Two Kickstarters In Need of Some Love

So far, I've been very lucky on Kickstarter.  Most of the projects I have backed have made their goal, and most of those have managed to actually ship their product.

I am currently backing two projects which are both second attempts, as both failed to make their goal the first time.  One is a board game and one is an RPG. And both are looking questionable as far as making it this time, either - which is a shame. Because I don't back products I don't want (including Synnibarr).

The board game is called Twin Tin Bots.  It looks to be a lighter, faster-playing bot programming game with a few commonalities with Robo Rally.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love Robo Rally.  I bought it when it first came out and have all of the expansions for it.  It's a great little game.  But it is rather ridiculously time-consuming and can be an extremely frustrating game.  Twin Tin Bots doesn't have terrain effects to worry about.  It doesn't have random hands of cards to frustrate you, either.  Instead, you have a set pool of order tokens.  Each turn, you can play one token, remove one token, or clear all tokens.

I don't know, yet, how the timing effects work - if there is a First Player and you proceed clockwise or if you just take your turn and go.  Part of the "not knowing" is because the game isn't out, yet, so I haven't seen the rules.  I just watched the video.

As of this writing, the game is about two-thirds of the way to its goal if $15,000.

The RPG is called Invulnerable.  As the title implies, it's a superhero RPG.  There is a "Year One" edition available on DriveThruRPG.  I backed this the first time around, too.  Because it's clear that the designer has thought through some of the implications of being a super hero.  His updates #5 and #12 talk a bit about the setting.  And the more I read, the hungrier I am for this game.

The backer levels are reasonable, too.  For $25, you get a softcover copy of the book (after it's finished, of course).  The sample art which has been included so far has been good, and the mechanics look stable (which is an issue with far too many superhero games).

I've picked up the Year One edition. His goal with the Kickstarter is a new cover, more art, and better editing and layout.

As of this writing, the game is at about one third of its goal of $4,000.

If you have a few nickels to spare, both of these projects would love to have them.

Origins Nominees

The least relevant award in gaming has announced their 2013 nominations, as chosen by the board and then narrowed down by retailers who attended GAMA.  The actual decision-makers are the attendees of Origins.

ICV2 has the complete list here.

Here are a few of my thoughts:

Best Roleplaying Game
There are actually some good games in there this year.  Marvel Heroic is quite good.  Monsterhearts uses the Apocalypse World engine, and is also good.  I'd be okay if either of these win.

In fact, my money is on Marvel Heroic for the win.

Best Roleplaying Supplement
I like The Mythos Dossiers, but Marvel Heroic is probably going to take this one, too.

Best Board Game
This category has ... um ... a bunch of games I don't know or don't like.  And Lords of Waterdeep, which is good.  But I don't know how it'll hold up against some of the others - because, as I said, I just don't know them.

This, by the way, tells me that there are some serious omissions from the list. Seasons. Libertalia. Just for starters.

Best Collectible Card Game
I don't care about this category, because I am done with collectible gaming.  That said, however, it's odd not seeing Magic: the Gathering or Pokemon on the list, because those two and Yu-Gi-Oh are what seems to bring in the most money for the game store I frequent.

Best Traditional Card Game
Another category that I should care about, but I just ... I didn't like this year's nominees that much.  I've read the rulebooks for most of them and have watched other folks at Game Night give them a spin, but none of them seemed to hit that 'fun' button for me.

Best Family, Party, or Children's Game
Hasn't Catan Junior been out forever?  Did they refresh/restart it?

Once Upon A Time is a good game, and it deserves to win.

And Quarriors! should be up for best board game - it's not light enough to be a party game. But it'll probably win because the folks who vote go to Origins, which isn't aimed at the party game audience.

Best Gaming Accessory
Also known as the "We want to recognize [product] for something, but it doesn't fit into any of the other categories!"  I never know what's going to win this.

This year, there's Castle Panic: The Wizard's Tower, which is an expansion, not an accessory. But there's no board game expansion category (even though expansions have really become more and more typical).
The category also contains two different dice sets (both from Q Workshop), a set of collectible miniatures, and a set of dungeon tiles.

And then there are a bunch of categories I don't care about because I'm not a miniatures gamer these days, so I don't know any of the miniatures figures, rules, lines, etc, other than by name.  Well, other than the Trontek 29ers Corporation Team, which is one of the teams included in the base game.

Best Game-Related Publication
I do care about this category, because there have been some really good products through here in the past. Like last year, when The Kobold Guide to Board Game Design and Designers & Dragons were both up for the prize.  But this year ... Never Unprepared is good and deserving of attention.  I don't know any of the others first-hand (I know about the Battletech book, but have never read it).

... and that's it.  Altogether another mediocre year with a few bright spots on their list.

Quarterly Kickstarter Update

As threatened a few months back, I plan to do this quarterly.

I'm not going to discuss every single project I have backed - only the ones which are notable in some way, either because I'm very excited about them or because they have become a travesty.

So here's the update:

For the first time since I started backing projects, I have no unfunded projects on my account.  Seriously.  It's a weird feeling.  Of course, since I started Kicksnarker, I've become more and more picky about what I'll back.

The Good
Since the last update, I have received the following products or they are ahead of schedule.

The Morrow Project (Digital version) - the print edition seems to be on-track.

Adventures Dark and Deep Player's Guide (Digital version) - this arrived more than a month ahead of schedule, and it looks like the print copy will be similarly early.

Dreadball - not all of it, but all of Season One.  Mantic is apparently starting to ship Season Two now.

The +5 Food of Eating (Digital version) - After several long breakdowns in communication due to upheaval in the creator's personal life, this one was starting to become a concern.  There are some very tasty-looking recipes in here, however.  I can't wait to try a few of them.

The Battle of Red Cliffs - The rules could probably have used a hair more polish, but I do really enjoy this two-stage set collection game.

Shadows of Esteren - We backed the prologue at the level that got us the first book, too.  I haven't had a chance to read it, yet, however.

Crokinole - We now have a Crokinole set.  It's one of the third-generation Mayday sets, and it's actually pretty good.

City of Iron - Due in June, as of two weeks ago, they had been printed and were on the boat.

The Neutral
These are projects which are running either on-time or are late with good communication.

Race to Adventure - This game is currently about four months behind, but Fred Hicks has done an excellent job of keeping everyone informed as to its progress.  The last update from about two weeks ago indicates that it's on its way to the warehouse prior to shipping, so not much longer on this one.

Tenra Bansho Zero - I have a PDF of this, but it's not the final DriveThru PDF. They are limited to about 500 per month, apparently, so it'll take four months for all of the backers to get their DTRPG versions.  The physical game itself is on a boat which - as of this writing - is in the Mediterranean.

Psi-Punk - Communication on this has been a bit uneven.  It's currently about three months late, and, based on updates, it's due for a mid/late May delivery.

tremulus - Another game with uneven communication.  We have a draft PDF, but not the finished product. As of a week ago, they were waiting for the printer's proofs.

Motobushido - communication has been very good, here.  We were informed this week that the product was going to be a bit delayed because the creator had the opportunity to work with a skilled and experienced editor and a skilled and experienced layout artist. IMHO, this is an acceptable delay.

The Bad
These are past-due with poor communication or other issues.

I say "these," but really, there's only one project in this grouping.

Mobile Frame Zero - It's clear that this project has been a learning experience for the team behind it.  They sold copies at PAX East, and gave backers who were present their copies. Copies for the rest of us should be on their way soon - but there is an issue.  They don't have a good list of who picked their copies up at PAX East. So they're relying on the honesty of backers (usually a pretty good bet with gamers) and are waiting a few so that folks who have their copies can let them know.

I'm waiting to buy a bunch of Lego pieces until I know my books have shipped.  I have a spreadsheet with a list of parts.

The Ugly
These are all a year or more late.  Communication has been uneven, and in a few cases, I just don't care anymore - which is a tragedy, really.

They Became Flesh - For most of the gaming internet, this has become the poster child for Kickstarter Fiascos. I have most of what I ordered, but I am in the minority, here. And, even if I didn't have my stuff, this still wouldn't be the worst for me. Communication has been spotty at best, with one update every few months which promises shipment "this week," or "soon," or similar.

Oh My God! There's An Axe In My Head - I'm beginning to believe that this game is cursed.  They are on their third publisher, which is why they decided to Kickstart it.  In December 11th, they updated telling us they'd hoped to have it shipping by early March.  That was their last update.  The prior update - in August - said that printing had started. But, by early March, it wasn't printed yet according to the printer.
UPDATE: Three hours before this post went live, we got an update.  As it was 2am locally, I didn't get it until this morning. Apparently the card size chosen for the project won't work, so the cards needed to be redesigned, which caused a redesign of the board to fit the new cards, which meant a new box, which meant adjusting the box art ...

Far West - this is the game that is often a runner-up in the Kickstarter Fiasco discussions. I've received a few things (the fiction anthology, for example), but not the main item I want (the game itself). We have been getting weekly updates, which, I think, is why this isn't the fiasco that They Became Flesh has been.

Chronicles of the Void - they lost their artist a year or so ago.  As of late February, it was in layout.  There have been several long gaps in communication.  The game itself looks cool, but it's past the point where I am excited anymore.

Powerchords - Funded, then a few regular updates, then a month or two of silence, followed by a bizarre comment about having been logged into the wrong Kickstarter account and that was why there were no updates.  Then, for over a year, we had weekly updates. Then he told us, "I need to finish this quickly, because I have to go write Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition.  Within two weeks it was done with writing, and we have had radio silence since.

For The Lolz
These are products I backed just because they amused me.

Emperor's New Clothes - Great show, guys.  This was a brilliantly-run project from start to finish.  Even if I wasn't getting a bumper sticker, it would have been worth the $5.  If you have some time, I heartily recommend going to Kickstarter and looking this one up.  Read through the updates in order.  It's worth the time.

Synnibarr - I have first and second editions.  This particular game is legendary for being the most gonzo kitchen sink setting ever designed.  It's ridiculously over the top.  Where Kevin Sembieda hit the brakes on Rifts, Raven c.s. McCracken stomped on that gas pedal.  And the system ... to give you an idea, each sense has its own rolls.  Want to sneak past a guard?  Be prepared, he might SMELL you!

I have the draft PDFs, and they are everything I expected them to be and more.  To give you an idea, the rules say that players need, among other things, a calculator.  For play.  The metric conversions are comical in their uselessness, too:

0.39 inches = 1 centimeter
3.2 feet = 1 meter (100 centimeters)
.62 miles = 1 km kilometer (1,000 meters)
62 mph - 100 kph (kilometers per hour)
2.2 lbs = 1 kilo

Yeah.  It's like that.

... and that's a good note on which to close out this update.

Character Generation Project: The Edge of Midnight

It's been a while since we did one of these, so those of you who are new to the blog can find an overview of what's the Character Generation Project is all about here. Stephanie's overview of her normal approach to character generation is found here.

As usual, the standard questions are in bold text and Stephanie's answers are non-bolded.  Any comments I have are italicized.

Which game is this for?  

As usual, you can click on the sheet to see it larger.

The Edge of Midnight

How long did it take you to generate the character?  

About half an hour

What was your character concept going into generation?  

Lois Lane in a Micky Spillane novel

Did you feel like character generation captured the flavor of the setting?  

Yes

How much control did you feel like you had during character generation?  

A good amount

Did the game help you make the character you wanted, or did it feel like you were fighting the game?  

Yes, but the initial skill point caps were a bit frustrating.
A number of games allow for PCs who are "hypercapable" - that is, they can do everything very easily. To keep players from focusing on one skill, they'll often limit the number of points you can spend on each individual skill. This game gives you a lot of skill points right off the bat, but wants characters who are moderately capable in a variety of fields, and so you have relatively tight skill caps. It means that it feels like you have a ton of points to play with.

Do you like the character you ended up with?  

Yes

Do you think your character fits your concept?  

Yes

Do you feel like your character would be effective and/or useful in a game?  

She’s more of an investigator than a fighter, but I think she would be useful.

Was there anything in particular that you struggled with mechanically?  

Limiting the skill caps meant I was looking to spend the extra points.  Is there any reason not to spend all the points?

Did anything run more smoothly than you had expected?  

Overall, it went faster than I expected.

What changes would you have made to the character generation process?  

Going back to the skill points, either give a character fewer starting points or increase the initial caps.

Did anything leap out at you as obviously broken or unbalanced?  

Gaunts could be broken in a fight, but I think the other drawbacks and limits help balance that.

What led you to choose this game as the next one to make a character for?  

I had the book with me, and I was interested in how the combination of noir and magic would work.

How would you compare your experience with this game to your experience with other games?  

It went very quickly.

Is this a character you would be willing to play in a campaign?  

Yes

Does this character make you want to play this game?  

Yes

Do you have any other questions, comments, etc.?  

I’d like to see if this game would be better for a campaign, or a one-shot.

Have you given any thought to what game you'd like to do next?  

Not sure yet

Kemet

So now that I'm done with my responsibilities with regards to Kemet, how do I really feel about the game?  After all, I received a copy early specifically so I could write a cover article for Game Trade Magazine about it.  And then I had to write about 800 words about it - someone else's word count to someone else's deadline ...

The fact is, I love this game.  I really do.

It's not difficult to learn, and is the best game I have ever seen for discouraging turtling (which is a real problem in war games).

It wasn't long before I started seeing, "X Tile Is Broken!" on the Boardgamegeek forums - but that was not a surprise.  Because every single tile in the game is broken.  The key is to find the ones that break in favor of your preferred strategy - or which counter what your opponent is doing.

And the reviews have been mostly positive.  People that have played the game have liked the game.  Which matches my perception in person, too.  Every week I fail to bring it, I get requests for it.  Every. Week.  From a variety of folks.  I've only had one friend who was lukewarm to cool about the game.  He disliked that some tiles seemed more important than others - and, while I see his point, I disagree with it.  Which tiles are important depends on your strategy and that of your opponents.  If you are only moving one space, then the ability to bypass city walls, for example, is meaningless.  If you are already bypassing city walls, then you probably don't want to buy the Phoenix - there are better creatures for you.

Are there issues?  A few. But it looks like most of the inevitable complainers are all missing different things, which tells me they are probably only reading the rulebook through once before playing.  Or else they assume they won't miss anything - I miss things even on a third read-through with some games, so I always read through at least twice before trying to teaching.

I am not the wargamer I used to be - I still love Empires in Arms, don't get me wrong, here - but more and more I'm enjoying games I can play in an evening.  And it's hard to find a good war-flavored game that does that.  Kemet fits the bill. An argument can be made for Eclipse, but it's not really a wargame - it's a 4X.

Kemet has earned its place in my car. And it's seeing regular play on Wednesdays - even when I'm not playing, it's occasionally in use.  That, for me, is a sign of a good game.

Character Generation Project: Dark Harvest: The Legacy of Frankenstein

It's been a while since we did one of these, so those of you who are new to the blog can find an overview of what's the Character Generation Project is all about here. Stephanie's overview of her normal approach to character generation is found here.

Stephanie - as you probably are not aware - is a huge Frankenstein fan.  She's read a ton of Frankenstein books, comic books, short stories, and so on.

A few years ago, I wrote about Victoriana.  In that review, I mentioned Dark Harvest: Legacy of Frankenstein.  A few days after the post went live, I received an e-mail from Iain Lowson, offering a review copy of the game to me.  I thanked him for the offer, and informed him that I already had the game.

Obviously, I still have it. And last year, a supplement was been released.  So I figured it would not be a bad time to ask Stephanie to make a character for the game.

As usual, the questions are in bold text, and Stephanie's answers are in plain text.

Which game is this for? 

As usual, you can click on the sheets
to see them larger on Flickr.

 Dark Harvest: Legacy of Frankenstein

How long did it take you to generate the character? 

 About 1 hour

What was your character concept going into generation?  
Lady scientist/professor (the boffin from Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan)
 
Did you feel like character generation captured the flavor of the setting?  
Yes
 
How much control did you feel like you had during character generation?  
A fair amount.
 
Did the game help you make the character you wanted, or did it feel like you were fighting the game?  
My character ended up a bit darker than I anticipated.

Do you like the character you ended up with?  
Yes.
 
Do you think your character fits your concept?  
Again, darker than I anticipated, but she works better in the setting than my original idea.
 
Do you feel like your character would be effective and/or useful in a game?  
Pretty effective - she can shoot well, and would be good for B.S.ing the party out of trouble.
 
Was there anything in particular that you struggled with mechanically?  
Not so much struggled, but there was a passing reference to magic, but no mechanics around it.  I think it must be in the core book of Victoriana?
 
Did anything run more smoothly than you had expected?  
Overall, it ran pretty smoothly.
 
What changes would you have made to the character generation process?  
It was a little disjointed in how the book was laid out regarding everything you spend Character Points on - it took a little bit of back and forth to make sure I understood everything.
 
Did anything leap out at you as obviously broken or unbalanced?  
The augmentations could potentially be broken, depending on how people roll on the surgery chart.
 
What led you to choose this game as the next one to make a character for?  
One word - Frankenstein.
 
How would you compare your experience with this game to your experience with other games?  
Pretty simple, and reasonably straightforward.

Is this a character you would be willing to play in a campaign?  
Heck yeah!
 
Does this character make you want to play this game?  
See previous answer.
 
Do you have any other questions, comments, etc.?  
I want to read the entire book, because it’s half anthology, half game book.

Have you given any thought to what game you'd like to do next?  
The Edge of Midnight

Comicon Aftermath

I had a great time at Comicon - not least because it gave me a chance to meet in person a couple of people who have been friends online for a bit, now.

As you probably remember from last week, I was there to run 13th Age demos.

The game area at Comicon was ... my good friend +Wade Rockett joked that they should call it "Mom's Basement" - because we were not very visible at all, and so if you weren't looking for games, you would never accidentally stumble across them.  Which was a shame. And we were in the basement.

But traffic down there was surprisingly steady - I think Wizards of the Coast and Paizo had made a big push to get the word out. And that push was greatly appreciated by everyone in the area.

The tables we had were apparently gifted to us by Gamerati, which was nice of them.

The tables were land-locked (not along an aisle), meaning it was that much harder to get players. But we did what we could.

The first demo on Saturday morning started when a man stopped by and asked, "Can you play a dragon in this game?"

I think the best way to highlight how much fun people had at the con with the demo is to list the One Unique Things which I saw and/or heard about:

• I was raised by a family of zombies (The character's name was Graaaaaaaar).
• I have the Mark of the Black Heart, which leaves visible marks on my face.
• I am the only housebroken dwarf (My response to this was, "Really?"  to which was told, "Well, they live in caves, don't they?").
• I use mathematical equations instead of rituals to cast spells
• I was born with a wooden thumb.
• I am an embarrassing bastard of the Dwarf King.
• I once spoke with Gorogan's Maw (it's a face that appears on the map).
• The Great Gold Wyrm revived me as a being of light after my body was destroyed when the Abyss opened.
• I have an iron cast on my left leg which slows me down so my heart doesn't explode.
• I'm too old for this shit.
• I can't tell the difference between dragons.
• I am slowly turning into living iron, starting with my feet.

So you can tell people had fun.

I didn't run a ton of demos, but I gave a ton of spiels.  We had a number of players who were Pathfinder Society DMs or who were official Wizards of the Coast Demo Folk. And they referred others to our tables, which was nice. And it told me that the game was on target.

I know we made some sales, too.  One guy came in on Saturday with his Escalation Edition PDF on his tablet.  "After last night's demo," he said, "I knew I had to own this one."

Sunday evening, after the convention, most of us headed out for dinner with Rob Heinsoo, one of the designers.  We had a great time and talked about a bunch of different games and the industry and just generally had a great time.