Just saying hello!
over 9 years ago – Tue, Jul 05, 2016 at 12:38:12 PM

Hello!

Now that that's out of the way, I wanted to let you all know I'm a bit slow on the updates for good reason. I'm working on the expansion pack and general revisions, improving the design of the entire game, quoting printing with multiple manufacturers to make sure we're getting the best quality, setting up fulfillment and possible add-ons, and anything else I can do to get this launched before the holidays. It's a tight timeline to begin shipping in October - in fact, some might call it ambitious. Maybe it is, but I'm trying anyway!

The good news is that I'll be working with Blackbox, the fulfillment company created by Cards Against Humanity - they will be able to ship MOST** rewards from warehouses in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, cutting down on many of the international customs fees as well as fulfillment time in general. That's great news because I'll be on tour in October and will need all the help I can get. While this doesn't cut down on overall shipping cost, it greatly improves the logistics.

**Many rewards will still be shipped from my office - for example, those that include signed prints/boxes, badge reels, etc. Blackbox does not ship to Brazil or Russia due to very low success rates, so those will also ship from my office. In general, it's best to assume you WILL be charged additional customs fees if that's something your country does before pledging - then you'll be pleasantly surprised if that doesn't happen.

Thanks for the continued support, keep telling your friends because we only have a few days left and Kickstarter is going to be everyone's BEST CHANCE of getting the games before the winter holidays.

Stretch Goals Reached! (And, Lesson 2)
over 9 years ago – Sat, Jul 02, 2016 at 07:02:17 PM

Update

It has now been over 48 hours, putting us into the third day of the Kickstarter. With all of the stretch goals currently met, there are a lot of great bonuses exclusive to backers of the Kickstarter. 

I'm currently working on options for the next stretch goal, stay tuned!

For those of you with questions, please send them along AFTER reading the Kickstarter and checking the FAQ at the bottom. This will save us both time and allow me to focus more time on the game itself. If you don't see the answer there, by all means, ask away!

Lesson 2: Setup and starting the game

One question I've seen more than once (now addressed in FAQ) is whether each player needs their own deck. Nope! One game is all you need for 2-5 players. In fact, you could play with ten if you wanted!

The Organ deck is dealt out randomly until all the cards are gone. All of these cards are face up, facing towards your opponents. So in a 2-player game, you'll each have 10 organs. In a 3 player game you'll have 7, 7, 6 (or remove two organ cards to make it even). 4 and 5 player games are ideal - we found people were having the most fun in this kind of group.

Here's what it looks like when I deal out a 4-player game on this small bulletin board that my kid got marker all over:

 Now that we're all set up, I'll take the first turn. I play Cystic Fibrosis on a player's Pancreas. I'll draw a new card and the person clockwise from me will go next.

 Now I'm in the next player's position and decided to play Hypochondria (a Wild card) on Pancreas as well, because 2 Afflictions are enough to remove an organ. 

 Since Pancreas is done for, it gets discarded into the Organ Discard Pile. The Afflictions that were on it get discarded into the Attack Discard Pile. I draw a new card because you always end your turn with 5 cards.

 If I didn't have anything to play, I would have the option of discarding two cards and drawing two new ones. That would take up my turn, but allow me a chance to get usable cards. 

Okay, that's it for now! Keep an eye out for updates and please keep sharing/tweeting/talking about it with your friends!

Huge first day! (Also, lesson 1)
over 9 years ago – Sat, Jul 02, 2016 at 07:02:03 PM

Day 1

What an incredible first day. I only planned enough stretch goals to raise $50,000 and we DOUBLED that in the first 12 hours. I created a new one and we hit that one too. I can't thank you enough for your trust and support on this project. 

I recently added a another new stretch goal which we are quickly approaching for great quality digital content (background images and avatars for all backers). I'll continue to add new stretch goals to make sure everyone who supports gets the most out of the project.

Lesson 1

Being early in the campaign I thought we could do a little example of gameplay.

Let's say your opponent has these five organs in front of them, and your hand looks like this. What plays can you make?

Here are your options:

1. Play Hot Coffee on Tongue
2. Play Kidney Donor on Kidneys
3. Pair Metastasis with one of the unplayable cards (Hypersplenism and Esophageal Stricture) on any organ. Metastasis is a great way to get rid of cards that are only playable on your own organs or already-discarded organs.
4. Play any of the Affliction cards on the Organ Wild card. Obviously it would be a waste to get rid of Hot Coffee or Kidney Donor, but the Organ Wild is yet another way to get rid of cards that don't coordinate with organs.

The Organ Wild card requires a little extra planning. While it is affected by any Affliction except Necrosis, it needs four of them for removal. In my experience, when an opponent has this card it's beneficial to attack it once or twice early on so that you aren't stuck attacking it for 4 rounds at the end. 

That's it for now!

What's Next

I'll be making final edits to the game, finalizing the rule book and package design, getting prototypes from the manufacturer, figuring out the best way to fulfill these, and finding ways to make this even more worthwhile for my supporters!

If you like the concept, if you're excited about the game, please consider sharing the campaign with your friends and family. Facebook makes it very expensive to reach my own audience, so the more shares the better!

Thanks everyone! Back to work for me, lots to do before the campaign ends!