BGG Most Anticipated Board Games of the Year!
over 7 years ago
– Thu, Jan 19, 2017 at 07:41:14 PM
Hey!
As you know, I try to keep these updates to Mondays, but I have two things that just couldn't wait!
Firstly, I just learned that Dracula's Feast was nominated as one of the most anticipated games of the year over at BoardGameGeek. This is actually a pretty big deal - people on these lists will generally petition their fans to go over and nominate them, and then ask for a bunch of votes.
I had no idea that we were even in the running, but we're already at #11 in Most Anticipated Party Game! If you have two minutes and want to go over and vote for Dracula's Feast in Party Game (and Horror and Crowdfunded, if you're feeling generous) that would be amazing!
You can find us here: https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/220042/20-most-anticipated-board-games-2017-voting-open-7
Search for "Dracula" and you'll find us in a few different categories - just hit the "tick" and then scroll to the bottom and vote. It closes on Sunday, so get in fast!
EDIT: Someone pointed out that the game is under "Unmasked:" - if you're looking alphabetically, look under "U"!
I'm really honored that someone took the time to nominate us, and that so many people have voted for the game so far!
Secondly, I got my dates mixed up - I won't be playtesting in Toronto this weekend, I'll be playtesting in Niagara Falls! There's a weekend con that I'm going to with some friends, and I'm planning on getting some Dracula's Feast to the table. Everything is going so well that at this point, I'm going to focus on blind playtesting - handing people the rules and watching them work out how to play without me teaching them.
If you're going to be around, come look for the blue-bearded Australian (I'm sure I'll be the only one!) and I'll either show you Dracula's Feast, or we can playtest the next Jellybean Games title: The Lady and the Tiger. We just got the first draft of one of our tiger cards, and it's looking pretty amazing:
Thanks so much, everyone!
-Peter C. Hayward
Promising not to intrude your inbox mid-week again, unless it's urgent. :)
Playtesting galore!
over 7 years ago
– Mon, Jan 16, 2017 at 10:31:36 PM
Hey!
I come with exciting news: playtesting is going extraordinarily well! Over the last week, our developer Tom Lang and myself have been running playtests, and the game is improving with each iteration.
The biggest change is that last night we gave Cthulhu a complete overhaul. The original version worked really well with the old ruleset (when player elimination was still around) but the current rules meant that he was slowing the game down.
Fortunately, Tom and I had been working on an alternative version, and so we're swapping him in! The updated Cthulhu now has a hand of Artifact cards which each have different powers - the Jade Statue lets him query both his neighbors, the Hound Amulet allows him to look at the Mystery Guest, etc.
After I run a game with that tonight, I'm going to be sending it out to playtesters. Exciting!
The bulk of the game hasn't changed (especially the base set, which has remained unchanged for several months now). Most of the work we're doing is just tweaks - card wordings, minor rule adjustments, and a few graphic design fiddles.
Thanks so much to who has helped out with playtesting so far - you're invaluable in the development process, and genuinely helping us make this a better game. Tom Lang is going to be running another playtesting event this weekend in Melbourne, and I'm going to be running one this weekend in Toronto! If you'd like to attend, email me - [email protected] - and I'll get the details your way. :)
Overall, the game is in really great condition, and I'm confident we'll be able to deliver as per the updated timeline! Speaking of which...
I've adjusted the timeline to adjust for the delays caused by my unexpected illness (you'll be happy to know that I'm all better!) and the upcoming week-long holiday that is Chinese New Year. I'll keep you updated if anything else changes, but right now I'm pretty confident that we can keep to the above schedule.
In short: everything on Dracula's Feast and the expansion is going extremely well! There are people all around the world helping us test it out (thank you so much!) and making sure that the rules are as intuitive as possible, the cards all make sense, and - most importantly - it's super fun!
Before I sign off, I wanted to show you some art from the next Jellybean Games project - The Lady and the Tiger. Tania Walker, the artist for Dracula's Feast, has been drawing ladies lately, and I'm so excited by what she's put together:
On the left, the Blue Lady, and on the right - you guessed it - the Red Lady.
One of the cool things about this project is that it's 100% language-neutral. What you see above is how the final cards are going to look - no text, no markings, just amazing art. I'm excited!
That's all for this week - I'll be back next time with the latest in Dracula's Feast news. As always, if you have any questions or queries, please don't hesitate to get in touch - you can comment here, message me through Kickstarter, or email directly: [email protected]
Thanks so much for your support!
-Peter C. Hayward
More into blue ladies, myself. I blame the beard.
P.S. If you've ever wanted to try your hand at game design, we're actually running a contest for The Lady and the Tiger - the winner gets $250 USD, and a chance at a publishing contract! You can find all the details at jellybean-games.com/contest - entries close in one week, so get in quick!
White samples have arrived!
over 7 years ago
– Tue, Jan 10, 2017 at 11:18:29 PM
Hey!
After more than two weeks in bed, I'm once more up and about - I spent a lot of this weekend playtesting Dracula's Feast, and I'm happy to announce that it's all working, fun, and easy-to-learn.
We've been getting a lot of feedback from everyone who signed up for blind playtesting, and the feedback has been invaluable! There have been a few common points of confusion (mostly to do with the text on the character cards, which has been updated) and I'm so grateful to everyone who's sent feedback.
The main thing that needs testing at the moment are some of the cards from the Cthulhu and Friends expansion, and so we're going to be running a playtesting night this Wednesday in Toronto, and a playtesting day this Saturday in Melbourne!
Toronto: 6pm on Wednesday night (TOMORROW) at Snakes and Lattes (the Annex location on Bloor St)! Come find me - I'll (most likely) be the only blue-haired Australian in the building.
This will run until 9 or 10pm, and people are welcome to drop in at any point!
Melbourne: Noon on Saturday, at The Alchemist's Refuge (328 Lt Lonsdale St)! Look for Tom Lang - he looks like this, but slightly less cartoony:
He'll be running games until about 3pm, so drop in any time!
Two other pieces of news: Firstly, the white samples have arrived! White samples are a part of the printing process; the printer will send through an example of what the games will look like (boxes, cards etc) before anything is printed on them. Here's the white sample for the base game, Dracula's Feast:
Here's the expansion:
And here's the promo pack:
You'll notice that the boxes have half-moon cutouts to make them easier to open (a piece of feedback we received after our first project, Scuttle!) and a cardboard insert that allows room for the Tarot-sized Character cards, the bridge-sized Reference and Accusation cards, and the mini Euro-sized Whisper cards.
I've requested a few changes: the cardboard insert is currently too high, which makes it tricky to put the envelopes back in the box. As well as that, I'm getting a new sample with a thicker cardstock - the cardstock they've sent is fine, but I want to see what the next level up is.
When those arrive, I'll let everyone know! Exciting times!
Lastly, for some reason Backerkit had an issue charging some of the cards. Because our artist Tania Walker is based in Australia, the Backerkit funds are being sent to the Aussie bank account - this means that some people had a declined charge, because it came up as an international transaction.
If your card got declined and you'd like to pay the outstanding balance by Paypal, please get in touch! Either message me here, or email [email protected] and we'll get it sorted.
That's all for this week - I'll be back next week with a new timeline and an update on any other exciting developments!
Don't forget: open playtesting session is happening tomorrow in Toronto, and Saturday in Melbourne! Hope you can come join us!
Thanks so much for your support,
-Peter C. Hayward
Looking forward to meeting some of you on Wednesday!!
P.S. In each of these updates, I like to draw attention to a currently-running Kickstarter that I think you might be interested in - this week, it's 3 Micro Games from Button Shy - three awesome microgames from one of my favourite publishers. If you like compact, fun games you can keep in your pocket, definitely check this one out!
Illness, playtesting, and an updated timeline!
over 7 years ago
– Mon, Jan 02, 2017 at 05:33:25 PM
Hey!
Sorry things have been a bit quiet on the Dracula's Feast front. I've spent the last 10 days sick in bed - I simultaneously had viral infections in my throat, ear, and eye. I missed Christmas, NYE, and - as you've probably noticed - last week's update. Fun!
For the first time today, I'm well enough to drag myself to the computer (though not really well enough to do any serious work) and so I wanted to send out an update letting everyone know three things:
1. Due to my illness, I'm pushing everything back by a month! We still want to do some more playtesting before sending the final files off to the printer, and so we're going to wait until after Chinese New Year (when all of China shuts down for a week) before we start printing.
I'm sorry about this, but losing 10+ days really throws everything off-kilter, and it's going to take me some time to get up and running again. I'd rather move a little slower and get everything right, than rush the game out the door.
2. I'm closing Backerkit orders this Friday! If you've added items to your pledge, your cards will be charged then - if you haven't yet but want to, you have a few days left to do so!
3. We are looking for people to playtest Dracula's Feast (and the Cthulhu and Friends expansion!) - the changes we made during the campaign have received universal approval, but we don't want to send anything to print until we're 100% confident that it's fun, working, and there are no hidden broken parts.
If you are interested in helping with this, please send me an email on [email protected] - we're looking for people who are able to do the following:
-
Print a copy of the game (we'll send you the latest files)
- Get a group of 6-10 people together to playtest the game before the end of January
-
Write up your experiences with the game, detailing which cards were used and who won
-
Share opinions on what was fun and what was not
If you're able to help with the above, please get in touch! We're playtesting the game internally, but the more eyes we can get on it, the better the final product will be.
(Also, if you're based in Melbourne or Toronto, let me know! I'm going to be running some playtesting here in Canada's capital*, and our developer Tom Lang is going to be organizing the Melbourne event/s.)
*not actually Canada's capital
Again, the best way to contact me is by email: [email protected]
I apologize for the delays; being bed-ridden for 10 days was not on my to-do list. Hoping to be up and running again soon!
Thanks so much for your support,
-Peter C. Hayward
Looking forward to bringing better news in next week's update
P.S. If you're an aspiring game designer, you should check out the game design contest that we're running! The next Jellybean Games project is called The Lady and the Tiger, and we're looking for designers to submit their own variations. The prize is $250 USD, and all entrants have a chance at getting a publication contract!
Jellybean Playtesters and a Backerkit update!
over 7 years ago
– Fri, Dec 16, 2016 at 06:25:13 PM
Hey!
More than 92% of you have filled out the Backerkit. Amazing! I'm going to lock that off at the end of the year - a few days after New Year's Eve - which is when cards will be charged and printing will begin, so you have until then to finalize your pledges.
Addresses will not lock down until February. If you move or change addresses for any reason until then, you can still log into the Backerkit and update your details. Don't fret; you'll get plenty of warning!
I've had a few questions about the $14 add-on copies mentioned in the FAQ: if you pledged an additional $14 for an extra copy of Dracula's Feast and Cthulhu and Friends during the campaign, send me an email ([email protected]) and I'll get those added into your Backerkit order.
We still have a few copies of Scuttle! remaining (but not many!) so if you want to add one of those to your Backerkit order, get in fast!
I've spent most of the last two weeks playtesting Dracula's Feast and discussing it with Tom Lang (the developer) and I'm excited to announce that it's now going out for final playtesting. When we removed player elimination, we had to rewrite about 95% of the cards in one way or another.
Some of them were just minor tweaks, some of them are brand new powers. But now everything is written, and it's all looking so gooood! I just printed off the latest version for myself, and I'm excited to play with all the changes.
Once the Jellybean Playtesters have signed off on everything (at this point we're mostly testing for weird interactions that break the game and any balance issues) the final print-and-play will be assembled and everything will be sent off to the printer!
If you're a Jellybean Playtester (everyone who pledged at the $99 level and above) who isn't yet in the Facebook group then get in contact! I'll add you into the super-secret group where we discuss these things and you can get a copy of the latest files.
(If you'd like to be a Jellybean Playtester and you didn't pledge at those levels, you can add it on as a part of the backerkit! Everyone who pledges for an advance copy of Monster's Ball and Night of the Mummy gets to join us. It's super rad!)
That's all for this week! Thanks again for being a part of this awesome experience. I'm going to leave you with the latest image that our amazing artist Tania has put together - it's not directly Dracula's Feast-related, but I think you'll enjoy it anyway:
It's the entire Jellybean Games team! From left to right: Kelly Jo, the artist behind Scuttle! (and the upcoming Ninjitsu!), me, Tom Lang (our developer), Tania herself, and Darrell Louder (graphic designer for Dracula's Feast and an accomplished game designer in his own right)!
I'm not quite sure why Tania put Tom in the centre; my partner said he looks like "a villain who was formerly a good guy" which would possibly help explain it. He's certainly a handsome fellow.
Thanks for reading - I'll be back in a week or two with more!
Cheers,
-Peter C. Hayward
A good guy who was formerly a slightly warmer good guy.
P.S. In each of these updates I like to share a currently-running Kickstarter that I think you'll enjoy. This week, it's a game that I have to admit, I'm super excited to play. It's called Touched On and it's a game about evading ticket inspectors on Melbourne trams. As someone who lived in Melbourne for 5 years, this is a topic that's close my heart (not that I ever fare evaded, of course) and I'm so delighted that someone has made a game out of it. Check it out!
