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2020 Preview PLUS an optional questionnaire
🕑 Added 2019-12-02 17:10:31 +0000 UTCHello everyone! It’s time for a 2020 Board Game of the Month Club Preview, and a questionnaire. Every year we learn from our mistakes and try to fix them in the next. I know of a bunch (getting items out on time is the biggest), but I want to know your thoughts as well. Some fixes will be happening in January, but we want to make sure we are CONSTANTLY fixing the issues, not just at the passing of each year. One of the issues is going to be helped (but not resolved) in the following blurb that I will try to put at the top of each message.
Patreon messages are unable to be seen by our customer support wizard, Matthew. They generally go into my inbox (as Patreon doesn’t allow for admins), and that is never a good thing. If you need anything, the best way to get an answer is to email Matthew at buttonshyhelp@gmail.com. Thanks everyone. :)
Here’s the questionaire.
https://forms.gle/v4etPw4BCje6ekMN6
It’s optional and anonymous if you would like. We’re looking for any type of feedback you have. It’s all helpful.
Let’s talk about 2020
As we go into 2020, the top goal is to make sure packages go out in the months they are intended to. This requires a lot of scheduling and logistics, but it’s a top priority. We’re often just waiting on a single item to arrive, and it can hold things back for weeks. As a result, we need to be a little more flexible with what is in the packages. I know that some like to see what’s coming before adjusting their pledge, so we will let everyone know if we are 100% sure something is coming in a package. Sometimes it’s up in the air due to art and print schedules and we will work to be ahead of it. Other times, we may plan something, and shift it last minute in the event of getting the packages out. With that in mind, January is going out in January no matter where we are with any previous unsent packages. So you may get January before December for example as we work on both sides: getting out the new and resolving the old. Hope this makes sense.
We have 4 slots. $3+ PNP, and the physical tiers of $5+, $10+ and $20+
PNP Level
The PNP tier will continue to have a floating selection of games in our library. Not everything will end up in PNP. Some of the more complex games (see Personal Space) aren’t easy to do in PNP. But we will keep sending the wallet games there, along with everything else we can. You will also receive your $1 discount on any Kickstarter campaign or web order.
$5+ Level
At this level you will receive three ongoing releases this year (and maybe some more, as we wrap up some projects here). You will also receive your $2 discount on any Kickstarter campaign or web order. Let’s talk about the $5+ level games.
Personal Space
Designed by Jason Tagmire
Players: 1 player with multiplayer interactions
Components: Monthly postcards, cards, stickers, some PNP elements and provide your own tokens
Welcome to your Personal Space. A continuous game of living your best life. This is a game that touches on so many elements, and skips so many others. You’ll play once a day (if you would like to) and experience a little bit of the daily life on your planet. You can go to your job, collect resources, explore side moons, interact with your neighbors, interact with other players, and much more. The starter pack will get you everything you need to play and then each month we will introduce a new moon, new concepts and new gameplay. There are real life elements to the game (your real life weather and time of day will matter), and there is some real life communication involved as well (you can interact and trade with other players - and the game - online - for example, do you want a better job in game? You can apply online for it.).
Let’s talk about the product itself. Everyone will get a unique character card. Everyone will also receive a mixed set of starter items (neighbors, job, etc). Each month, you’ll get the same side moon, but maybe a different inhabitant. There’s no real way to get everything, but here’s why. We want this to be a personal and unique experience for everyone. A few other weird things to note: There are Roll & Write and PNP elements, some digital elements too. There’s no way to win or lose. It’s all about the experience and making it exactly what you want. Do you want to load up on resources every day incase there’s something awesome to trade for? Go for it. Maybe you want to load up on resources and give them away each day? That’s all you. Maybe you just want to explore and meet new people? Or concentrate on a hobby? Or set daily goals and knock them off your to-do list? Or just wander in the rain in the middle of the night? We’re going to make everything possible. Some immediately, some over time.
This is something very different for us, and it’ll grow throughout the year. It’s a tough thing to tackle, and we hope to make it the best thing it can be.
Trolling For Trouble
Designed by Mike Mullins
Players: 3+ players
Components: 6 cards plus one new card each month
The adventures of Earthshine’s Chasm are getting to be few and far between. With dwindling opportunities to ambush would-be-heroes, the monsters have to find a way to decide who gets to go into the dungeon looking for trouble.
Each round, players are dealt a face-down monster role. They will try to convince their fellow monsters who should be sent to fight the hero, and who should be left behind. Each monster has it's own agenda, including the Troll that can steal coins if players mistakenly leave it on the sideline. Each monster sent into combat will roll a die to try and defeat the hero and gain the spoils. With some good monster social skills and a bit of luck, you'll be able to grab 7 coins before any of your opponents and claim victory.
Chain Mail: More Characters
Designed by Jason Tagmire and Jason Greeno
Components: 1 new card each month
This is a funny one. A direct result of the Chain Mail community involvement. EVERYONE HATES THE THIEF. Here’s why. He’s twisting and turning his dial with a chance for error that caps at 50%. Well if the dice aren’t your friend, that can be 100%. But there are a few reasons for this. 1) He has some great abilities, like the power to dual attack almost every turn. Even if it’s every other turn, it’s more often than any other character. But 2) not all characters should be great. One of the goals for Chain Mail was to create a fully modular solo / co-op experience. If you want to make a mix of characters that will be a real challenge, replace the Cleric with the Thief. You’ll have a very different game.
But we still know that he’s not a favorite, so it introduces us to 2020 and our plans for Chain Mail. We plan to make Chain Mail 2.0 a boxed version that takes all of the best bits, makes a few clarity changes, and adds some new stuff. But alongside of that, we want to add a few things for Chain Mail 1.0 for all of you. The first is a set of new characters. These are the same classes you’ve seen, but new characters in those classes.
How do we define a class? By the structure of their card. You’ll see the new Thief below, and notice her card is the same, but her icons and values are different. You can play Tsarra OR Samear in your games. You could also play Tsarra AND Samear if you want to go all out on theives. Expect that for many other classes throughout the year. And maybe some other non-character stuff mixed in. One big plan is to provide some digital scenarios and challenges. Not so much a club item, but something club members may appreciate. We'll see how it all goes!
$10 Level
Expect a handful of expansions. We have the final pieces of The Perfect Moment, Anthelion, and Mech Age coming your way. But there are also new expansions coming. Expect to see Sprawlopolis: Interstate early in the year. Expect to see FOUR 6 card expansions for SpaceShipped, mixing things up in a big way. Expect to see a tiny Liberation expansion that we’ve been holding out on for a while now. There are also a few solo games that we could see expanded. Maybe some new Tussie Mussie: Flower Shoppe cards? I’ll see Mike Mullins this weekend and get it into his ear. Anything else that you want to see expanded?
And aside from expansions there will be some new smaller games. We ran into some snags on the 9 card line because they are hard to package. We can’t seem to get 9 cards and rules into a single sleeve, and we aren’t big fans of leaving the rules outside of the sleeve. So we started looking at some other formats. We are planning some 3 card games that use dice and cubes. Similar to the original Twin Stars sets and MechAge. And other than that, expect a few surprises. We’ve got an amazing design community behind the 18 card challenges that we’ve been posting, and we hope to see more great games from them.
$20 Level
We have some great games from our 18 card challenges coming your way. Amazing games like Interceptor by Galbs Games and more to be announced. Then we also have two solo games from Scott Almes, The Ugly Gryphon Inn and Food Chain Island. Both excellent solo games that will be coming to our collection. Speaking of solo, we’ll have a standalone expansion to Universal Rule that brings solo to the mix. And so much more. We have a few projects that are so close to being ready to announce, that if this post was just a week later, we could announce 3-4 more 2020 games.
Thanks to all of our ongoing supporters and welcome to all of our new supporters. We're thrilled that we have the opportunity to do this year after year and we couldn't do it without you!
Comments
James Bass
Looking forward to another great year!
Matthew Mitchell
I know that Jason’s been scrambling to get everything to the printer. There should be an update any day now.
Luke Muench
As is mentioned in this post, I'm under the impression that we'll be seeing the January 2020 pledges launch sometime this month; any idea of an ETA at this point?
Matthew Mitchell
If there are some, they're in the pinned messages in the channel for the challenge.
Christian Mills
How do I access the games in the Discord server?
Matthew Mitchell
Not that I'm aware of.
Christian Mills
Have the T-shirts for 20$ supporters in the US been shipped yet???
Kelly
New-ish supporter here, and I have to say I'm very excited to see what 2020 holds! Thanks for keeping us updated!
Andrew DeFalco
Those are Wallet Games, Got It.
Matthew Mitchell
The $10 level does not include any wallet games. Wallet games are only included in the $20 level. That being said, any person, whether patron or not can purchase wallet games on buttonshygames.com. So $10 patrons can choose to purchase wallet games in addition to their BGOTMC rewards.
Andrew DeFalco
So we'll get Interceptor, Ugly Gryphon Inn, and Food Chain Island at the $10 level?
Lyle Freijo
Ok. Thanks!
Matthew Mitchell
Correct! Wallet Games are all listed on the Button Shy Webstore. The $20 level is just a good way to get a discount on a $10 ($12) BGOTMC package and a wallet game bundled together.
Matthew Mitchell
Some of them are in the Discord Server. The games are still the property of the individual designers. So it's up to each designer whether they'd like to share the PnP files.
B.EASTerling
I think they always put the wallet games on their website for sale as well, where they cost around $12 each (pre-discount, plus extra to include any expansions). I think that all actually-exclusive content is found at the $10 and below.
Andrew DeFalco
Are the 18 card challenge games and the other games listed exclusive to the $20 level?
Lyle Freijo
Just the ones that made the top 10.
Lyle Freijo
I watch the video of the 18 identical card competition. Are those games going to be available in print and play? Most of them looked amazing. Any chance that you will get out a list of games and designers for The Games?
Beano X Bates
Just joined. Forgot to do it before Dec 1st.😅
Fernando Costa
It makes more sense than being deprived of several scenarios. I'll be looking forward to it.
Seb H
Thanks for the info! It looks like the best way for me right now is to join at the PnP level and up my pledge to $12 if I want something from an upcoming physical package. :)
Matthew Mitchell
@DJ McLaughlin if you joined last week, you should get the tail end of Chainmail 2019. But we will also be posting extra starter packs on the site here after all 2019 packages have shipped. So you would be able to get one that way as well.
Matthew Mitchell
You can join now. If you join any time during the month of December, you'll have your first Patreon charge on January 1st which will mean January is your first package. =)
Shane Stewart
To join for the January stuff and going forward do I join now? Or wait till January? I’m a new international backer, looking forward to supporting!
Matthew Mitchell
@Vanessa you can find the link here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/important-links-17210335
Matthew Mitchell
Base Chainmail is still currently available. Any BGOTMC backer who supported on or before November 30th will get a Chain Mail package.
Button Shy
It’s hard to explain well especially with how creatively exhausted I am from everything that led up to that monster post, but I can assure you that the game doesn’t function if you have everything. It’s a game about working within your environment and carrying on your daily life and within that are things that you don’t have control over, and things that are unique to your experience. Yours is different than everyone else’s because it has to be or else the whole thing doesn’t make any sense. It’s very ambitious, I know. We’re trying something a bit outside the norm here since there’s plenty of norm to go around.
Button Shy
Hey thanks for asking. Generally almost everything shows up on the site in some fashion. Either the package for the month or the separate expansions. The club just funds the production and in most cases there are a good amount leftover.
Seb H
I'm currently on the fence about joining, since money is tight and I'm international; will the StarShipped expansions be available in your store later? More generally, are the things from the Patreon usually exclusives, or will they pop up for sale later?
DJ McLaughlin
Is there any chance that the Base of Chainmail will be reprinted or available for purchase in some way? I’m not PNP savvy but willing to pay for product. As it stands, ChainMail 2020 seems like it’s going to be wasted on me.
Vanessa Huacani
As noobs we are a bit clueless... there’s a lot to learn... where is a link to said Dropbox?
Fernando Costa
It all looks pretty cool, specially Personal Space. Though may I suggest that everyone ends up getting all content, even if the order is randomized? The thing that bums me out of playing Discover: Lands Unknown is that I can'tt have the "whole" game.
Theresa D.
Can’t wait to see what 2020 brings. Thanks for a fantastic 2019!
Eugene Meidinger
Some very exciting stuff
Button Shy
Chain Mail 2020 is just a single card monthly to add to the 2019 game. The PNP of the 2019 game will remain free in the Dropbox for all of 2020
DJ McLaughlin
Chain Mail question: since I just became a Patreon last week, I have no Chainmail backlog. Does Chain Mail 2020 rely upon the assumption that we have Chain Mail 2019, or will it be standalone?
Lora miller
Sounds great!!!!
Button Shy
If all goes well it will :)
William Hanna
Will Trolling have a wallet in Dec2020?
braigoPN
It all sounds amazing! Can't wait!
