Dice designs & ideas + development updates - feedback requested!
almost 3 years ago – Sat, Apr 02, 2022 at 04:37:25 AM

Hi everyone! It's been a pretty wonderful month for development. I am tempted to share all the spoilers for the content we're working on, but I managed to hold myself back (mostly). Read on for a production update, dice details, campaign and Lieutenant updates, and more!

It's Springtime for Deliverance!

I have been able to work on Deliverance more in the month of March than I have the past 3 months combined. Moving the fam across country took a serious toll on me, and by extension the project. But we're back on track doing development work on the Campaign and getting prepared for manufacturing!

TL;DR - The Important Stuff

The important updates that you need to know about production are as follows:

- We're about to start prep on the files for manufacturing. This will begin next week! Now, that doesn't mean manufacturing begins next week! We have a few things to deal with before we can finally hit print. Those details follow next.

- We're working on the campaign missions and the campaign book. While we can get a prototype of game components in several parts, we need to finish this before we can print it all!

- Our pledge manager is going to stay open until we begin printing the game, which means BackerKit will not charge cards on file until then. This is going to be about 2 months from now, given our current timelines on the campaign book and pre-production manufacturing. 

- We're finalizing our quotes with our manufacturer. This is one of the 2 big determining factors (along with freight shipping prices) that will determine how much we actually make (or lose) on this project. We are in no danger of being unable to pay for these costs, but I'd really like to print enough copies to sell some during Christmas time. Pray for us :D I'm pretty excited to make it happen.

Dice Design Ideas - Feedback Requested

I promised I'd share some progress on Dice designs this update, and I am currently considering 3 options. Each option will have half the dice done in black, and the other half in white:

1. Frosted dice with gold pips (See an example of the frosted effect below used in the dice for King of Tokyo: Dark Edition)

2. Frosted dice with gold pips, and a single number that is more ornate.

3. A custom "stained glass" look with more ornate gold pips. Dice design is below.

Option 1 & 2:

Option 3:

Comment on this update with which dice idea you like best, or share another idea we have not considered! I'm planning to get a consensus from our fans and get you all a 3D render next update!

Campaign Update!

I'm finding a lot of fun working through the story. I love creative writing. My focus for Deliverance is to give insight into how the angels interpret what they see. They aren't human, so their understanding of events should prove interesting! My intent is to treat the reader intelligently, so the campaign may not spell the obvious out for you, but I hope it gives you a different perspective on your life circumstances -- how would an angel see and explain your challenges to another angel? They don't know what it's like to be human, but they sympathize with our frailty, so many elements of our mortal lives fascinate and unsettle them!

One other challenge is that we can't write pages and pages of mission text. I feel like it is worthwhile to really flesh out our story, but that would be in the pages of a book (or some other medium). I won't say what, but we're working on something in this regard! Brandon Sanderson, if you're reading this and wanna make a book about angels, demons, and the saints caught between, DM me 😝

Lieutenant Encounters!

I can't state enough how fun the Lieutenant encounters are in Deliverance. We're able to make some wildly challenging fights that bend or break the rules of the game *without* spoiling game balance. This is one of the things I believe is most expandable about Deliverance, and will certainly be something you see more about in the future (as you can tell, I can't shut up about them 😁)!

Spoiler-free! Meet Luthielle, the Poison Fang. She is the Lieutenant for the Masked Evils, and will force you to change your tactics as she grapples you and throws her poison darts. I'm excited for you to match up in the campaign!

Conclusion

It's a strange feeling coming back to Deliverance. After roughly 4 months of intense packing, I have finally gone back to playing games and testing... In a way, I felt like a newbie, since it had been a while since I really got to dive deep into game development. Reflecting back, I am so thankful that we spent all that time playtesting before we launched our Kickstarter, because the game runs so tightly and is very well balanced after the latest wave of changes that occurred in late Fall! 

I feel like I keep saying it over and over, but I think you're going to love this game once you get it. I can't wait for you to share your experiences. I think this little "Christian" game is going to shock a lot of folks in the best of ways.

Thank you all for your support,

Andrew Lowen

The Grind Continues! Critical path updates, bad news, BGG Spring, good news, and Ukraine...
almost 3 years ago – Tue, Mar 01, 2022 at 01:03:19 AM

Hi everyone! We're back for our monthly update. I wish I had better news to share, but I promised to keep it real with you all, didn't I? Okay, it's not that bad, and you're gonna see some pretty awesome spoiler-free stuff, so read on unless I have failed to intrigue you! 😜

First: We're going to BGG Spring in Dallas, TX on May 27-29!

I'll have the latest pre-production copy of Deliverance shackled to my wrist like the briefcase in Ronin, and I would love to meet up with you and play a game! I bought my ticket and will be there. When we get closer, I'll schedule times to game it up with those of you that plan to join me there! You can read more about their policies and buy tickets for BGG Spring 2022 by clicking here.

The bad news up front...

Many of you know that we hit a snag in our project timeline when we decided to move across the country, and the saga continues. When we moved, we had to split our shipment due to a logistical error of our moving company (there was not enough room for our belongings in their truck since another customer made them pack way more than they estimated). It was a blessing in disguise, since we were able to unpack and prepare for the delivery, but it meant that we had to work every evening and weekend we had to get ready for all the boxes in "wave 2" of our shipment.

What does this mean for our project? All this basically boils down into a month added to our critical path, which means the final month of wiggle room in our timeline has been consumed. Our "critical path" to get Deliverance to you involves a lot of play testing and development on our campaign, and that will continue through March and April. We were expecting to print in March, but I moved and messed it all up. Our estimated delivery of August, in my view, with the various logistical challenges we're experiencing in our world right now, is a bit too optimistic.

Part of me wishes we had just decided to stuff our garage full so I could do more with Deliverance, but nearly all of my Deliverance supplies were in the second shipment anyway 😂 It makes me want to laugh, and also cry at our delay 😢

Our Critical Path - A Timeline Update

Since I brought this term up, I thought I'd share with you what we're doing and why it matters to the timeline! For those that might not be familiar, a "critical path" is the minimum time necessary to complete a project. Some things can be done at the same time as other things to shorten the overall time it takes to arrive on your doorstep, like campaign development. A great example of this is miniature tooling (for mass production) and campaign development can both be worked on at the same time. But both of those examples must be finished before manufacturing can begin. 

Here is what tasks we are currently working on:

- Miniature tooling

- Graphic design (rukebook & campaign book)

- Game development (Campaign missions)

- Art development (Neoprene mat + dice designs)

Here is what is next after the above tasks are complete:

- Preparation of our pre-production game files

- Pre-production sampling (to get a sample of the game before mass manufacturing)

Here is a bird's eye view of what remains after:

- Mass manufacturing

- Freight to fulfillment hubs

- Final fulfillment

- Playing Deliverance on your table!

The most critical element of our current task list is making sure the campaign missions are satisfying to play, and that the campaign "Challenges" are indeed a rewarding experience. I am blessed to say that our game is very well tuned due to the heavy amount of development we've already been through, so the current wave of development is going to go quickly. I expect March will be a development month, and some time in April will mark our pre-production prep. If all goes well, I expect to give the go-ahead to manufacture in May.

Here's the best news...

We made a decision to do something special as a result of our pivot -- Even though I couldn't work as much, my amazing artist Dan put in a lot of hours. We had an idea that would thematically elevate the experience of the Campaign game without adding more cost per unit: 

The Lieutenants of Deliverance get an upgrade to their art! This would typically be a stretch goal in a campaign, but I consider it a small way to say I appreciate you for being so gracious to me. I want Deliverance to be the best version of itself that it can be, and you all made that possible raising the amount we did. Therefore, Deliverance Lieutenants are going to get their own art! Surprise :)

Check out a few of these new art pieces!

Our goal was to make sure that these foes are more dangerous and regal, without appearing massively different from their non-elite counterparts.  Why? I can't answer that -- I promised no spoilers 😉

What a long, strange trip it's been...

I'm thankful that we are getting settled, and beyond humbled that we have such a beautiful place to call home. The human (*ahem* sinner) part of me is a bit frustrated with the process, if I can be transparent with you all, when I look back at the months that have sailed by during this busy season of our lives. I praise God for his awesome work in my family's move and for your support throughout this time, but looking back and seeing how we're not as far as I wanted to be has me chomping at the bit to run hard in March.

On the personal side, I've been inundated with everything that goes along with moving a family of 8 and 15,300 lbs of stuff across the country. That said, with all things considered, my family is doing a pretty great job acclimating to central Texas! We've experienced some pretty bi-polar weather (freezing rain followed by cloudless hot days), but the kids have loved the outdoors. We actually get to see seasons, and it rains enough to keep things green in the winter which is a welcome change.

My 2 Cents On Ukraine

I would be completely remiss not to address this, as our update comes at a time of complete craziness on the international stage. I have a bit of knowledge to share that you might not hear everywhere, and this is an appropriate time for us to stand up for what is right.

Russia has brought open war and a full-scale invasion into Ukraine. I find myself alternating between anger toward the Russian leadership and prayer for Ukraine and all the innocents in the conflict. I'm sure you don't need another reminder of that war, as most of us see it on social media, but I'd like you to be aware of three things:

1. Russia uses misinformation and digital fear tactics to demoralize a populace so they are easier to conquer. This is well-documented by ex-KGB defectors. Therefore, when you see a story about helpless soldiers getting tragically killed or Ukrainian leadership abandoning their people, approach that information with skepticism.

2. The best thing you can do for this conflict is to pray. I personally visited Ukraine with USA Wrestling back in 2004. I got to travel the country and train with the olympic team for a month. I can say with confidence that Ukraine is a land that the spirit of God needs to be stirred up -- please pray for the stirring of God's spirit in the people of Ukraine and Russia, and pray for peace and positive resolution for this people, in Jesus name! If you are able to do more, donate to support Ukranian militia -- you can find information about legit charities that are doing this here.

3. The Russian people are not the same as their government. I can't stress this enough -- the regime is oppressive, and violently seeking the spoils of war. Read your Bibles, because you might get more accurate news out of that for 2022 than reading online!

To all my Insiders, thank you for supporting Deliverance, and here is to an amazing March and Spring 2022 season!

Kind regards,

Andrew

P.S. - My friend Lance is launching his KS campaign tomorrow for a fantasy card drafting game with Old Testament heroes, and it looks kinda awesome.

We survived!
about 3 years ago – Tue, Feb 01, 2022 at 05:03:01 AM

Hi everyone! In an effort to deliver an update every month as promised, I'll be writing this one freehand. I normally like to prep and plan a bit more, but due to our big cross-country move, here we are 😂

I moved my family of 8 over 1200 miles and survived

If you want the gaming news, feel free to skip this section. The relevant thing you should probably know is that moving my family took about 2 months out of our timeline. That was a LOT of work 🤯 We have a month of wiggle room left, so we're still running "on time!" We have not experienced any other impacts to our timeline, but you never know what the future holds. I promise I won't move again though... lol.

Many ask why we moved! We were looking for more room for our growing family, and boy did we find it! The goodness and grace of God is on full display with where we started and where we ended up. I loved my home in Fallbrook, but it was time to find more house and land for all my kids!

We ended up moving to New Braunfels, TX. We're within 1 hour of all our immediate family, right above San Antonio, and just below Austin. I had a few of you reach out that live locally and offer to help, and to game with me when things settled! We managed to survive our move, but I'll be taking "y'all" up on this offer of gaming soon! 😉

We came from our home on 0.11 acres, and moved to 5.15 acres. We gained an extra bedroom, more living space, a ton of land, and perhaps my favorite thing of all... two awesome kitties that the former owners felt would do better here (where they grew up) than if they were taken to a new place.

I LOVE cats, but we haven't had them for years -- My wife and I were excited to take 'em on! The bonus is that they're excellent hunters, and have kept these grounds free of mice and snakes. It's been interesting working on gaining their trust -- I feel like I'm slowly gaining reputation for a new faction in World of Warcraft (hats off if you get the reference) 😁 Here's a pic of Alaska! Midnight, our other kitty, is still a bit skittish of picture taking 😹

And as a last bit of relevant stuff, since I am sure someone is wondering -- zero funds raised from our Deliverance campaign went to our new house. Hopefully our NEXT campaign can help a bit though 😂 Now, on to the real Deliverance stuff!

A new Deliverance trailer dropped on YouTube

Hopefully this makes more people want to try Deliverance! What do you think?

Finished art for Taolu, Windwalker has arrived!

Taolu is a high-risk, high-reward fighter that balances strong offensive power with natural defenses. He has very low health, yet with the right technique can stand against even the mightiest of foes due to his Deadened Nerves passive skill. Though he has no skill to assist other angels, a clever use of positioning will be assistance enough... if you can survive the onslaught!

What is next?

We only have 2 art elements left to complete -- Taolu's Talent card back, and edits to our Neoprene Mat! Once those are finished, art is officially complete on Deliverance.

The last major area that needs completing before we can begin the manufacturing process is the rulebook + campaign books. The rulebook stands about 90% complete, both in graphic layout as well as the text itself. 

The campaign story is about 75% complete, and missions are about 30% complete, as we are still tuning battles to match the sense of progression we want you to feel as you make your way through the campaign. The graphic design & format for the campaign book is done, but we won't start putting the final graphic layout for the missions together until their internal development is finished.

It feels like we have more work ahead than we have time, but we're in the middle of Chinese New Year. Based on our timeline, we need to begin the manufacturing process in the month of March. We have almost 2 months to wrap up development and prep files for manufacturing if we are to keep to time. What I can promise you is that while we will work hard and long hours for Deliverance, we won't rush the last bit for sake of keeping to an arbitrary time -- if the game would be even more awesome with a bit more time, I am sure you guys would be behind that decision if the time comes, right?

Thank you all for being so supportive of Deliverance and my family through our move. You are truly insiders to our lives as well as the development of this product that we all love! Thank you for being amazing... I am proud to have you as our Insiders!

Kind regards,

Andrew Lowen

December Update - My House is a Box Fortress
about 3 years ago – Sun, Jan 02, 2022 at 05:07:42 AM

Happy New Year my most awesome and amazing Insiders!!! I have tons to share, including an Unboxing video, metal coins, the Neoprene Mat, and more!!!

Unboxing Videooooo!

Your first look at the physical metal coins, the Neoprene Mat, and the latest version of Deliverance that Archangel Investors will receive!

Thoughts on the coins

 So I received the metal initiative token, and instantly loved it. There was one error in the mold, which is captured below. I wanted the scars on the one side to show deeply in the metal, but the first mold I was sent just had the scars on the gold surface plating. We're updating this so they extend 2-4mm deep into this massive metal Initiative Token.

My absolute favorite thing in the entire box is this massive metal token. It is 8mm thick and seriously is such a showpiece. You could use it to track which angel's turn it is, use it in poker to keep track of your cards, knock out bad guys from range if they try to rob you, or even use it as a slammer in the POG world championships (that has to be a thing, right? 😂)!

All in all, I am SO excited about this as a gamer -- It is something I can't wait for you to actually hold in your hand. It's so amazing.

The Courage tokens were a different matter for me.

They totally serve their purpose as is, but they just didn't feel awesome enough... The gamer in me just wasn't impressed with the small tokens. They were a bit thicker, but what I really felt like we needed was something iconic that would stand out better on the table.

I loved clinking these in my plays, and so I decided to make a significant change to the design!

New Courage token design

 The metal Courage Tokens are now iconic spiritual fire tokens! They are going to be single-sided, so we're going to give 24 tokens instead of 15 for the same price! How can we do that? We cut the metal thickness from 3mm to 2mm, because the thickness didn't make enough of a difference to matter, and 2mm metal coins are super sturdy. We're going to round the points a bit more, but still, you shouldn't let your toddlers or dogs eat these 😉

We polled this in the past and the old circular coin design won the popular vote, but my opinion totally changed after holding the coins and playing with them. I usually go with your guys' opinion, so hopefully you all trust me and are on board with this -- as you know by now, I can't often resist your input! That's why we have minis, metal coins, a Neoprene Mat, acrylic standees, and soooo much more 😊

It turned out that 3mm thick made little difference on the awesomeness of these metal tokens. We cut the token thickness down to what a "normal" coin thickness is like, and we're going to do single-sided tokens. These are really such bling that we wanted MORE of them in the box. Playing with these is going to be a lot more thematic and awesome. They're much more of a show piece that, as a huge gamer myself, I see as more appealing than a coin-shaped token.

The Neoprene Mat

This wasn't actually a sample from China -- I had a bit of the design left to adjust, but I wanted to see a prototype in person before giving our artist final requests. I really wanted it to be amazing on the table for you all. I LOVED the feel, and decided to make it a bit thicker for everyone at 2.5mm. My first instinct as a gamer was to look at and appreciate the little details of the mat. I felt like I was reading a "Where's Wally" book, as there was so much to discover. This brought to my attention that some of the spots had a little lack of detail, and so we're going to tighten this up with our artist.

One question many of you had was if the mat looked great with the tiles, and I really think it adds a lot when you're playing with it!

The art on the Neoprene mat is covered in fog. When you put a tile on top of the board, it looks like the fog has parted and zoomed in to reveal what was there -- I felt a thematic bump in my own plays when we used this.

I also found the size of the mat to be appropriate. It's 44" x 27" but it still fits on all our tables in our house. Any 4x3' surface will easily hold this mat, which will support player boards, cards, map boards, and everything else.

Taking my designer hat off and putting my gamer hat on, I believe this mat is worthy of a spot in my collection. I'm really proud to offer a product that elevates the experience like this!

My house is a box fortress.

I shared an unboxing, so here's a re-boxing. I am packing up my whole life and moving it 1,300 miles to New Braunfels, TX. We found a home and it's awesome! I can't wait to finally have a dedicated office with a door on it, and enough rooms for all my kids to grow. 

Here's what my life looks like right now:

Artist rendering of me moving that giant table: (╯°□°）╯ ┻┻

As I shared before, the move will impact our timeline. We close escrow on January 21, and work can begin to prep files for manufacturing once we move into our house.

For now, we're working on the campaign. I'll be finding a local game store that I can work from for a few weeks, because I love those places! If you happen to be in the area between Austin and San Antonio, TX and want a preview of the fun (or to even test a game), let me know!

What's next?

January will be a thin month for activity as we navigate through the rest of our move, but we also have the start of Chinese New Year happening early! With all that is happening in freight and China, I do expect delays. We are doing our best to make progress through the miniature molds and coin molds which will be a major help, but stay tuned to our monthly updates or our Discord Server or Facebook Community for the latest info!

We are hard at work on the campaign, so expect more on that in our next update! I don't want to spoil anything, but I'm having a lot of fun with this :)

Thank you all for your support and encouragement!

Kind regards,

Andrew

November Timeline Update, Awesome Campaign Mode Details, & A Personal Thank You
about 3 years ago – Wed, Dec 01, 2021 at 08:19:03 PM

Hey Insiders,

It's been a crazy month, as expected, but I have some good stuff to share about Deliverance! In this update, we'll dive deeper into the Campaign and discuss what differences you might expect to see from the Skirmish mode of play, and we'll give an update on timelines, too. Read on for details!

Timeline Update

Let's get the important (and less interesting) stuff out of the way first. We're currently still targeting an August delivery, though things may vary based on the myriad of things that could go wrong and require timeline adjustments in the future.

Here is the current plan:

November - January:

- Receive & compile the final pre-production Prototype 

- Deliver REALLY AMAZING PROTOTYPES to my Archangel Investors!

- Tighten up the gameplay as much as possible

- Finish the Campaign

- Receive and approve miniatures, coins, and the Neoprene Mat for production

- Finalize production files for manufacturing samples

February - April:

- Manufacture Deliverance

- Print our T-Shirts

- Coordinate Fulfillment w/ Partners (final fulfillment prices are determined here, so pray for us!)

May-June:

- Deliverance travels across the oceans to fulfillment warehouses

July-August:

- You get your game, and share pics and videos of you enjoying this thing we worked on for half a decade!

August can't come soon enough! :D

The Campaign

We have been working and thinking through how to make the campaign feel as awesome as possible. If you're like me, a campaign that feels too easy, too hard, or comes without a sense of progression is a letdown. With the Deliverance audience ranging from people that have never played a board game before all the way to industry veterans that eat challenge for breakfast, that can be a complex answer.

All this said, I think we have crafted a campaign system that every type of gamer can customize to their own preferences and skill levels!

Let's go over a few things you'll love about the campaign, regardless of your experience level.

First, here's the latest Campaign Tracking Sheet!

When you gain experience (XP) after beating a mission, you get to apply this to your angel card however you like. If you want to build an angel that is easy to play with high stats, go for it! Or if you want to play an angel that uses clever skill combos for epic turns filled with righteous wrath, you can go that route too. With the exception of your Talents, skills may be unlocked in any order.

Bonuses provide added benefits that are unlocked at the start of each game. You can gain the advantage of starting each game with extra Courage, or a Prayer card (or two).

Heavenly Treasures and Talents are acquired differently in the Campaign than in Skirmish mode. Treasures are acquired at specific points in the campaign, so you'll need to make progress through the story to gain these powerful upgrades. Talent "slots" are unlocked through spending XP. 

One of the most interesting differences in the Campaign is the way you can use Talent cards. If you'd like to equip a Level 1 Talent, it just takes spending 1 XP to unlock your Talent Slot 1 (the first Talent slot on your character card). From that moment on, you may choose and equip any Level 1 Talent in that slot. You can even change your equipped Talents in between missions if you think you'd be better off with a different strategy (as long as you have them unlocked)! If you unlock multiple slots, you can combine Talents in new ways, gaining access to very powerful Talents early or using multiple Talents of the same level!

Challenge Yourself (At Your Leisure)

A "Campaign Challenge" is an extra tough mission that you'd typically play for greater challenges (and rewards!) after you finish the Campaign. It adds a whole new dimension to the angel you build over the Campaign, and it will give you that little added bonus experience to truly complete your character or get better equipped to take on the most difficult scenarios that Deliverance has to offer!

If you have been following our past Campaign updates, you'll notice something interesting here:

Each Challenge now has an experience value you get to add to your character sheet after you earn victory, and you can attempt it at any time. When you beat that mission's Challenge, you gain a bonus +1XP that you can apply however you like to your character.

I love the idea of giving players the opportunity to enjoy the game in as free a format as they like, so Challenge missions may be attempted at any time -- even after you beat the final mission in the Campaign! After all, for the veteran gamers, you didn't *really* beat the true last boss unless you crushed the Challenge in that mission, right? 😉

You will probably want to gain XP and Treasures by progressing through the normal missions before attempting Challenges. You can always visit the mission again to complete its Challenge, but you can unlock bonus experience if you dare to try them early!

As a veteran gamer, I love challenging myself at my own pace! I also love finding ways to "get ahead" early if the game will let me. And I love a reason to keep playing the games I love after the Campaign is complete!

A Personal Update

I wanted to say that I think you are the most amazing advocates in the world. As an avid KS backer, I have always done what I can to support the companies that make the things I love. You have gone above and beyond -- You have given me so much encouragement during this tumultuous time, and I wanted to say thank you!!!

To reference a word I have used a lot, it is a "Challenge" to move for us... We're a family of 8, and we're moving 1,300 miles. We have two businesses to keep running during all of this (my marketing gig and my board game company), and a newborn baby.

We knew what we were taking on before we did all this, though the decision to move came as a bit of a curve ball. My wife and I were willing to go through the difficulty of holding it all together with God as our strength.

But on behalf of Christy and myself -- you made it a pleasure to do this. The outpouring of kindness and support we have received from YOU has made our year! We even have Deliverance Insiders that live where we are moving (New Braunfels, TX) to game with!

Though it's a little past Thanksgiving, I am thankful for your support of both my company and my family! To that end, here's a few pics of our shenanigans over the last few holidays:

To God be the glory. He is the reason for the season!!

Kindest regards,

Andrew Lowen & the Deliverance Team