THREE stretch goals unlocked, and ONE THOUSAND percent funded!!!!
over 7 years ago – Thu, Nov 10, 2016 at 11:51:23 PM

Hey!

So the 48-hour notice went out last night, and we smashed a bunch more stretch goals. We now have 1000 followers on social media (@PlayJellybean on Twitter and Facebook), AND we've unlocked the $75k and $80k stretch goals!

Look, we all know that there's only one thing that can be said at this point:

You are awesome.

I mean, that's the only thing I can think of. If you can think of another way one could express amazement at what's happened, let me know in the comments!

Let's check out the stretch goal chart:

At $75k, we unlocked bonus reference cards - the expansion is now going to have 10 reference cards. Now no one will have to share in larger games!

And if there's one thing we stand for here at Jellybean Games, it's not sharing.

At $80k, we unlocked envelopes! Each player will now get an envelope to keep their character card in - dancing is now going to involve less sliding cards over the table, and they're going to be exposed far less often!

Lastly, we passed 1000 followers - we've now unlocked Cthulhu's Rubber Ducky as a promo Artifact! In case you missed it, here it is in its tentacley glory:

We're still working out the exact ability, but believe me - it's going to be great.

With 28 hours to go, I absolutely think we can hit $87,796 - at that point, we'll upgrade all the character cards to be tarot-sized (the size of cards in Dixit and Mysterium) - that means all 9 from the base set, all 6 from the expansion, AND the 5 promo cards we've unlocked!

It's entirely doable - we just need to spread the word! Tell your friends: Dracula's Feast has less than 24 hours to go, and we need your help to hit the final stretch goals!

People have been asking how they can add extra copies of the game - if you've pledged at the CERBERUS level or higher, just add $9 to your pledge for an additional copy of Dracula's Feast, and $14 for an additional copy of Dracula's Feast AND Cthulhu and Friends.

We'll be using BackerKit for this project, but any add-ons after the Kickstarter closes will be at the full retail price. If you want to get extra copies at the (substantial) discount, make sure you add them on now!

(Unfortunately, there's no easy way of adding discounts for only two copies of the game - shipping discounts only really kick in when you have 3 or more copies. If you do want a second copy, just double your pledge - including shipping.)

Lastly, a lot of people have been asking if we can include our first game Scuttle! as an add-on. Since the game is still in the process of shipping out, we don't want to be stuck without replacements for lost/damaged orders. That project's fulfillment will be done in the next few weeks, so it should be in the Backerkit, but it will not be added as part of the Kickstarter campaigns.

If you have any questions (about anything!), please let me know in the comments! The Jellybean Games team and I will be watching the campaign closely over the next day. Exciting times!

Thanks so much for your support,
-Peter C. Hayward
So excited and not sure how to express it.

P.S. Bow? How? Mow tow? It's on the tip of my tongue...

We have eliminated player elimination!
over 7 years ago – Wed, Nov 09, 2016 at 08:37:58 PM

Hey!

Today, I have big news: Dracula's Feast will no longer have player elimination.

Over the last month, developer Tom Lang and I have been working on streamlining the rules. A lot of this has been language changes (Yes/No cards are now called "Whisper cards", which simplifies a lot of the card text) and much of it has been tweaking card powers.

This game has been playtested a lot over the last two years, but when we put the print-and-play online, we suddenly had access to a whole bunch more data than we'd ever seen before. People sent us through session reports, thoughts on which cards were balanced and unbalanced, and which were the most/least fun to play.

One thing we discovered (both from our own playtesting and from your feedback!) was that the cards which relied on accusations to win - Werewolf, Beelzebub, some of the expansion characters - weren't fun and didn't win often enough.

Tom has working on ways to remove the player elimination aspect of the game for a while now, and soon after the Kickstarter campaign started, we came up with a system that kept all the fun of the original while eliminating player elimination.

This weekend, Tom brought the updated version to PAX Australia and I printed a copy for Metatopia. We played it with dozens of players who had never played the game before, to determine if it was easier to pick up (and obviously to see if it was broken in any way).

I can tell you with full confidence, the updated version of the game is great. There's no downsides from the original - it's easier to learn, the strategy is deeper, and there are fewer exceptions and weird rules.

Also, there's no longer any player elimination.

Wow!

If you want to see everything that's different, the print-and-play has been updated - here's a summary of the changes:

• The old "accuse" action has been eliminated. Now, "accuse" refers to the action used by all players to win the game - formerly Grand Reveal.
• "Question" has been renamed "query".
• "Yes/No cards" are now "whisper cards", and sliding a Yes/No to another player is now called "whispering".
• Players no longer exchange dance tokens.
• Players who would have been banished are now revealed - they continue to play, but cannot be questioned or danced with.
• Players can no longer accuse the Mystery Guest

I'm still going to be testing and playtesting right up until we go to print, but already I can tell you that it's mostly done - every player who's played both versions has commented on how much cleaner and smoother the game runs now.

You'll notice that dance tokens are no longer a part of the base game - because they've been such a big part of the campaign, I wanted to personally assure you: every backer will still get the full set of custom-cut dance tokens.

They won't be in Dracula's Feast or Cthulhu and Friends, but will instead come as part of the promo pack! They're a handy (but not at all vital) memory aid, and we've rewritten some of the promo roles (such as Captain Bluebeard and the promo Artifacts) to use them in cool and interesting ways!

Among the obvious benefits, these changes have led to more variety in smaller games (characters now work equally well, regardless of game size) and smaller games going slightly longer. I'm so excited by the changes!

If you have any questions about any of the above, please let me know! I understand that some people might be concerned that we're making these changes so close to the end of the campaign, but I wanted to announce this publicly before funding closed.

The money-back guarantee is still in effect - if you get your copy of Dracula's Feast and Cthulhu and Friends and you aren't happy with it, you can contact me to get a refund - no questions asked!

But believe me when I say that these changes make a better, cleaner, and more fun game. I'm so excited about everything that's been altered, and I'm sure that when you receive the game, you'll feel the same way.

You can check out the new print-and-play here, or if you just want to read over the rules, they can be found here. Try it out, and leave a comment letting us know what you think of the changes - all the playtesters from Metatopia and PAX Australia loved them, and I'm impossibly even more crazy about the game than I was before.

Thanks so much for your support - with just over 48 hours to go, let's see how many of those stretch goals we can unlock!

Cheers,
-Peter C. Hayward

P.S. I'm trying to spend my day doing something other than refreshing @PlayJellybean on Twitter and Facebook - less than 100 likes to go before we unlock Cthulhu's Rubber Ducky!

Happy birthday to me!
over 7 years ago – Wed, Nov 09, 2016 at 12:13:27 AM

Hey!

Today is my 29th birthday! In my family, we have a cool birthday tradition - since I'm currently in New Jersey, away from my partner (in Toronto) and the rest of my family (in Australia), I thought it'd be fun to share it with you:

I'm the oldest of three. My mum is the oldest of 5, and my Dad is one of 8. I have a pretty big family (30+ cousins, 20+ uncles/aunts, roughly a billion second cousins etc). Whenever it's someone's birthday, a big group message goes around (it used to be done by phone, but now we mostly use Facebook) for everyone to light a candle, and stand outside in a specific part of Australia.

You can't really see much from the ground, but from the sky all these candles spell out a message for the world to see. It reads one bright, flickering word:

Wow.

Let's check out the stretch goal chart!

As you can see, we've now unlocked the Jade Statue, the Mirror of the Serpent People, and added an Additional Yes/No token into the game! We're now at 866 followers on social media - just 134 more until we unlock Cthulhu's very own Rubber Ducky!

With three days to go (!!!!!), I've decided to reveal the rest of the stretch goals - the best birthday present you could get me is telling your friends about the project, and help us blast through the stretch goals and make Dracula's Feast the best game it can possibly be!

What's left to be unlocked? Let's take a closer look!

At $75k, we'll unlock an additional two reference cards in the Cthulhu and Friends expansion - this will mean the expansion ships with 10, just like Dracula's Feast!

The $80k stretch goal is something I'm pretty excited about - at this price, we'll be able to include custom envelopes in the game to store your character cards in.

Sliding your character card across the table during a dance is fine, but this will allow you to put the character inside the envelope and then pass the whole thing to your dance partner! Not only will this make the process much smoother, it means that there's no chance of accidentally revealing which character you were dealt.

At $87.7k, we'll have beaten the funding that Scuttle! (my previous Kickstarter) reached. If we can do that, we're going to take things to the next level: each character card will be Tarot-sized (think Dixit or Mysterium) - these will really show off Tania's art...and, of course, the envelopes will be resized to match.

When we reach $90k, we'll add a new set of 10 Yes/No cards into the Cthulhu and Friends expansion - like the Yes/No cards in Dracula's Feast, these will feature stunning art by Tania; these ones will be tentacle-themed! Whenever you play, you can choose which set to play with (or, if you're trying out a megagame, you can mix them together!)

At $95k, we'll add red foil to the box - anyone who's received their copy of Scuttle! (or seen photos online) will know how absolutely gorgeous the foil on that was, and how great the box looks on your shelf as a result.

Lastly, if we can hit $100k, every copy of Dracula's Feast is going to come with a cloth bag. You can store it in the box, or you can store it in the bag - it's up to you!

As you can see, there is some amazing stuff that we can unlock; all we need to do is spread the word! If you haven't yet, tell your friends about the game. If you can find two friends who want a copy, backing at the CERBERUS level means that you'll get a reduced price per game and cheaper shipping!

Do it for yourself (we all want this game to be as awesome as it can be!), do it for your friends, and if you're feeling generous, do it for me.

It's my birthday. ;)

I'll be back tomorrow with some more big news!

Thank you so much for your support,
-Peter C. Hayward
Getting ready for the last 48 hours of the campaign!

P.S. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The update that the internet ate.
over 7 years ago – Sun, Nov 06, 2016 at 11:34:30 PM

Hey!

It is currently 10pm on a Sunday, which some people would describe as sliiiiiiightly late to be writing the Friday update. To those people, I have just one word:

Wow.

True fact: I wrote the Friday update ON Friday, and when I went to post it, discovered that the hotel internet that I was relying on...was not reliable.

The update was eaten, and I haven't been near reliable internet since. SO this is just a short one to mention a few things:

1) We're in the FINAL WEEK!!!

2) Two more stretch goals have been unlocked!!!

3) Metatopia and PAX Australia were amaaaaaaazing!!!

4) Since this is the last week and there's so much cool stuff I want to share, I'm going to be posting a new update every day this week!!!

5) Wow.

I'll be back tomorrow with new stretch goals, photos from the cons, updates on the project, and more exclamation marks!!!

I'll talk to you then,
-Peter C. Hayward
Exhausted but very very happy and excited.

Flower tokens are in, and they're magnificent. ALSO, a new stretch goal!
over 7 years ago – Tue, Nov 01, 2016 at 10:46:30 PM

Hey!

When I was a teenager, I used to buy a lot of DVDs. (Some would say "too many".)

At the start of this year, when I moved from Australia to Canada, I got rid of my collection. These days I mostly watch stuff on Netflix, but there was something fun about going down to the DVD store and seeing what was on sale. 

I grew up in a town called Toowoomba (in Queensland) and I thought you might enjoy this photo of the DVD store I used to go to:

Something about the place just...seemed relevant today, for some reason.

Guys, we're about to hit $60,000, with 10 days to go! Anything could happen in the next week; I'm so excited to see what else we can unlock. Speaking of which...

We have now hit 642 followers on social media and that means we've unlocked J'lyeh Beans!

Tom and I have been throwing around abilities for the new Artifacts (which, remember, will be promo items - they won't be in the retail version of the game) and we came up with something cool for J'lyeh beans:

Everyone places a flower here at the start of the game. Players may return their flower or their questioner’s flower instead of answering a question. Destroy this when it has no flowers left.

That's right - with a stack of flowers on it, the card itself will resemble a bag o' Jellybeans! 

I should point out that this ability is untested - that's something Tom and I will be doing this weekend, making sure that the new ability works and is as fun as possible.

And don't forget - if we can get to 1000 followers on social media, we'll unlock a new promo Artifact - Cthulhu's Rubber Ducky:

With 10 days to go, I'm confident that we can hit that number! Just click through to the @PlayJellybean account on Facebook and Twitter, and hit like/follow!

(We're also right on the verge of unlocking the $60k stretch goal, another promo Artifact: the Jade Statue!)

Tania has spent the weekend working on the flower tokens, and we have a big announcement:

Because of all the cool suggestions in the comments, the game is now going to come with eight different flowers, one in each color!

The original plan was to have one type of flower in eight colors, but Tania drafted a bunch of different options - they're so cool that we're going to include all of them! Here's a preview:

Aren't they gorgeous? I don't know much about flowers, but Tania has done a bunch of research (she's great) to make sure that they're all appropriately thematic.

Which one's your favorite? 

That's all for this update - I'll be back on Friday with more, live from Metatopia! If you're at Metatopia, come and find me - I'm the blue-bearded Australian with the dreamy eyes. I'm always happy to meet cool folk! (And Dracula's Feast backers, as we all know, are the coolest of folk.)

Cheers,
-Peter C. Hayward
Trying to decide whether he prefers "yellow squidgy" or "purple with spikes"

P.S. I hope you had a happy Halloween! Don't forget, our Halloween costume is still going - just email your Dracula's Feast-themed costume to [email protected] for your chance to win a bonus copy of Scuttle! with your order of Dracula's Feast.