I only backed it because their previous projects didn’t show up in retail. Like, good luck finding Aegean Sea when it was fulfilled to backers back then.
Looks like they are big enough to go down this route. I won’t be backing their projects again.
Even with the extra exclusive stuff that is only available on crowdfunding (see Cyclades) don’t seem to be worth it.
I certainly glad I didn’t backed the latest Cthulhu Wars because they were big enough for retail and all their stuff end up being cheaper on retail
I have 1 and 3 and thoroughly enjoyed reading the rules but haven’t played. This doesn’t seem like a responsible buy but fomo and completion must have their say.
Back in the day I really wanted pixel tactics but I think I was just excited by the aesthetic and there was this weirdo publisher. They almost had an American Oink vibe.
My fancy wooden version of Corps of Discovery turned up today and my word is it some well organised storage and very pretty. This is some of the neatest setup friendly storage I’ve ever seen. Although I very nearly binned the blank map screen that’s in the box. Seconds from disaster.
I continue to be struck at the wide variance of companies’ abilities to operate and deliver.
Super Pixel Tactics is $120 shipped for what is essentially 6-10 decks of cards and 2 sheets of punchboard. This does include say 150 pixel character sprites that they are remaking, but otherwise very little development time needed.
Then there is Nippon Zaibatsu, a full on game with custom screen printed wood, metal coins, numerous layered boards, etc for $100. Also an existing game but, in the latter case, more changes and redevelopment from the old product to the new.
Operations, operations, operations.
I’ve decided not to back super pixel tactics, as a revisit of what I have confirmed that I do want to play this game more, but the two decks I have should be more than enough runway for the game. I have a few weeks left to continue to waver about the extra content and redesigned card layouts though.
The Nippon Zaibatsu people are also doing a bunch of AI crap, at least in their advertising.
Super Pixel Tactics definitely priced me out though. I don’t mind paying that much for a full new set of cards, necessarily, but 90% of what you’re getting for that money is a cosmetic revamp of the previous edition with no mechanical changes, and I already have all that. And there just isn’t an upgrade path at all. Brad has posted about their reasoning but it doesn’t make it any more attractive to me.
As someone who has no pixel tactics it did tempt me. I think only the timing has stopped me backing. I need for funds for other purposes just now and if I had a fun budget currently I would. Maybe a late pledge would be possible. How much do you rate the game and under which circumstances do you play it?
Oh I haven’t played it in years and wasn’t super into it for competitive play, which is another reason I wouldn’t pay this price. Conceptually it should be exciting but both games I played were hideously long slogs where we struggled to actually achieve forward progress. I haven’t heard anyone else say the same and it’s billed as quick so I am not sure if we just had bad luck or were doing something wrong.
However, this version is getting a solo mode with a book of bosses you fight in a sort of roguelite mini campaign, and I think it would probably be a lot of fun in that mode… but you can’t get that or anything else new separate from the years worth of content I already have.
It’s a dueler that benefits from repeat play and repeat match-ups. Each card has four uses (functionally a different unit if it is in the front, middle, or back of your 3x3 army, plus an “action” one-off that you can trigger and discard. So with a hand of 5 cards, you have 20 options to read, understand, and evaluate for synergy.
But it benefits that the game goes in “waves,” where you are only looking at the front, middle, or back row at any given moment. And it is very tactical (fitting) so you are fine zeroing in on your hand to look at just the relevant options.
That explosion of options is really the only downside. After that, you get into the synergies, which is Innovation level bonkers. Put card A behind card B and suddenly you have a broken combo with which to demolish your opponent’s board. They have the same cards and same options, so it’s a bit of mutual assured destruction as you both hunt for these combos and try to invoke them. There is a degree of summoning sickness, though, so you have some opportunity to react before your opponent executes.
You each have the same 25 cards, and there are only 25 cards. So learning your deck and your opponent are when the game starts to shine. And with each of those 25 cards having four uses, there are a ton of different options for how to approach any session and react to what the other player is setting up.
I’d put it in the category of BattleCon, Exceed, Innovation, War Chest, etc just for being a focused dueler with a learning curve but a highly variable space.
New FlashPoint Fire Rescue kickstarter is up, and a Paperback Adventures one coming soon… just as I run out of cash! Oh well, see what I can scrape together!
The other crowd-funding campaign I couldn’t help but notice is Gallipoli: Ordered to Die, which covers the most notorious/devastating military campaign of WW1 for ANZAC forces (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps). The campaign inflicted absolutely appalling casualties on both sides of the conflict, and the anniversary of the Allied landings on the 25th of April each year is the national day of armed forces commemoration in both AU and NZ.
Looking at this game is a slightly strange experience for me. While most of WW1 feels like distant history, these particular events are a national focus each and every year such that they seem ever-present. I’m just not sure whether I’d want to play this one.
Once again proving that I have no understanding of crowd-funding, I am baffled that after two years they have again started their Phantom Division campaign with no demonstration of the physical game.
IIRC last time they said they’d been expecting the prototype to arrive before-or-during the campaign but it didn’t for various upstream reasons, and at the time I couldn’t fathom why they didn’t just postpone the campaign until they had their ducks in a row.
This time the main campaign video’s game footage is all CG renderings, and one of the developer’s comments (which I cannot find today, hmm) said that a video of the physical gameplay is in the works, and they had expected to have that video ready in time for the campaign launch, but some unexpected Life events prevented this from happening in time. Which is totally fine, but why not postpone the campaign until you’re ready?!
I find this stuff so weird. Can’t you just… prepare the things you need to launch your campaign, and then launch it? What’s the motivation to just charge ahead with a half-arsed launch?
I know they’ll have been working on other projects in the interim, but the fact that there’s been a two year interval between the campaigns and they still haven’t managed to film the game being played seems absolutely bonkers.
I expect the video will crop up along the way and people who are motivated to check back will get the info they need, but I really don’t understand this process.
Edit: I’m being fairly harsh, I guess – they do have an unboxing video of the current physical prototype to show off all of the components, so it’s not the same situation as last time; and there’s a heap of info and visuals in the campaign as it is, so it looks like a pretty solid effort; but I still think that waiting until everything is ready to show off would be the sane thing to do.
The game looks like something I’d probably enjoy playing, but I wonder how long that set-up and tear-down process is…
