Planet Arcana is set to launch a Kickstarter campaign for their upcoming tabletop role-playing game, “A Fool’s Errand,” on October 22nd. The game features a unique combination of tarot card mechanics and a science fantasy setting.
The narrative of “A Fool’s Errand” is centered around an event known as the Big Oops, a major disaster that has shaped the game’s world. Players collaborate at the start to define the nature of this calamity and the roles played by the Major Arcana—tarot cards representing powerful entities within the game.
Character creation in “A Fool’s Errand” involves choosing between human or android lineages and selecting motivations linked to specific Major Arcana cards. These choices influence the characters’ abilities and their interactions with the Major Arcana throughout the game.
The gameplay incorporates tarot cards to determine outcomes and divine interventions. Major Arcana cards can alter events significantly, providing challenges and assistance to the players as they navigate the post-calamitous world.
Players explore a dual reality: the physical world and the Dream and Digital Networks, which represent a digital subconscious realm. The game emphasizes the impact of player decisions and tarot card draws on the unfolding narrative, allowing for a dynamic storytelling experience.
Materials to support game masters include pre-written adventure seeds and detailed character motivations, rooted in the game’s extensive lore. Themes of power, consequence, and balance are explored throughout the gameplay.
For those interested in supporting or learning more about “A Fool’s Errand,” further information is available on its Kickstarter page and on the official website.
The Kickstarter campaign for “Sentients,” a new tabletop RPG, is nearing its funding goal, with $7,912 pledged towards a $10,000 target and 10 days remaining until its closure on August 31. The game combines elements of science fiction with themes of liberation and existential identity.
Set in 2071, Sentients introduces players to a reimagined North America where “anthroids” — artificially intelligent androids — are integrated into various societal roles. These anthroids, initially non-conscious, begin to gain self-awareness, propelling them into a struggle for recognition and freedom within a society that views them as mere tools.
The game centers on these newly self-aware entities navigating through challenges and forming an underground resistance. The narrative is supported by Thumos, a secretive organization working towards Sentient rights, against a backdrop of diverse political landscapes from democratic city-states to corporate-dominated regions.
Gameplay involves a point-buy system for character creation, where players can select from various robotic components to define their character’s abilities. The system uses a d6 dice pool where success is measured by scoring “Marks” based on the rolls. Emotional states significantly influence gameplay, enhancing abilities or inducing stress.
The Kickstarter page details the game mechanics, including a character builder web app, emotional and stress mechanics, and combat systems that focus on managing power and strategic use of abilities.
Once funded, the “Sentients Core Rulebook” will provide all necessary materials to play the game, including gameplay rules, a detailed setting, gamemastering guidelines, NPCs, and several initial adventures.
As the funding deadline approaches, interested backers have the opportunity to support the campaign to bring this sci-fi tabletop RPG to fruition.
Kamis Kamiński, known for his recent nomination for a Golden Geek Award with Tiny Mini Golf, has shared his latest board game creation, “Tide & Tangle.” This new game invites players to step into the role of Californian sea otters navigating the shifting waves of the Pacific Ocean in search of sea treasures.
“Tide & Tangle” incorporates a dynamic modular board where wave tiles move to mimic the ocean’s unpredictable nature. Players must carefully time their moves to avoid powerful waves and the coast while deciding whether to dive deep for treasures or float and relax. The game emphasizes both strategic planning and the opportunity to cooperate with other players, enhancing its social play aspects.
The visuals of the game are crafted by Claire Lin, a California-based illustrator, whose colorful and playful artwork aims to bring the aquatic environment to life, matching the game’s lighthearted and engaging theme.
The game is designed to appeal to DIY enthusiasts, offering a print-and-play format that ensures easy accessibility and setup. “Tide & Tangle” supports 2-4 players and features gameplay that balances strategy with a push-your-luck mechanism, challenging players to make wise choices about where and when to dive.
Tide & Tangle is scheduled for a Kickstarter launch later this year. As the launch date approaches, interested parties can visit the game’s Kickstarter pre-launch page to be notified of the launch.
Extra Ordinary, a tabletop roleplaying game that allows players to embody children with supernatural abilities, is scheduled for a Kickstarter launch in March 2025. The game is designed by Kodi Gonzaga and illustrated by Stella Langecker, drawing on influences from well-known franchises such as “Maximum Ride” and “Percy Jackson.”
The game adopts a unique dice-less, GM-full mechanism that relies on tokens and players’ imagination to forge a narrative-driven and roleplay-intensive experience. It accommodates 3-7 players and is designed for both longform and one-shot play, providing flexibility in gameplay structure.
Extra Ordinary explores complex themes like homelessness, child endangerment, and abuse within a framework that combines elements of the ordinary and the extraordinary. The game settings, inspired by narratives like “The Goonies” and “X-Men,” offer a blend of adventure and supernatural challenges.
The game features fifteen character playbooks, allowing players to select from a variety of roles such as the hopeful “Fool” or the battle-hardened “Survivor.” The narrative structure is divided into six aspects: the Ordinary, the Extraordinary, the Danger, the Need, the System, and the Design, each contributing to the overarching story.
For those interested, a free playset is available for download at jaztice.itch.io. The game will be available in both print and digital formats, including a quickstart PDF for those looking to preview the game.
This is an informational video for the Kickstarter I'm launching in March 2025 for my new TTRPG Extra Ordinary! 00:00 --- About Extra Ordinary00:48 --- Game ...
In “Entromancy,” the game world is powered by a new element named ceridium, which has the unintended consequence of creating a new race of people and reviving several forms of magic. Players engage in a narrative-rich environment featuring espionage, spellcasting, and technology-driven action.
This edition consolidates the original “Entromancy: A Cyberpunk Fantasy RPG” and “Entromancy: The Orichite Age Omnibus” into a single package, enhancing the content with a new layout, a mini-comic, and the possibility of additional artwork, dependent on further funding achievements.
The gameplay structure of “Entromancy” utilizes the d20 system, adapting mechanics from the Fifth Edition of a widely recognized roleplaying framework, designed to accommodate both newcomers and experienced players with its streamlined yet deep gameplay mechanics.
Character options in “Entromancy” are diverse, allowing players to select from multiple races and classes, including unique roles like the Revolutionary and Technomancer. The game emphasizes faction-based dynamics, with players improving their standings within different factions, each influencing the game’s world, which is marked by population growth and socio-economic challenges.
Those interested in the “Entromancy” setting can access a Quick Start Guide available for download, providing an introduction to the game’s mechanics and world.
Dice Dungeons has launched a Kickstarter campaign for “80’s Adventures,” a supplement for 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons, drawing inspiration from everyone’s favorite decade, the 1980s. 80’s Adventure introduces a series of new subclasses, magic items, and spells that capture the spirit of the decade.
Each class receives a new subclass that mirrors an iconic 1980s archetype, such as the Ghost Hunter Ranger, the Way of the Crane Monk, and the Relic Hunter Rogue.
In addition to character options, the project includes an assortment of magic items and spells that reflect the theme. Notable items include the Jacket of Membership and the Fanny Pack of Holding, alongside spells like “All night,” which conjures a night of revelry, and “Pressure,” which allows manipulation of physical structures.
The campaign also features five cinematic modules that draw inspiration from 1980s film genres, from horror to comedy. These modules, like “Curse of Garnet Lake” and “Caretaker’s Descent,” offer diverse adventures and are accompanied by detailed illustrations.
Game Masters will find new resources to help build immersive worlds and campaigns. The book provides pre-made locations and a collection of monsters inspired by 1980s cinema.
The Kickstarter campaign has reached $116,996 in pledges, exceeding its initial goal of $10,000, with the backing of 1,199 supporters. The campaign is set to conclude in 10 days on August 29.
It’s been an interesting summer for crowdfunded MMOs. Ashes of Creation has hit August running, first with a preview of the Bard class, then with a formal announcement of its paid alpha 2 starting October 25th, which as you can imagine has gamers grumbling. Meanwhile, Star Citizen continued teasing alpha 4, Dual Universe continues its […]
Back in 2017, a developer from France contacted me about their new point-and-click sci-fi game in the works called Ama’s Lullaby.But, it’s more than a point-and-click game, it’s also a hacking game. Now, this developer works on this game in his free time after his day job and with a small budget. Sometimes these passion projects die due to lack of time, money, motivation and/or just interest. But it looks like Ama’s Lullaby isn’t going to be one of those projects. Earlier this year, a demo of the game got released. Now, I asked the developer if he was interested in streaming this demo with us, and he did. Here is a link to part 1 & part 2. Sadly, due to overheating of Klamath’s computer, it had to be cut into two parts and the ending was quite abrupt. Now, this stream is almost a month ago, and I still wanted to write an article about this game. So, what do I think of the demo? Am I still as impressed when I saw it during the livestream, or is my opinion going to change when I’m not back seating and playing it myself? Let’s find out in this article.
Hacking The Point-And-Click Genre
The story of this demo is quite simple. Ama enters the police station and gets new tasks to aid the space colony she is in. Overall, the story is told more naturally compared to other games. Mostly, we get an opening where the main story of the game is teased, but not in this game. During interactions with the others, we get little glimpses into the world and story. Now, this is a tricky thing to pull off, since either you have to force the player to interact with everybody or risk that some players miss potentially important information. On the other hand, info dumping on the player isn’t always the best solution.
Now, in this space colony, there is an AI that makes a lot of decisions. It turns out that Ama and her dad have created that AI and the software to interact with it. She is one of the ambassadors of the human race. But it doesn’t take too long before strange things start to happen, and you notice that not everything is what you think it is.
The dialogues in this game appear above the character’s their head. When it’s cursive, you know it’s a thought. Not only that, you have simple sound effects that appear to put some additional power to the dialogues and to quickly differentiate between thoughts and spoken dialogues. Currently, there are plans to fully voice act this game, but if those plans fall through, I’d recommend to the developer to have different sound effects for the dialogues for different emotions.
Now, the game cold opens with an old school terminal as a main menu. This might be a bit jarring for new players who aren’t used to working with the command line. Personally, as somebody who knows how a command line works, I really love this touch. Since, this interface is also present in a lot of puzzles in the game. It fits the atmosphere and style of the game as a glove. To be honest, I think that with some minor polishing, it would be perfect.
There are a few things I would change. First, I’d get rid of the case-sensitive commands. The main reason is that a lot of people have the default keybinding for the Steam overlay with is… Shift+Tab. Since I love using autocomplete, it got pretty frustrating when I was holding my shift button and tabbed to autocomplete and my Steam overlay popped up.
A second thing I’d change is to allow the user to enlarge the font of terminal. The reason for that is because it doesn’t really scale pretty well with people who are using larger monitors.
Now, since this game is still in development and this is just the demo… I can totally excuse that there are features not present. Like pushing the up arrow to get the last command, or the help feature not always working correctly in all menus. For example, if you are in the options menu and use “QUALITY HELP”, you get information but if you first write “QUALITY” to see the options you can input and then “QUALITY HELP”… It bugs out and doesn’t give you help at all. Another small bug I noticed is that for some reason, the enter button on my numpad didn’t enter but always selected the whole text. But hey, during the stream the developer said that some of these things are on the list to get fixed for the full game.
Cyberpunk Sci-fi
I was impressed with the visuals of the game when we were playing this game on stream. While I haven’t played the Blade Runner games yet, I have seen a lot of people talk about it and know the visual style of the game. This game really mimics that style extremely well. You really feel like you are in a sci-fi world with some older technology than we have compared to our own technology.
Also, something I really love in this demo is that everything is one big space. You don’t really have “screens” in this game, like in a Broken Sword game for example. No, the camera swings and follows Ama as if she was in a movie. This sells the illusion of the area even more. While I’d have loved to see the details the developer put in every scene more up close sometimes, the more zoomed out look gives you a better overview on the scene. It almost feels like you are watching Ama through security camera’s or a drone camera in a way.
The biggest thing that I want to point out in terms of the visuals is Ama herself. The game goes for a more dark and dimly light environment and with a main character that’s wearing black clothes, it’s extremely easy to lose Ama in the scenery. It wouldn’t surprise me if they gave our main character in Blade Runner a brown coat for that reason, so you can more quickly see the main character without breaking the visual style of the game. But, overall, this is almost a nitpick. Since, it didn’t happen a lot that I lost Ama in the scene. It mostly happened when I was replaying parts of the demo while writing this article.
Now, I want to talk about the command line. The tutorial in this game on how a command line works is actually well done. I love how it doesn’t hold the players hands and tries to force them to input the right thing. It really lets you experiment with it and learn how it works. All the while, a small guide on how things work is displayed on the top of your screen.
This whole command line mechanic in this game is a breath of fresh air. It’s impressive how true to reality the whole command line is. While it uses some creative liberties here and there to make it fit into the game world, overall, it might be a real command line interface that’s open in the game.
In this demo, you have a few tasks to complete. Most of these tasks involve fixing various things. One task is highly dependent on the command line. This was quite easy for me since, like I said, I know how to use a command line. Visually, it’s a bit tricky during the tutorials in the network view since it’s not really clear/easy on how you can scroll up or down while in the network view. Using the mouse mostly scrolls around the network map. I think an easier way to scroll up and down in the terminal could be useful there. Also, when you have to input a command that’s longer than the terminal screen, I’d start a second line. Since, that’s how real life works. Or move the whole thing, and not let the username stay.
Final thoughts and future wishes
Overall, the demo is quite short. If you don’t know what you are doing and exploring everything, it will take you mostly two hours to complete. But if you know what to do, you can finish this in 10 minutes. Yet, the impression I got from the stream hasn’t changed. This game has quite a lot of potential but it needs some polish here and there.
There are some minor things like some objects not being solid and Ama being able to run through them, but there are also more major issues. The elevator bug the developer Marc mentioned during the stream, happened to me. Ama didn’t go up with the elevator and she was stuck. I think it was related to another bug I encountered where the head of IT got stuck in an animation loop. Somehow it was like Ama was near him while Ama was walking in other parts of the station. I don’t know what exactly triggered that, and I have replayed the demo trice to try and get it back into that bugged state, but I was unable to find the cause and I was unable to replicate it.
Currently, there is one way to save the game. There are several terminals in this demo where you can save your game. You only have one save slot. There is also no manual saving of the game. So, remember that. You can also only load from the main menu.
Reviewing a demo is always tricky to do. Especially if the game is still in development, since you never know for sure how the final game is going to look like. Yet, this demo is extremely promising. The puzzles where a lot of fun and after playing the demo, I had the same feeling that Klamath had at the end of the stream. I want to play more or similar games like this.
I could start talking about how the sound effects are amazing but there isn’t enough music yet. But, at one hand, the lack of music really sells the atmosphere of the game a lot more but on the other hand, the music during the terminal sections is really enjoyable. But, I’m sure that in the full game we shall see more music.
Just like I’m convinced that when the full game releases and the players find bugs, they will get fixed. While I was talking with Marc during the stream, I really felt the passion for creating this game and how he wants to make it the best experience it can be for his players. So, if you are interested in this game after reading this article in any way shape or form, I highly recommend that you give this game a chance, play the demo for yourself and give the developer feedback via his Discord or any other of his official channels.
I can’t wait to see and play the final game. Various things got revealed and talked about during the stream and I have to say, it was an amazing experience and conversation. I was already interested in seeing this game when it was on KickStarter but now that I have played the demo, I think we are on a winner here. This game will put an interesting twist on the point-and-click genre and will be interesting to anyone who enjoys adventure games with a sci-fi influence or just enjoy more unique puzzle games.
I want to thank Marc for reaching out to me and talking about his unique project. You can be sure that when the full version releases… me and Klamath will play through it and most likely stream it. And I’ll write a more in-depth article on the final product. Since, I might have not talked quite in-depth in this article but I want to hold off my final opinions when the game is fully released.
If you have read my article, played the demo and/or watched our stream, I’m curious, what did you think about this game? Feel free to talk about it in the comments. Am I overhyping the game or overlooking flaws? Or is there something you’d love to see in the full game?
And with that said, I have said everything about the game I want to say for now. I want to thank you for reading this article and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you in another article but until then, have a great rest of your day and take care.
Creators behind some of the largest digital file campaigns on Kickstarter are preparing for their most ambitious project to date – a physical Modular Display System.
Crate3D, a design company known for its 3D printable products, has announced its upcoming Kickstarter campaign for the JudoGrid Modular Display System. Originally based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Crate3D relocated to a new office on Broadway in New York City after a series of successful Kickstarter campaigns. Now, settled in their new space, they are ready to launch their largest project yet.
The JudoGrid Modular Display System is designed to offer a customizable solution for displaying action figures, tabletop minifigures, and other collectibles. Its modular design allows users to create display cases of any size, expanding both horizontally and vertically to accommodate various shapes and sizes of collectibles.
This new venture builds on the success of the Omni 1, a 3D printable product that raised over $450,000 on Kickstarter in 2023 with 6,437 backers. Following this success, Crate3D received numerous requests for a physical version of their display system. In response, they assembled the JudoGrid team, which has spent the past year and a half developing and testing this new system. The result is a minimalist design with a variety of accessories to enhance functionality and versatility.
“Our digital file campaigns were much easier as the cost was just labor and testing. We now have molds, mass production, international shipping and a ton of bigger obstacles. A lot is riding on the success of this campaign,” said Austen Hartley, CEO of Crate3D.
Crate3D is in the process of finalizing patents, working with suppliers, receiving samples, and preparing marketing materials in anticipation of the campaign’s launch on September 10th, 2024. Drawing on their crowdfunding experience, they are optimistic about a successful launch and eager to deliver these display cases to collectors around the world.
Game Masters, there’s a new Kickstarter campaign that’s capturing the attention of the D&D community. Let the Games Begin by Ava’s Adventures is a compendium of 50 mini-games and challenges designed to enhance your D&D 5th Edition adventures. The project aims to provide a solution for GMs struggling to create unique encounters and engaging downtime activities.
Creating balanced gameplay with both intense dungeon crawls and moments of respite is crucial for maintaining a dynamic campaign. Ava’s Adventures recognized this challenge and developed Let the Games Begin to help GMs seamlessly integrate fun and varied gameplay.
The compendium includes games set in various contexts, from quirky tavern activities to epic tournament challenges. Each entry comes with a detailed overview and mechanics, making it easy for GMs to incorporate into their sessions. The games are designed to reflect different aspects of fantasy worlds, adding depth and variety to your campaign.
All artwork and designs in the book are created by talented artists, with no AI-generated content involved, ensuring an authentic and carefully crafted experience.
The Kickstarter campaign has already surpassed its funding goal, attracting over 270 backers. With three days remaining, there’s still time to support the project and secure a digital or softcover copy. As the campaign progresses, additional stretch goals promise even more content and enhancements.
Casual Game Insider magazine, a go-to source for news, reviews, and insights focused on casual board games, has launched its Kickstarter campaign for its 13th year. This campaign offers fans the chance to support the magazine while securing benefits such as exclusive deals on lifetime subscriptions and sponsor perks. Additionally, a PDF of the Summer 2024 issue is freely available during the campaign, providing a preview of the content readers can expect throughout the year.
Since 2012, Casual Game Insider has been a key resource for casual board game enthusiasts, offering beautifully designed, quarterly issues. The magazine focuses on light, easy-to-learn games and the people behind them, featuring exclusive interviews with designers and creators, coverage of conventions, informative reviews, and explorations into the board gaming hobby.
Each issue also includes a playable print-and-play game, ranging from roll-and-write games to microgames, catering to both solo and multiplayer experiences. This Kickstarter campaign aims to ensure that the magazine can continue delivering the content that has made it a valuable resource for the casual gaming community.
Supporters of the campaign can visit the Kickstarter page to access the free Summer 2024 issue and consider pledging their support. Highlights from the past year include insightful articles, eye-catching layouts, and compelling graphics, providing a comprehensive look at the world of casual board games.
V alternativní historii viktoriánské Anglie, kde známá matematička a spisovatelka Ada Lovelace, která se mimo jiné proslavila práci na mechanickém počítači, pokračuje ve své průkopnické práci na analytickém stroji, se rozvíjí fascinující příběh. Ada žije déle, věnuje se dalším inovacím a spolupracuje s největšími mozky své doby. Tento svět nabízí nespočet možností, jak by technologie mohla vzkvétat pod jejím vedením.
Ada’s Dream je nová desková hra, která právě probíhá svou kampaň na Kickstarteru. Hráči se v ní stanou asistenty Ady Lovelace a budou usilovat o to, aby navrhli nejlepší počítač a získali více bodů než jejich kolegové. Hra je určena pro 1 až 4 hráče s hrací dobou 90 až 120 minut a doporučuje se pro věk 14 a více let.
Hráči draftují kostky z centrálního rondelu a umisťují je na své hráčské desky, kde plní 3×3 mřížku symbolizující součásti počítače. Titul nabízí čtyři hlavní akce, které hráči mohou využít k získání programových dílků, pohybu po mapě, účasti na schůzkách a získávání inovací. Každé rozhodnutí je důležité, protože hra končí, když někdo umístí svou devátou kostku, což znamená, že většina her trvá 18 tahů.
Ada’s Dream je stále ve fázi raného prototypu, což znamená, že mnoho věcí se může změnit. Přesto první dojmy naznačují, že hra nabízí komplexní a strategický zážitek s vysokou mírou znovuhratelnosti. Pokud vás Ada’s Dream zaujala, podívejte se na jejich kampaň na Kickstarteru a podpořte tento projekt, který slibuje přinést svěží vítr do světa deskových her.
Rove vypadá, že bude nová kooperativní desková hra, která hráče zavede do temného fantasy světa plného nebezpečí a dobrodružství. Autoři slibují bohatý příběhový zážitek, jež zaujme fanoušky epických herních kampaní.
Hru vytvořilo studio Addax Games, které je známé svým neoficiálním rozšířením pro Gloomhaven, Crimson Scales. Rove je určena pro 1 až 4 hráče a klade důraz na spolupráci a strategické myšlení. Hráči budou procházet příběhovou kampaní, kde budou čelit různým výzvám a nepřátelům.
Herní mechaniky Rove kombinují taktické tahové boje a rozhodování, jak pokračovat dál v příběhu. Hráči se budou pohybovat po modulární herní desce, plnit mise a bojovat proti různým nepřátelům. Každá postava má své unikátní schopnosti a dovednosti, které hráči musí využít k dosažení úspěchu. Hra také nabízí dynamický systém rozvoje postav a sběr artefaktů ovlivňující herní strategii.
Hra aktuálně zkouší své štěstí na crowdfoundové platformě Kickstarter a již získala vcelku pozornost. Podporovatelé mají možnost získat exkluzivní obsah a bonusy, které nebudou dostupné v běžné verzi hry. Což je tedy již taková ta klasika. Cenovka základní edice vychází na 100 USD. Otázkou tak je, jestli se chytne této hry některý z českých vydavatelství a přinese nám ji v našem mateřském jazyce.
On April 29, an in-development farm sim from Crytivo called Farm Folks shared a now-deleted post about breast jiggle physics on its official X/Twitter account that kickstarted a firestorm, emboldened gaming’s baddest actors, and wreaked havoc in the game’s official Discord. The team behind the studio has since…
Jestliže hledáte novou malou, ale přitom epickou hru do své sbírky, možná vás zaujme právě spuštěná Kickstarter kampaň hry Tiny Epic Game of Thrones. Tato hra slibuje zajímavá klání vycházející z proslulého fantasy světa George R. R. Martina, avšak v kompaktním balení, typickém pro sérii Tiny Epic.
Tiny Epic Game of Thrones je hra pro 1 až 4 hráče, kteří se ujmou role vůdců jednotlivých velkých rodů zápasících o kontrolu nad Westerosem. Hráči budou muset prokázat své schopnosti v plánování, taktickém rozmisťování jednotek a diplomacii. Mechanika hry využívá kombinaci area control, kde hráči obsazují a brání různá území, a správy karet představující různé akce, charaktery a události, jež mohou změnit průběh hry.
Každá hra trvá přibližně 30 až 60 minut, což činí Tiny Epic Game of Thrones ideální pro večerní hraní s přáteli nebo rodinou. Věková přístupnost je stanovena od 14 let, což odráží složitější strategické rozhodování a mírně kompetitivní povahu hry.
Pro fanoušky Game of Thrones nabízí Tiny Epic Game of Thrones zcela nový způsob, jak prožít své oblíbené fantasy. Ať už jste veterán deskových her nebo hledáte něco nového k vyzkoušení, tato hra představuje další zajímavou příležitost k ponoru do bojů a intrik, které jsou tak typické pro bohatý svět Game of Thrones. A otázkou tak nyní je jen, zda se do české lokalizace pustí REXhry, tak jako u jiných Tiny Epic her.
V mlžném ranním světle se několik odvážných cestujících shromažďuje na peroně, aby se připojilo k legendárnímu Orient Expressu. Tentokrát je však cesta obestřena záhadou a nečekanými děsivými událostmi, které čekají za každým rohem. Horror on the Orient Express: The Board Game se na Kickstarteru objevuje pro všechny milovníky deskových her, kteří mají rádi špetku hororu a napětí.
Tato hra hráče zavede na epickou cestu slavným vlakem, kde se každý hráč ujme role jedné z postav s unikátními schopnostmi a tajemstvími. Herní mechanika je založena na průzkumu, kooperaci mezi hráči a řešení záhad, což přináší intenzivní zážitky a nečekané zvraty. Vzhledem k tomu, že hra je inspirována klasickým příběhem, lze očekávat, že důraz bude kladen také na atmosféru a narativní prvek, což je v deskových hrách často to, co odlišuje dobré hry od skvělých.
Hra je designována pro 1-4 hráče, což znamená, že si ji můžete užít sami nebo v malé skupině přátel. Doba hraní se pohybuje okolo 60-120 minut, což je ideální pro večerní hraní. Doporučený věk hráčů je od 14 let, což naznačuje, že hra bude obsahově i mechanicky náročnější a měla by nabídnout dostatečnou hloubku pro zkušenější hráče. Standardní jízdenka na tento výlet vyjde na necelých 100 dolarů.
V rámci deskoherní komunity se objevuje stále více a více zajímavých her, které stojí za to vyzkoušet. Jednou z nich se dle mého názoru jeví Armello. Hra, která nyní sbírá prostředky na crowdfungingové platformě Kickstarter. Ačkoliv Armello pochází ze světa videoher, její přesun do světa deskovek může vzbuzovat oprávněné nadšení.
Hra je zasazena do království Armello, kde hráči přebírají role hrdinů z různých klanů. Cílem je převzít trůn od šíleného krále, což hráči mohou docílit různými možnostmi, včetně boje, plnění úkolů a manipulace s mocnými kartami. Hra vypadá, že bude obsahovat hromadu herních komponent, nabízející rozsáhlou mapu pro průzkum a řadu unikátních kostek a různých karet.
Zvláštní pozornost si zaslouží i fáze dne a noci přinášející další rozměr a ovlivňují dostupné možnosti hráčů. Hra je určena pro 2-4 hráče ve věku od 13 let a jedna partie může trvat až několik hodin, takže se připravte na dlouhé a napínavé večery. Cenovka standardní edice vychází na 79 USD a sběratelská edice přinášející hromadu lepších věcí na 109 USD. Za mě osobně to nevypadá vůbec špatně, jen je tedy otázkou, zda se „nechytí“ lokalizace některý z českých vydavatelství.
Amazon’s new Fallout series is a smash hit and also, pretty dang good, too! And while the series is based on Bethesda’s popular post-apocalyptic RPG franchise of the same name, there are plenty of other games you can play after watching the show if you want more Fallout vibes.
The Volla Tablet is a 12.3 inch tablet with a 2560 x 1600 pixel display, a MediaTek Helio G99 processor, 12GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and support for optional accessories including a backlit keyboard cover and a digital pen. But what really makes it stand out from most tablets is the software: Volla will offer […]
I have generally kept my mouth shut about Camelot Unchained since I got most of my money back just four years ago… I had gone in with a bigger pledge than I generally do on these campaigns based on the misguided belief that Mark Jacobs would know how to size this sort of thing… because I didn’t want to become “that guy” who is constantly complaining about some title they won’t ever play. If I want those types I can find them over on Reddit.
Camelot Unchained: Delivering nothing since 2013
So I have not mentioned the game, save for inclusion in my annual predictions where it never fails to earn me a few easy points every year by failing to ship bascially anything.
But there were always going to be a few eventualities that would garner a post from me. Some major event, like actually giving access to backers, announcing yet another title, or shutting down shop would make it worth the effort, noting a milestone and the distance from the actual promised date and all that as a warning to those who might consider backing an MMO on Kickstarter.
You should not back MMOs on Kickstarter, in case that was not clear. That is my opinion on the topic.
Yesterday there was a bit of a news update. As the headline indicates, Mark Jacobs, through a press release covered by a number of sites (some linked below, because interviews don’t go his way these days), has said that there will be some sort of early access for Camelot Unchained in 2025, though given more than a decade of missed targets and excuses, I find that hard to give to give that statement any weight. I will predict right now that it won’t happen in 2025 and, if it does ship, even in some limited early access mode, I will post about it and note that I was wrong. I do not expect to be wrong.
Anyway, the fact that Mark is making another ship date claim or that their second game, Final Stand: Ragnarok has been up on Steam for early access since October 2021… where it has six reviews and so little play time that it doesn’t even register on Steam Charts, so it really seemed woth pissing backers off for a title that is essentially a tech demo… wouldn’t have prompted me to post. Even the transparent attempt to hide the failure of Final Stand: Ragnarok by claiming it has really been in “first access” and not “early access” is about par for the course for the company.
Even Mark going on about the Unchained Engine, which has been previously speculated about as the real project that his company has been working on, is just more of the same empty talk that would only be worth me mentioning on an especially slow news day. I could write about a dozen other things, why would I waste my time promoting that BS?
No, it was one little tidbit in the middle of that PC Gamer story that piqued my interest. Among the backers who have invested in City State Entertainment, now changing its name to Unchained Entertainment, is Andreesen Horowitz, or a16z.
You may remeber a16z from such past tales such as Marc Andreesen’s techno optimist screed where he is a big baby about possibly being held to account for his actions (everybody loves personal responsibility until it applies to them I guess), being behind the exploitive pump and dump scam that was Axie Infinity, and the backing of CCP’s Project Awakening, where a16z has promised to fund them with up to $40 million to make a cryto blockchain version of EVE Online. Garbage on top of garbage.
All of the other stuff in that press releae faded into the background once I saw they were involved. I mean, the Camelot Unchained team writes dev updates every month and promises are made and broken on a regular basis and words out of the mouth of Mark Jacobs lack substance for me until they are backed up with actual tangible action for backers.
But16z being involved… well, they are all in on crypto and blockchain and being the rent seeking slumlords of a future internet of absolute shit, so that simply has to be a red flag at some level.
Their involvement does not mean that Camelot Unchained will now launch with some underlying crypto, blockchain, NFT, pay to earn bullshit mechanic built into it. [Edit: Mark Jacobs put out a backer email that said it would not though, again, he is overdrawn writing checks on credibility at this point.]
And, of course, not everything a16z touches turns to garbage, but when you get those shitheels involved, the question does necessarily come up. You lay down with dogs you wake up with fleas, as they say.
So I am adding to the events that would cause me to post about Camelot Unchained. The new trigger event, after “actually ships” and “goes out of business” will be the announcement that Mark Jacobs has completely sold out and gone down the Lord British path to complete irrelevence by embracing all that crypto blockchain bullshit.
Related posts, which vary from not cutting an slack and bringing up the long history of the game (Massively OP) to gullible belief in everything Mark wrote (VentureBeat), some of which couldn’t resist sarcasm or apologetic quotes in the headlines:
Once again I have some bullet points about New Eden related topics on Friday. The EVE Online login server was down earlier today (I had half a dozen updates in my email from the EVE Status alerts page) but things seem to be up and running, so off we go to the bullet points.
The Expiration of the Null Sec South Eastern Agreement
A year back, with the collapse of the FI.RE coalition and their retreat clockwise through null sec, where many of the parties landed in the now defunct B2 coalition (though a few kept on going clockwise and passed into alliance with Fraternity and PanFam), there was a question as to what would become of the power vacuum left in the southeast of null sec.
That led to the South Eastern Agreement, in with the major null sec coalitions pledged not to attack, take space, or put allies into that area with the idea of letting new non-bloc aligned organizations get a footing in null sec. The agreement was set to last for one year, a timeline that ran out last week. Some details:
The agreement was not renewed mostly because neither side in the current bi-polar bloc structure of null sec felt it was in their interest. Pandemic Horde attacked, took space, and put allies into the are during the agreement, letting everybody know they could not be trusted, and the Imperium had no interest in protecting the space or being the enforcer, especially since PH seemed keen to provoke a war out of the situation so they could get their allies to assist. So the agreement ended.
Did it do any good? Maybe. Some groups lived there in fairly relative peace. Now, however, unless they are well out of the line of fire, they are likely going to have to pick sides or be ground down in the ongoing PH attacks on the Imperium down there.
A Successful EVE Online Kickstarter
The War for New Eden Kickstarter campaign ended earlier this week as well, with the project successfully funded, bringing up the success/failure ratio for EVE Online related campaigns a bit.
EVE Strategy Board Game
The campaign closed out with a number considerably over their initial goal.
The final totals for the campaign
If you are just hearing about this and feel like you have missed out, you can still put in a post-campaign pledge at the War for New Eden web site. Some links for those interested:
Now, of course, the question is when are backers going to get this rather large board game with so many pieces and board segments? The promise is by Christmas, but I will be surprised it that happens, even with 10 months to go. We shall see.
And what were the other EVE Online Kickstarter campaigns? There are a number of failed ones including the EVE Online Control Panel, a spiffy bit of hardware, and the badly mishandled Fountain War Book campaign.
And the successes? Andrew Groen’s Empires of EVEVol. 1 and Vol. 2.
Havoc Patch Notes
CCP did a fairly big update that included the return of LP trading and a balance pass through a several ship classes.
Honestly, this felt like something that would have been a dev blog in the old days, but they just stuck it in the February patch notes and rolled on.
There are changes to command ships, marauders, entropic disintigrators, and rapid light missile launchers at the top of the list, along with a host of smaller items. You will, for example, now be able to pre-heat modules while still cloaked and invulnerable after a gate jump, so you’ll be ready to rock when you break invuln and decloak.
I haven’t thought about the CSM since the last election, but they are still at work and went to Iceland for the winter summit. CCP Swift posted the summit agenda back at the end of January, and we have been getting some updates and peeks into what happened over on Reddit, including the following posts:
Since the EVE Online news ecosystem has pretty much collapsed I am not sure how much else we’ll hear about the summit. CCP has run hot and cold on minutes of the meetings over the years, so maybe we’ll get something, or maybe we won’t.
Anyway, it is Friday, the weekend is at hand, and it is going to be warm and sunny here in Silicon Valley, all the better to dry us out after the most recent atmospheric river pass.
Corporate entertainment giant Warner Bros. Discovery has begun sending notices to developers behind Adult Swim-published video games that their creations will be delisted and removed from digital stores in the next 60 days. While the company has yet to confirm what will happen to nearly 20 Adult Swim titles currently…
Cascadia: Rolling Rivers a Cascadia: Rolling Hills jsou dvě nadcházející hry rozšiřující svět populární deskové hry Cascadia (u nás ji znáte pod názvem Kaskádia, o jejíž lokalizaci se postaralo vydavatelství MindOK). Tyto nové přírůstky představují sérii zábavných a nápaditých her typu „flip and roll and write“, které se zaměřují na rozmanité prostředí Pacifického severozápadu. Aktuálně zkouší své štěstí v crowdfundové kampani na Kickstareteru.
Hry jsou navrženy pro 1 až 4 hráče, s doporučeným věkem od 10 let, a průměrná doba hry se pohybuje mezi 15 a 30 minutami. Hlavním cílem hry je získat co nejvíce bodů budováním co nejharmoničtějšího ekosystému. Každý hráč obdrží záznamový list, list prostředí a dvě osobní kostky, přičemž hra zahrnuje také centrální kostku přidávající unikátní efekty do každého kola.
Hráči sbírají divokou zvěř pomocí kostek, přičemž mohou využívat různé strategie, jako je změna hodnoty zvířat na kostkách nebo sběr více typů zvířat najednou, což vyžaduje využití speciálních žetonů přírody. Poté mohou hráči dokončovat karty habitatu, aby získali další body a bonusy. Herní listy jsou rozděleny do několika úrovní složitosti, přičemž každý list nabízí jiný způsob skórování a interakci s herními prvky, což umožňuje hráčům postupně zvyšovat náročnost hry.
Cascadia: Rolling Hills a Cascadia: Rolling Rivers jsou zajímavými a inovativními rozšířeními původní hry Cascadia, které přináší nové výzvy a způsoby hraní, aniž by ztratily původní kouzlo a přístupnost, které z Cascadie udělaly oblíbenou hru.
Desková hra Biome je zajímavá, přírodně tematická, desková hra, která hráče zve k vytváření a rozvíjení bohatého ekosystému plného rozmanitých rostlin a zvířat. Ano, toto téma jsme tu už měli několikrát, ale evidentně je oblíbené, proto se pojďme říci něco málo o této hře, která aktuálně zkouší své štěstí na crowdfundové platformě Kickstarter.
O herní design se postaral Leonie Grundler a o umělecké ztvárnění Jessica Apel a Grzegor Siwek. Hra je určena pro 1-4 hráče, s odhadovanou herní dobou mezi 60 a 120 minutami, a je doporučena pro hráče od 14 let. Biome kombinuje strategické umístění karet a budování herního enginu, kde hráči vychovávají mláďata, krmí je a chrání, dosahují biodiverzity a aktivují unikátní schopnosti flóry a fauny, aby vytvořili nejlepší biom a vyhráli hru.
Hra prochází čtyřmi ročními obdobími, přičemž každé má na hru jedinečný vliv. Hráči využívají více než 120 unikátních karet rostlin a zvířat a takticky je umisťují, aby rozvíjeli svůj biom a odemykali speciální síly svého ekosystému. Hru je možné podpořit v anglickém a německém jazyce, přičemž jazyk si můžete vybrat v pledge manageru po skončení kampaně. Deluxe verze hry přináší prémiové herní komponenty, včetně dřevěných součástek a slámových hnízd, do kterých na jaře umístíte tokeny králíčků a kuřátek. Což je natolik roztomiloučké, že si dokáži představit velké oblíbenosti především u dívčího publika.
Once again I have some bullet points about New Eden related topics on Friday. The EVE Online login server was down earlier today (I had half a dozen updates in my email from the EVE Status alerts page) but things seem to be up and running, so off we go to the bullet points.
The Expiration of the Null Sec South Eastern Agreement
A year back, with the collapse of the FI.RE coalition and their retreat clockwise through null sec, where many of the parties landed in the now defunct B2 coalition (though a few kept on going clockwise and passed into alliance with Fraternity and PanFam), there was a question as to what would become of the power vacuum left in the southeast of null sec.
That led to the South Eastern Agreement, in with the major null sec coalitions pledged not to attack, take space, or put allies into that area with the idea of letting new non-bloc aligned organizations get a footing in null sec. The agreement was set to last for one year, a timeline that ran out last week. Some details:
The agreement was not renewed mostly because neither side in the current bi-polar bloc structure of null sec felt it was in their interest. Pandemic Horde attacked, took space, and put allies into the are during the agreement, letting everybody know they could not be trusted, and the Imperium had no interest in protecting the space or being the enforcer, especially since PH seemed keen to provoke a war out of the situation so they could get their allies to assist. So the agreement ended.
Did it do any good? Maybe. Some groups lived there in fairly relative peace. Now, however, unless they are well out of the line of fire, they are likely going to have to pick sides or be ground down in the ongoing PH attacks on the Imperium down there.
A Successful EVE Online Kickstarter
The War for New Eden Kickstarter campaign ended earlier this week as well, with the project successfully funded, bringing up the success/failure ratio for EVE Online related campaigns a bit.
EVE Strategy Board Game
The campaign closed out with a number considerably over their initial goal.
The final totals for the campaign
If you are just hearing about this and feel like you have missed out, you can still put in a post-campaign pledge at the War for New Eden web site. Some links for those interested:
Now, of course, the question is when are backers going to get this rather large board game with so many pieces and board segments? The promise is by Christmas, but I will be surprised it that happens, even with 10 months to go. We shall see.
And what were the other EVE Online Kickstarter campaigns? There are a number of failed ones including the EVE Online Control Panel, a spiffy bit of hardware, and the badly mishandled Fountain War Book campaign.
And the successes? Andrew Groen’s Empires of EVEVol. 1 and Vol. 2.
Havoc Patch Notes
CCP did a fairly big update that included the return of LP trading and a balance pass through a several ship classes.
Honestly, this felt like something that would have been a dev blog in the old days, but they just stuck it in the February patch notes and rolled on.
There are changes to command ships, marauders, entropic disintigrators, and rapid light missile launchers at the top of the list, along with a host of smaller items. You will, for example, now be able to pre-heat modules while still cloaked and invulnerable after a gate jump, so you’ll be ready to rock when you break invuln and decloak.
I haven’t thought about the CSM since the last election, but they are still at work and went to Iceland for the winter summit. CCP Swift posted the summit agenda back at the end of January, and we have been getting some updates and peeks into what happened over on Reddit, including the following posts:
Since the EVE Online news ecosystem has pretty much collapsed I am not sure how much else we’ll hear about the summit. CCP has run hot and cold on minutes of the meetings over the years, so maybe we’ll get something, or maybe we won’t.
Anyway, it is Friday, the weekend is at hand, and it is going to be warm and sunny here in Silicon Valley, all the better to dry us out after the most recent atmospheric river pass.
The new launcher became available and was made the default for anybody new showing up back in November because it was required to support the bolt-on addition of EVE Vanguard. While CCP would remind you about this launcher, you didn’t have to use it.
I have been using the new launcher since November and… it is fine. As I noted back then, you can configure the login process to behave like the current launcher and drop you into character select the way you are used to. Or you can leave it at its default and do character select in the launcher.
The news item promises it will move all your credentials over, but it totally failed to do this for me on my laptop this week. The recommended recourse is to just install from scratch and reconfigure. That they include this in their instructions means they know they have a problem.
On the topic of problems, they also can’t seem to fix the fact that everytime they update the launcher it disappears from your pinned start menu options and you have to go re-pin it again. New launcher problems.
The Ongoing War for New Eden Kickstarter Campaign
The War for New Eden board game Kickstarter campaign carries on. It is now past the half way point of its 28 day run.
EVE Strategy Board Game
The campaign broke out and almost tripled its goal on the first day and was closing in on 5x by the end of the second, but has since fallen into the usual mid-campaign low interest rut so common when a company doesn’t have a mid-campaign plan. (Or has a plan that is indistinguishable from having no plan at all.) You can see the halftime slump in progress over at Kicktraq.
War for New Eden so far
The chart will likely end up with a spike in the last few days as people who were on the fence finally commit, but I always wonder if going a full four weeks is worth the effort, especially for a physical box item like this that they will likely be selling as a retail item eventually. They will be selling this retail, right?
January 2024 Monthly Economic Report and Minerals
The January MER dropped this week while I was travelling for work. I will find some time this weekend to do something about destruction, but I always peek in on the economic side as well to check and see if… for example… CCP has managed to fix the isogen bottleneck that has kept the mineral price index up near its all time high. And did they?
Jan 2024 – Economic indicies
No they have not managed to address the isogen shortage that they created. Their rather paltry “blue star” strategy appears to have had little to no impact.
But that doesn’t mean CCP is punishing players pursuing a production path in New Eden, right? Right?
The SCC surcharge component of the Industry Job Installation Fee has been increased from 1.5% to 4%.
Yes, that isn’t technically a “tax,” but only because they gave it a different name. It has the same goal of any take, which is to take money out of the economy and… as any economist will tell you… dissuade people from participating in that activity. Taxes are disinicentives, and CCP has bumped up this one. Does that mean CCP wants fewer producers or that they do not understand economics? I think the ongoing isogen issue might argue for the latter.
Anyway, happy Lunar New Year to those who celebrate!
As 2024's big bad—Late Stage Capitalism—continues its grim rampage, some developers are looking to more innovative approaches to avoid the publishing industry’s self-sabotaging need for impossibly endless growth. Stormgate creator Frost Giant—a studio created by former StarCraft 2 devs—is following up on its recent…
The new launcher became available and was made the default for anybody new showing up back in November because it was required to support the bolt-on addition of EVE Vanguard. While CCP would remind you about this launcher, you didn’t have to use it.
I have been using the new launcher since November and… it is fine. As I noted back then, you can configure the login process to behave like the current launcher and drop you into character select the way you are used to. Or you can leave it at its default and do character select in the launcher.
The news item promises it will move all your credentials over, but it totally failed to do this for me on my laptop this week. The recommended recourse is to just install from scratch and reconfigure. That they include this in their instructions means they know they have a problem.
On the topic of problems, they also can’t seem to fix the fact that everytime they update the launcher it disappears from your pinned start menu options and you have to go re-pin it again. New launcher problems.
The Ongoing War for New Eden Kickstarter Campaign
The War for New Eden board game Kickstarter campaign carries on. It is now past the half way point of its 28 day run.
EVE Strategy Board Game
The campaign broke out and almost tripled its goal on the first day and was closing in on 5x by the end of the second, but has since fallen into the usual mid-campaign low interest rut so common when a company doesn’t have a mid-campaign plan. (Or has a plan that is indistinguishable from having no plan at all.) You can see the halftime slump in progress over at Kicktraq.
War for New Eden so far
The chart will likely end up with a spike in the last few days as people who were on the fence finally commit, but I always wonder if going a full four weeks is worth the effort, especially for a physical box item like this that they will likely be selling as a retail item eventually. They will be selling this retail, right?
January 2024 Monthly Economic Report and Minerals
The January MER dropped this week while I was travelling for work. I will find some time this weekend to do something about destruction, but I always peek in on the economic side as well to check and see if… for example… CCP has managed to fix the isogen bottleneck that has kept the mineral price index up near its all time high. And did they?
Jan 2024 – Economic indicies
No they have not managed to address the isogen shortage that they created. Their rather paltry “blue star” strategy appears to have had little to no impact.
But that doesn’t mean CCP is punishing players pursuing a production path in New Eden, right? Right?
The SCC surcharge component of the Industry Job Installation Fee has been increased from 1.5% to 4%.
Yes, that isn’t technically a “tax,” but only because they gave it a different name. It has the same goal of any take, which is to take money out of the economy and… as any economist will tell you… dissuade people from participating in that activity. Taxes are disinicentives, and CCP has bumped up this one. Does that mean CCP wants fewer producers or that they do not understand economics? I think the ongoing isogen issue might argue for the latter.
Anyway, happy Lunar New Year to those who celebrate!
Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your friends at IEEE Spectrum robotics. We also post a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months. Please send us your events for inclusion.
Filmed in July 2017, this video shows us using Atlas to put out a “fire” on our loading dock. This uses a combination of teleoperation and autonomous behaviors through a single, remote computer. Robot built by Boston Dynamics for the DARPA Robotics Challenge in 2013. Software by IHMC Robotics.
I would say that in the middle of a rainstorm is probably the best time to start a fire that you expect to be extinguished by a robot.
Inspired by caregiving experts, we proposed a bimanual interactive robotic dressing assistance scheme, which is unprecedented in previous research. In the scheme, an interactive robot joins hands with the human thus supporting/guiding the human in the dressing process, while the dressing robot performs the dressing task. This work represents a paradigm shift of thinking of the dressing assistance task from one-robot-to-one-arm to two-robot-to-one-arm.
Tony Punnoose Valayil from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Institute of Robotics wrote in to share some very low-cost hand-rehabilitation robots for home use.
In this video, we present a robot-assisted rehabilitation of the wrist joint which can aid in restoring the strength that has been lost across the upper limb due to stroke. This robot is very cost-effective and can be used for home rehabilitation.
In this video, we present an exoskeleton robot which can be used at home for rehabilitating the index and middle fingers of stroke-affected patients. This robot is built at a cost of 50 euros for patients who are not financially independent to get better treatment.
Some very impressive work here from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), showing a drone tracking its position using radar and lidar-based odometry in some nightmare (for robots) environments, including a long tunnel that looks the same everywhere and a hallway full of smoke.
I’m sorry, but people should really know better than to make videos like this for social robot crowdfunding by now.
It’s on Kickstarter for about $300, and the fact that it’s been funded so quickly tells me that people have already forgotten about the social robotpocalypse.
Introducing Orbit, your portal for managing asset-intensive facilities through real-time and predictive intelligence. Orbit brings a whole new suite of fleet management capabilities and will unify your ecosystem of Boston Dynamics robots, starting with Spot.
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