So, I've been kicking my 'advertising' (if you can call it that) into high gear. I spent most of yesterday going around to various game store locations and handing out flyers announcing my Kickstarter. Today I've been concentrating on the electronic equivalent, sending out emails and prepping to blast out announcements on social media. My Kickstarter hasn't started yet, but it's just two weeks out, and I know I'm going to need to get as much attention as possible for when it starts. Every view counts. :)

I apologize to anyone that is caught up in this and doesn't want to be; in my efforts to spread the word, I'm pretty much guaranteed to annoy someone, somewhere. I'll try to keep it to a minimum, promise.

Here is a copy of the flyer I've been handing out:

I hope it gets enough attention. :)

I've been busy getting ready for my Kickstarter launch. Here are some highlights, in no particular order:

• I'm trying to stay on top of the creation of the Kickstarter page. While I've left the actual page arrangement to my graphic designer Justin, I've been crunching the numbers and gathering the data needed to fill in the blanks. The page itself looks really amazing; Justin has done a fantastic job showcasing the beautiful look of the game. Both rendered images and photographs illustrate what the final game will look like, which will hopefully emphasize to potential backers that this game is already very close to a final product. (Just needs the artwork finished.)
• The videos that will go onto the Kickstarter page are ongoing. The first video, which is a 50-second 'teaser', is basically completed; some minor tweaks might be incoming based on feedback, but as it stands now it doesn't need anything more. The second and more important video, the how-to-play video, is in progress. Both should be finished within the next week.
• I've ordered a large batch of postcard-sized flyers advertising the launch of the Kickstarter campaign. My plan is to drop these off at the various gaming stores in the area. Plenty of places to spread the word in the Orlando area. :)  I could also be convinced to mail some out...  if anyone asks nicely enough. :D
  
• I'm also going to be emailing the digital version of that postcard out on my mailing list, and posting it up on all of our social media locations. My apologies for the spam, especially if you happen to get added to my mailing list without asking, but I need to get the word out as much as possible.
• I'm targeting the first week of August for the 'pre-launch' of the Kickstarter. I will be opening the preview link up for feedback, so I encourage everyone to check it out and give ideas on how it could be improved. The postcard flyer will have both a shortened link and a QR code that point back to the Kickstarter preview.
• Looking forward to getting some review videos in. I don't expect to see any until much closer to the actual launch, but I'm anticipating having three videos from game reviewers by launch day.

Manaforge is coming very soon! Are you ready?

So much to do, so little time.

Just a quick status update, since it's been relatively quiet here.

So I placed an order for one professionally-made prototype copy of Manaforge! Yay! However, I did not use The Game Crafter like I wanted to. Instead, I ended up going with a company called Print and Play Games. Here's why...

I logged on to The Game Crafter's website to create Manaforge on there. Their website has a very slick interface where you can set up game 'projects', where you can specify the components for each project separately. It lets you browse through their website and pick out components for each game you want to make, customize those somewhat, and save them to the game. Then once your game is set up, you can print any number of copies of the game; specify game metadata such as name, designer, and description; and mark the game as 'public' and specify a MSRP, so people can order copies of your game printed on demand from the site. Pretty neat stuff!

However, while I was inputting my game components into their system, I noticed something. While TGC does have a good selection of components, their selection is somewhat fixed. If your game needs something that doesn't quite match what they have available, then you have to improvise. Specifically, Manaforge already has somewhat specific sizes for the game boards, and TGC did not have any boards available that were anywhere near the size I needed. I could've made it work, but it would've needed some graphical redesign work on the boards.

So, while I was wrestling with that, my designer Justin recommended that I check out Print and Play Games, since they had ready-made game boards of the size I needed. I had heard of the company before, but I hadn't given them much thought.

I jumped onto Print and Play's website and took a look around. Yes, they did in fact have the components I needed. Not only did they have the exact size of game board I needed for the main board, but for the player mats they had a 'custom board' option for making boards of any size, something that TGC cannot do.

I emailed the contact address listed on their site, and a representative got back to me within one day, a good turnaround time. She helped explain the ordering process, and asked me for a list of Manaforge's components. We chatted back and forth for a few days, ironing out the details and giving me what I needed to be able to reformat my graphical assets to their specifications. (Not a small task, I must say. :P )  She also game me a price estimate, which was slightly higher than TGC. (Manaforge in TGC would've cost about $80. Print and Play wanted just over $90, not counting shipping. Ouch.)

However, while I was changing my assets around, I found a couple of corners I could cut to conform to their printing process better, saving me a few dollars. Their website is good enough that you can order the game components one bit at a time and see how various minor changes affect the end price, allowing some production optimization.

Once I got everything set up, I used the interface on their website to set up a purchase cart containing all of Manaforge's components, uploading the various assets one at a time for each. It won't be as efficient for when I need to order more copies later, but overall it wasn't too bad.

And the best part is their speed. I don't recall the exact turnaround time estimate from TGC, but I want to say it would have been about two weeks from when I purchased the game until I had it in my hands, and that's not counting the additional time for shipping. Print and Play has a guaranteed two-day manufacturing time. That, plus a couple of extra dollars for priority shipping, means that I should have the game sometime around the coming weekend. Sold!

Here's hoping that everything turns out well during the production process. :)

Phase one of the graphic design for Manaforge is now completed. Yay!

The art for the box cover for Manaforge is completed!

This is actually a big deal, because this unlocks several other tasks that were waiting on this. First off, of course, the box cover itself is also completed, because it only needed the art to be complete. Second, the player mats will be using this same artwork, so with this done, those are complete as well.

However, in addition to allowing completion of game components, this art will also serve as a focus for marketing the game. I'm planning on incorporating this art into the tri-fold project boards that I use to advertise the game when I'm at conventions. And I want to use this art as the centerpiece of poster print; something I might include as part of the game. (Perhaps as a 'Kickstarter Exclusive' sort of thing?)

So, this is another milestone completed. One or two more and I'll be able to start having some playtest copies of the game professionally printed.

At this rate, I might actually complete this game. :)

Just reached a minor milestone. Phase one of the card artwork is done. Yay!

Now when I say the card art is done, I don't mean all of the cards have artwork. As of right now, roughly 60% of the cards are illustrated.

However, what this does mean is that this is all of the card art I'm going to have done before I run the Kickstarter campaign. Every type of card is represented; I have illustrations on resource cards, engine cards, major point cards, and even character cards. All of the cards in the Dawn deck are completed, and all of the wand cards are done.

This is an accomplishment for me, because this is one of the tasks I had to complete before I do the Kickstarter. This shows any prospective backers what the game's art style will look like, and having that large a percentage done demonstrates that I'm committed to getting the rest completed before the game goes to production.

There is, obviously, a lot more to do. Graphic design. Box design. Prototype printing. Game reviews. Arrange production and fulfillment. Videos. Marketing. Set up retail channels. Stretch goals & KS extras.

But this is an important step done. :)

I haven't had much opportunity to post lately. In the aftermath of Prototype Con, I've been busy incorporating the feedback I received and making a bunch of minor changes to the game. No major game-changers, but a few minor balance tweaks and many graphical improvements. Since there really isn't a topic that stands out that I should report on, I figured I'd just lump everything together.

• Prototype Con: The convention was fantastic! A solid weekend of playtests for Manaforge, plus I got the opportunity to try out some other great upcoming games. Manaforge was playtested a total of seven times over the weekend, and each time I got some great feedback from the players. (Not to mention several people stopping by to say they wanted to play; apparently my game table was constantly full so a few people that wanted to play were unable to.)  Thanks to the SUP Guild for hosting, and I hope there's another convention like that sooner rather than later. :)
• Cart art: Phase One of my card art is almost complete. As of this writing, I have exactly one piece of art left outstanding. Now that doesn't mean that the card art is entirely done; what it does mean is that this is the last of the art before the Kickstarter. When this is complete, about 60% of the cards will be illustrated. The rest will have to wait until after the campaign funds.
• Box art: Work has started on the box cover for the game. The graphical design has already started; we already have a working idea and we're just arranging the bits and making tweaks. The illustration for the box cover is expected to start soon.
• Production quotes: While I am still gathering quotes for having the game made, I currently have one company that is standing out above the others as the one I'd like to work with. Without naming names (yet), this company has consistently provided me with prompt responses to all of my queries, given me a pricing breakdown by component, including extra costs for adding on additional components, and is very competitive as far as the exact pricing numbers. I'm hoping I can lock this down soon.
• Intro video: Without having any clue as to what I'm doing, I downloaded a video editing utility called Lightworks, and I'm currently messing around with that in an attempt to make a catchy video for showing of the game. Now, I expect this initial video will be more of an attention getter, heavy on style but light on substance, so don't expect to learn how to play the game from it. I just wanted something that will direct attention to my game and hopefully my website so that potential players can learn more. It's slow going, mostly because of my inexperience, but I'll eventually figure it out.
• Fulfillment: I'm starting to investigate how to get Manaforge from the production factory into the hands of backers and to retail outlets. I've heard a couple of company names thrown around that exist for this purpose, and I've begun looking into those.

Couple all of that with the craziness of getting ready to start a new job, and you could say I've been busy lately. Hopefully there won't be as long of a break until my next post. :)

So, I guess I've gone and done it. I've diluted my focus on Manaforge, at least a little.

I recently got a request to complete the design on a silly game idea I had a while back. The item stems from a stray comment that someone made on the Board Game Geek forums. I don't even remember what the topic of the message thread was, but the comment was that some thing should not be named "Suicidal Cabbages". Well, somehow that name stuck in my head, and I took a few minutes to sketch out a game idea about heads of cabbage that are tired of life and are shredding themselves into coleslaw. And that was about as far as it went; just an idea stuck in my head.

Well, I recently had a request from someone on the Tabletopians' Discord server to actually make the game. I mentioned the idea, and that person really wanted to play it. So, I took a few days to flesh out the idea, including stitching together some downloaded images into cards, and uploading the whole mess onto Tabletopia for a few people to try out. Now, this is completely in alpha phase; I don't know if it'll go anywhere, and if it does then it's going to need a lot more work. But technically, it's a second game 'in progress' for me. I don't know if that's good or bad.

Gotta love the ease at which I could turn my idea into an online game. Didn't even need to use up a single sheet of paper or drop of ink; the game is entirely virtual, but no less playable. Tabletopia might still be kind of glitchy, but it's great for whipping up quick prototypes.

So...  who wants to be coleslaw? I always need playtesters, but now I have two games that need testing. :)