boardgames, boardgame, cardgame, cardgames, blog, kickstarter, kickstarters, nbgames, verminvendetta, gloop, gibs, gaming, games, game, tabletopgames, tabletopgame, gamenight, dicetower, card, bugs, ants, arthropods, beetles, cockroaches, spiders Nathan Bryan boardgames, boardgame, cardgame, cardgames, blog, kickstarter, kickstarters, nbgames, verminvendetta, gloop, gibs, gaming, games, game, tabletopgames, tabletopgame, gamenight, dicetower, card, bugs, ants, arthropods, beetles, cockroaches, spiders Nathan Bryan

The Wait for Kickstarter

Maybe it is the whole COVID-19 thing or maybe it is just how the industry moves, but every step of the way is waiting right now to get my game onto kickstarter. I’ve had a few back and forth’s with Panda Manufacturing and I’m awaiting a new quote now. We are trying to get the price down from the initial price that was quoted. The first price had a better card stock and the punch boards weren’t as tetrised as they are now. However, that would of been an MSRP of $100 where I could put it on Kickstarter for $90 a copy. I would really like to reduce that down. I know it’s a big game but prices like that people are expecting a box of miniatures where this is just a crap load of cards, and tiles.

Depending on the price I may even have to pull a faction out of the base game to pull the price down then just add it back in a stretch goal when we reach that point. So if the game doesn’t get there that faction just won’t be there until a reprint is needed.

The base game is 5 factions right now and the game does only play 1-4. Why 5? I didn’t want every 4 player game to just be the same bugs over and over. In my home we have 21 different factions we play with and change who we play often. It would cost way too much to release all 21 factions right now and not all of them are finished. Currently there are only 12 factions that are fully done and balanced. The other 9 are still being tweaked.

The main game I went with

  • Ants - the faction that is strong at first and slowly gets out classed by other factions. (Difficulty to play: 1)

  • Arthropods - a very mobile faction with shields and sharp turning. (Difficulty to play: 2)

  • Beetles - an all around faction that has a more middling ground with a little of everything. (Difficulty to play: 1)

  • Cockroaches - they deal with the discard and archive a lot in play. (Difficulty to play: 2)

  • Spiders - a unique trapping mechanic with webs that forces other factions to reroute their strategies while they can walk right over their own blockades. (Difficulty to play: 1)

You will notice that the difficulty to play these bugs is all relatively low. The hardest being a 2 out of 5. Where factions like the butterflies have a difficulty of 5. As an idea how they play the butterflies use manipulation and subterfuge to trick opponents into attacking the viceroy over the monarch. When an opponent kills a viceroy it gives them a hunger card. The butterfly tile is always showing just the name butterfly and the range of values when attacked it flips to show what it is. Once revealed it will stay revealed until you find a way to flip it back over. You have to constantly be thinking who is where and what you can do to entice an attack or trick someone into not attacking your more useful unit for some of your missions.

It would be amazing if we do well enough that I can get all 21 factions in the game this kickstarter but my plan is that we will hit 2-3 extra factions. I’ll probably take votes on what factions people want then when I feel the game needs a reprint I’ll offer a 2nd base game with 5 new factions in it with the old factions as add ons that can be purchased as smaller packs.

This is the plan right now. If you all spread the word once we are on kickstarter maybe we can just get all 21 in the game right from the start. If that’s the case I’ll need to get a bigger box.

Read More