the rules as a player.

The weapons I believe we're partially fixed with expansions after we stopped playing. In the handbook I believe you need to craft all of your gear whereas suppliments provided pre-made examples and the new edition includes these and what sounds like a more concise customisation ruleset allowing people to get more in depth once they're more comfortable with the ruleset.

The impressions videos I've seen as well as discord lurking suggests that the overall experience had been streamlined and there are new visual tags which can help players pick character choices based on their playstyle. I'm not entirely sold on these yet but they seem to be a step in the right direction.

The combat system was initially really exciting due to attribute damage and a dearth of easy healing making fights seem very high stakes but the damage seemed to be pretty drat random and while it worked OK for low level group fights it was terrible for big monsters or bosses. One memorable scene had our group essentially gang curbstomping a giant preying mantis to death because they just couldn't roll the right stats to finish it off. This is probably the area I'm still least certain on as to specific changes and would appreciate more information on.

The author has also released several other RPGs in essentially the same setting and has adopted a few of these system improvements.

# ? Mar 2, 2022 00:13

malkav11: Aug 7, 2009

scribe jones posted:

what does the thread know about Unsettled? looks like it could be right up my alley (big chunky space co-op) but I�m worried about it being too fiddly

It's I would say maybe a step and a half up from something like Pandemic in complexity. Which is to say, in my view it's pretty light and I certainly wouldn't describe it as fiddly. (But, in fairness, I wouldn't describe Sentinels of the Multiverse that way either and I know many other people would.)

# ? Mar 2, 2022 01:12

JoeRules: Jul 11, 2001

Infinitum posted:

- Western Legends - Latest expansion looks like it just fulfilled, and they're launching a Big Box. Hope you like laser-cut wood.

Woof, you weren't kidding. Still, I've been trying to track down Fistful of Extras to no avail for awhile, so I'll put $1 in and pick it up in the PM. Maybe the chips upgrade too. But a hard pass on that bigass box.

# ? Mar 2, 2022 06:16

Saltpowered: Apr 12, 2010; Chief Executive Officer
Awful Industries, LLC

armorer posted:

I got my address confirmation email from quartermaster logistics maybe two weeks ago, but no shipping notification yet. What geography are you in if you don't mind?

I�m in Florida so it had a very short distance to travel. I got my confirmation 2 days ago and it arrived yesterday.

# ? Mar 2, 2022 12:36

Mode 7: Jul 28, 2007

PIRATE BORG, a pirate themed RPG based on and influenced by MORK BORG, by Limithron. I haven't heard of them but their website is chock full of pirate/naval combat stuff for RPGs and they clearly love pirates as much as I do so that's extremely encouraging. The art looks great, distinct and flavourful and the book is apparently mostly complete already. There's character sheets and a random character generator up on Limithron's website already and they look pretty great.

Honestly this seems so specifically targeted to my interests that I'm kind of astounded.

# ? Mar 2, 2022 13:11

Lumbermouth: Mar 6, 2008; GREG IS BIG NOW

Really missed out on calling it MORK GROG

# ? Mar 2, 2022 13:19

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

I know it's not quite TradGame related, but if you Kickstarter enthusiasts want to watch something crazy:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dragonsteel/surprise-four-secret-novels-by-brandon-sanderson

Less than 24 hours in and it's already the second-most successful Kickstarter, if I'm using the internet correctly.

# ? Mar 2, 2022 16:53

Humbug Scoolbus: Apr 25, 2008; The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers, stern and wild ones, and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss.; Clapping Larry

Mantic is releasing an Umbrella Academy Board Game. I loved the comics and those miniatures look fantastic

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/manticgames/the-umbrella-academy-the-board-game

# ? Mar 2, 2022 17:25

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

Haha. That is a fuckton of miniatures for such a paltry board.

# ? Mar 2, 2022 18:53

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# ? May 22, 2024 13:12

Saltpowered: Apr 12, 2010; Chief Executive Officer
Awful Industries, LLC

The Umbrella Academy Kickstarter is one of those rare occasions where I wish the game had 10 expansions available for it. I think I�m less likely to back it as is because that doesn�t look like enough villains for much replayability. I�m sure they will reveal more stuff in stretch goals but it seems a little light on content. All the miniatures and a tiny board seems weird too.

# ? Mar 3, 2022 13:05

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > TG Crowdfunding Thread 3: Far West has been released. That's not a joke.

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