Good & evil clash in this epic tactical combat adventure about angels, demons, and the saints caught between!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Shipping + Future Plans
over 3 years ago
– Sun, Oct 31, 2021 at 11:38:07 PM
Hi all,
In this update, you'll see exclusive gameplay of Deliverance with its' iconic character models, you'll get an update on the Neoprene Mat, and you'll learn about our manufacturing and shipping plans. It's a big one -- read on!
Azrael, Christine, and Uriel walk into a bank...
Let's start off with the fun stuff -- I recorded a video a while back of a playthrough with two special people: I know them as Christy and Brighton, but you would know them better as Christine and Uriel!
Along with yours truly as Azrael, we play a 3-angel game against the Demons of Fallbrook on Heroic difficulty. We recorded this playthrough in an abandoned bank building for fun and as a backup just in case we didn't have a reviewer video done in time. It ended up that we had plenty of content, so this was put on the back-burner.
If you'd like to get a deep look at the gameplay of Deliverance, we take our time in this video to talk through our play decisions out loud for you (for better or worse). What I love about our experience here was that the game itself regularly forced us to alter our plans. I always love when decisions are meaningful in a game, and when the right moves change based on what the enemies are doing.
I won't spoil the end for you, but many angels were defeated in the making of this video...
The Neoprene Mat -- Updated Art + Feedback Requested!
I know many of you are very interested to see progress on this, so here is our latest Neoprene Mat graphic!
The Neoprene Mat replaces the need for the Darkness Board and provides a really thematic backdrop of the town covered in fog. When you place map tiles on this, it will be as though you're parting the fog and seeing the details of the town more clearly as you explore.
I'd love your feedback on a specific elements of the mat before we call it "final" -- In particular, if you'd answer these two questions:
1. I'd like to add some more highlights and feature interesting parts of the map with lights -- is there anything you'd suggest that needs to be featured more than it is with contrast like this?
2. What do you feel needs to be adjusted on this mat (if anything)? As always, thank you for being involved and helping make every element of Deliverance the best that it can be!
Status Update + Shipping Plans
So the meat of what I'd like to share is here in this section. I'm writing this free-hand, so I don't know how long it will be, but it's the most important stuff as far as fulfillment of the project goes!
So let's address the elephant in the room first -- the shipping situation!
Ships are sitting on the ocean for weeks due to the backup at the ports of Los Angeles & Long Beach!
There are currently over 500,000 shipping containers sitting off the coast of California. Many of you probably know something about the situation by now, as the common advice is "Buy your Christmas presents early this year!" Supply lines are very strained due to labor shortages and COVID protocols in the United States, and this has led to the backups. There is a short supply of containers and of the ships themselves. Freight across the ocean has turned from a $3,000 expense per container to upwards of $45,000 per container in some cases. Currently, the latest quotes I have are $27,000 per container.
I will likely need at minimum the equivalent of 2.5 containers to properly deliver all our orders to the various regions for fulfillment, so the expense is quite costly for us. There does seem to be some coming relief though! The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach just moved to 24/7 operation, and ports in Florida have started attracting some cargo ships (because in some cases, it is a shorter trip to sail to Florida than wait for the port of Los Angeles to take your cargo). In addition, they are building new containers as fast as they can. As a result, I expect shipping prices will drop significantly in the new year.
What does this mean for Deliverance? We want to make expansions, and we want to print a large enough order that we can fulfill all your orders... and you know... have a product to sell! Therefore, we're delaying the bulk of our manufacturing by 1-2 months (based on the shipping outlook). This technically doesn't put us behind schedule since we added 3 months of wiggle-room, but I do expect this may cause a delay in fulfillment since there are certain to be other hiccups on the road in the future. As an added benefit, we are continuing with our current shipping estimates -- If the market experiences further relief on the price of freight shipping, we will eat the cost without passing any of it on to you. For our Archangel Investor backers, this doesn't affect the shipping of the coming prototypes to you as we are short-run printing those in the USA!
What we are doing now to keep to our timeline is getting our miniature sculpts and metal coins finalized since those tend to take longer, and we're using this bonus time to fine-tune the Campaign. I expect this will have a net positive result on the awesomeness of the campaign and the clarity of the cards and rules as a result of greater testing.
In addition to this, we decided to make a state move -- If any of y'all live in Austin or San Antonio, we're moving to New Braunfels, TX. The chaos of this present day isn't enough for our family of 8 I guess 😂 To all my friends in San Diego area, I'd love to do a meetup event at a local game store before I go! We could probably explode a board game night with fun. Stay tuned on that one.
For those of you wondering where I have been on Discord or Facebook, I have been painting, sorting, landscaping, fixing, screwing in light bulbs, cleaning, and packing with every spare moment to make sure our home is ready to list next week. I am just thankful that I have an actual office I can drive and get work + progress on Deliverance made, too 😋
I expect the chaos to continue in my personal life until we settle in a new home for our family of 8, but my wonderful wife and my awesome staff at my company have given me the grace to continue to make forward progress on all things Deliverance in the meantime.
Thank you all for your support and kindness on this journey!
Postpartum, Minis First Look, + More!
over 3 years ago
– Tue, Sep 21, 2021 at 04:31:24 AM
It's been a quiet month from me thus far, but I'm back for an update on Deliverance! We have a first look at Mini sculpts, baby pics, and more in this latest update! Read on for details.
Angel Minis: Pure & Beautiful Eye Candy
The 9 Angels of Deliverance
The minis we showed on the campaign looked good, but these look even better than the 3D renders! My thanks to our amazing 3D modeler, Russ on these. His experience really shines through.
Our minis are ink-washed, so you'll be able to see the details even if you don't plan on painting them.
Keep in mind, these are just our first sample pics from the factory. They mailed them to me to check for errors and areas of improvement, so I'll get some better pics for you in our next update! They are scheduled to arrive September 27.
Gabriel, Mikko, & Uriel
Michael, Christine, & Azrael
Shula, Taolu, & Sardius
Development Progress
This last month has been a slow month for development, because our family welcomed my firstborn son into the world! More on that later :)
What are we doing now? We're working on rulebook edits, the development of the campaign, and optimization of our shipping + retail offers.
A note on shipping -- We're estimating a $12 per Deluxe game freight cost (4x our original estimated number), which I *think* we might be able to absorb due to the wildly successful t-shirt sales... As a marketing nerd, I have always recommended against selling shirts in a Kickstarter campaign, but it seems the "higher calling" has paid dividends (the higher calling was you, my backers, demanding shirts)! We have currently sold over 500 shirts!
That said, it would really help our shipping situation if you were willing to jump in for a Deliverance t-shirt of any sort (or the bundle of 3). I'm aiming to not charge extra shipping once we get our final numbers, and this is how we get there! Just go to the BackerKit Pledge Manager and add a t-shirt on to your order. You can also send me a message on Kickstarter requesting your link if you wouldd like to support but lost your link!
Family Matters
I shared once before, but in case you haven't met my son, say hello to Isaac Andrew Lowen! Bonus pic of my family.
You can't see me in my yellow flower Little Sleepies PJ's, because... someone had to hold the camera. Also, that is indeed a Buster Sword baby rattle which was a present from a friend that *definitely* knows me.
These are the people that I love whom you supported (and are supporting) with your pledges in addition to making something special in Deliverance!
Projects of Note
I love to lift up initiatives that align with the vision I have for Deliverance (High quality + solid theme). These are not compensated in any way -- I legitimately think you guys should know about these people and that they are worthy of support.
Animo: Red Letter Day-- I own all their stuff, and if you have kids like I do (age 2-12), they'll love this. It's basically like Pokemon TCG, but with a Christian theme that really adds to the gameplay experience. They have about a week left on Kickstarter, and you can learn more by clicking here.
Dungeons of Infinity -- This is a true "infinite" dungeon crawling experience that can be played competitive or co-op against the dungeon. I recommend you checking this one out if you love dungeon crawlers, because the folks at Sky Kingdom Games do great work, but AND a very genuine supporter of Deliverance (Jack Spoerner) has poured his heart and soul into the design of this project. They also have about a week left on Kickstarter, and you can learn more by clicking here.
IMPORTANT: Pledge Manager Details + A True Deliverance
over 3 years ago
– Tue, Aug 17, 2021 at 09:20:25 PM
Greetings everyone! This update is especially important for a few reasons -- First and foremost, you need to do something if you want your rewards! Also in this update are some very helpful FAQ's, a short progress update, and some special personal news I want to share with you... Read on for details.
Important: Fill Out Your Pledge Manager Survey!
We are completing the final test for our pledge manager surveys today, which you will use to confirm your rewards and select any additional add-ons you may want (like one of those amazing Kickstarter Exclusive T-Shirts)!
We have already sent a small number of surveys out, and will send the rest out by tomorrow, so be sure to watch your email for an email from BackerKit with the subject: Response needed to deliver your reward for Deliverance: The Game of Spiritual Warfare.
You will access the Pledge Manager from the link in that email, which functions a lot like a typical e-commerce website. The Pledge Manager will be loaded with the total amount of your Kickstarter pledge, and your selected reward will be in your cart to confirm.
Before you get to that, you'll be asked a few questions -- some of which are just important bits of info (like how our shipping price is an estimate that could change based on our final quoted prices before we ship).
Next, if you're adding the discounted "3 T-Shirt Bundle" to your order, you will select your styles and sizes as soon as you begin the checkout process (the PM made us do it that way).
If you have other questions or issues with your order, please feel free to use BackerKit's support system (which is awesome btw), or reach out to me via Kickstarter msg or e-mail at [email protected]. We'll get you sorted!
Some of you will see the "Plague, Fire, Water, Air Angel Expansion," which is what we decided to call the 4 new Angels -- These are the stretch goal angels that are already included with the Deluxe Edition and above, but for those that wanted the base game only, this is how they would get all the gameplay content.
It is important to note that the Deluxe Edition comes with additional component upgrades not included in this expansion like the 4 angel health dials, the Prince health dial, a larger box, a removable components tray, and the custom plastic insert.
You can choose to upgrade to the Deluxe edition or the expansion. There *is* enough room in the base box for the expansion cards, standees, and angel boards.
Extra Angel Minis
Some also wanted the ability to get an extra set of angel miniatures, which has been made available as an add-on in the Pledge Manager.
How do I get everything for the best price?
To keep things really clear, if you're looking to get all the content and cosmetic upgrades, you want to be sure to upgrade your pledge to the "All In" Edition.
This will help you save about $90 off MSRP (and a lot more on shipping) -- $45 savings for all the gameplay items (minis + deluxe angels + component upgrades) and $45 additional savings for bundling the cosmetic upgrades (metal coins, acrylic glass standees, and the Neoprene Mat).
In addition, if you want to get the best deal on shirts, you'll save $12 and a bit of shipping by getting the "3 T-Shirt Bundle" over a single shirt.
Progress Report
We have accomplished 3 major goals since we finished our campaign. The first two were the Tabletop Simulator mod upgrade and starting the Miniature Molds with our factory -- Longpack Games. We discussed these in the previous update, which you can read here.
The third major goal was finishing our Pledge Management system.
The next thing to expect is a rulebook update (it is nicely polished now, as it has been tested over 1,500 times in the last ~month by Tabletop Simulator players on our Discord Server).
Now that we're finished with a lot of our fine-tuning and polishing (thanks to hundreds and hundreds of dedicated play testers), our attention turns to polishing the Campaign! Expect spoiler-free updates in the future on this exact subject, and maybe if you're paying attention, an opportunity to test some of the scenarios early!
A Special Deliverance
My son Isaac arrived Aug 14th!
His "Deliverance" happened at 2:09am, just TWO MINUTES after we got to the hospital bed. We woke up at 1am with my wife going through crazy pain, and we had to wait a few critical minutes for our family to arrive to take our kids before we could leave. Thankfully there were no cars on the road, or we may not have made it! When we got to the hospital, we found an abandoned wheelchair in the middle of the parking lot, and I used it to expedite my wife to the delivery room. It was a crazy experience, and all worthwhile as Christine, Voice of Thunder and baby Isaac are free of complications and doing well at home.
A last note!
If you're looking for a really engaging card game with Biblical tones that your kids will love, I recommend Animo. My kids go silent for an hour playing with and looking at these cards (I have 6 kids ages 8 and under). We can play with them and enjoy it too -- it reminds me a bit of Star Realms as far as complexity goes, so it's not bad, but it's also interesting enough for me to enjoy as an adult! Those of you with kids know how few legit games are out there that are *actually* able to entertain kids like this. They have a Kickstarter coming up that you should know about. Check out Animo: Red Letter Day, which launches September 7!
Vote In Our Deliverance Shirt Poll + Pledge Manager Info
over 3 years ago
– Tue, Aug 03, 2021 at 11:44:10 PM
Vote in the Deliverance Shirt poll, get a pledge manager update, learn what we've been working on, and get the forecast on what is coming next. Welcome to our first post-campaign update!
Deliverance Shirt Poll
After many hours of work into these shirts and some early requests for feedback from our community, we have arrived at the final 8 shirt designs. Each design has a unique front and back design.
We will pair down our community votes into the 3 most popular styles - You may vote for any number of designs, but we recommend only casting votes for your favorite 3 shirts.
We are still considering sizes. We currently have plans for unisex shirts size Small - 6XL, but we are open to adding shirts of other cuts (Junior and Ladies' cuts) if enough of you want them!
A quick note about the final selection: We might adjust the eventual winners to ensure we have a variety of colors and styles -- Please keep this in mind when voting on your favorites!
Many have asked when our Pledge Manager will be up. The answer is soon after we finalize our shirts!
Once we get our final shirt designs locked in, we'll open up the pledge manager for you guys to place your orders.
Many of you have been asking about buying extra games as gifts or upgrading your pledges -- you will be able to do this in our BackerKit Pledge Management system.
In addition, BackerKit will provide a host of other useful customer service-related tasks, like updating your address or modifying your existing order with ease.
Since BackerKit announced they will be taking off August 9-13th, we expect to have our pledge manager up the week of their return. This slates our Pledge Manager launch about 2 weeks from now!
Campaign Development
Since we finished our campaign, we did two big things that are worth sharing with you:
1. We submitted our miniature sculpts to Longpack Games to begin the molding process!
We're rolling on the most dreaded and time consuming element of the manufacturing process - getting the miniature sculpts finished! We have all our sculpts completed, so we submitted them to the manufacturer to begin the process of machining out the steel plates that will eventually be used to create master versions of our angel minis. This often takes 4-6 months on its' own, so starting this early was critical for us to keep to our delivery timeline.
2. We pushed a massive update to our live Tabletop Simulator mod!
After well over 1,000 plays of Deliverance on Tabletop Simulator, all of the amazing feedback has been distilled down and implemented. All of the text in the game has been examined and considered for clarity + awesomeness. As a result, we have added additional scripting as well as made meaningful improvements to many of the cards, angels, minions, and Fallen Princes have been updated in our latest update (v1.77).
Some of the cards had dated or confusing text, and we were able to resolve them. Others, like select Angel Talent cards, needed a bit of an improvement so they were viable choices that a player might select over the other cards in various cases. We tightened the gameplay by eliminating edge cases, and even fixed a very well-hidden infinite combo loop (or two).
We have been using Tabletop Simulator for testing and development ever since COVID cancelled every convention, and despite the setback of having to stay inside far more than I wanted, this has been a real gem to emerge from these odd times we're living in!
If you're looking to play a game of Deliverance, you can right now with Tabletop Simulator!
I realize I have not given you guys expectations for how often you may expect to receive an update from me, so I thought it wise to provide some context here for the future!
I will post an update at least 1x per month to update you on progress. I'll also be in the Kickstarter comments and engaging in our various communities on BoardGameGeek, Facebook and Discord to answer questions. Lastly, you're welcome to send me a message via Kickstarter if you have something you need!
What is next?
The critical next steps for us involve development of the Campaign. We have allotted ourselves through November to wrap up the development of the Campaign as well as get our files ready for manufacturing. While our future updates will focus on this, I don't want to spoil anything for you by giving you details about the campaign missions!
We have a few more big surprises up our sleeve that we will reveal as we get closer to their fruition, and I can't wait to share more with you!
Kind regards,
Andrew Lowen & the Deliverance Team
A note of appreciation + answers to questions about your rewards!
over 3 years ago
– Fri, Jul 09, 2021 at 09:53:00 PM
This update will be a shorter update with less pictures, but could be very important if you had a burning question about your pledge. Let's start with the excitement!
What an incredible finish!
We unlocked it all!
(Design & Colors Not Final)
These are added as bonus Angel cards and will come in addition to your current cards! :D
I celebrated by taking my wife out to breakfast, eating the yummiest and least healthy thing I could find on the menu (loaded Biscuits and Gravy), and then came home and crashed for 3 hours for the best nap ever.
On behalf of our entire Deliverance team, you guys have been such a great and welcoming community, and we are humbled and soooooo excited to bring this game to you!
Frequently Asked Questions (Post-Campaign)
We're getting two really commonly asked questions in messages, and we thought it would be a good idea to address these publicly for others that might be wondering the same thing!
I missed the opportunity to pledge! How can I get a copy of Deliverance?
We figured some would expect our campaign would end in USA's evening time, and missed the deadline to pledge! We will give people that missed the opportunity to join the Kickstarter campaign a chance to jump in during BackerKit Pledge Manager.
The best way to be notified is via our e-mail list, which you can join here: http://eepurl.com/c4PWqv
But be sure to jump in soon, because we're going to increase the prices for the pledges to their retail levels after a time! We value the contribution of our Kickstarter backers, and don't want to be known as a company that will just leave the pledge manager open for a year after. We want our backers to see a ton of value backing our Kickstarter campaign, too!
I didn't get to select my rewards (shirt sizes/colors, etc). Did I miss something?
You didn't miss anything yet! You will be able to select your rewards in our Pledge Manager. We will take a few weeks to get the BackerKit Pledge Manager ready, and you'll be able to select your rewards through their easy-to-use system. You can also use this system to update your address in the event that you move, or even add additional items to your pledge!
When do you collect shipping?
We will collect shipping for Deliverance nearer to the time our Manufacturer is finishing up production of the game. That will allow us to get more accurate freight quotes. We will ask you to pay for shipping in the future, likely closer to the end of the year :D
How will you handle the scaryshipping situation?
This is a *very* smart observation! If you haven't seen the videos from Jesse Anderson of Quackalope or Alex of BoardGameCo, they go into detail on the current Freight situation. The short version is that sending games places on a giant ship is like 4x more expensive than normal, which is sending many companies scrambling for answers.
I love how my friend Kirk put it to me this morning: "Don’t consider the money yours until you fulfill the game."
Our primary job is to get this game to you before we take a penny! Our answer is that we're going to pay the freight, because we literally just raised $314,000+ on Kickstarter, and that allows us to eat some extra costs for you guys. We will fulfill every region as promised in a region-friendly way, and we'd rather lose profit than ask you guys to pay for it.
Conclusion
You guys gifted us with the ability to make Deliverance, and it looks like we will have more surprises in store in the future!
For now, join us on the quest to FINISH the thing you empowered us to make!
And if you want to get a game of Deliverance in and join our Community's conversation (or get a rules explanation + Tabletop Simulator teach), join us on Discord here: https://discord.gg/FuA6qfaqe4
