Seems the kickstarter went well , its up on Steam in EA.
@KristiGaines look at them pixels! Wishlisted!
I guess so. it’s on my wishlist and am following for now. We’ll see how it goes to release. Love the music in the trailer, very mystical feeling.
I caught mentions of Vindication in top 10 lists and a couple of recent positive reviews. I was sorry I had missed the Kickstarter, but it so happens that they launched a new KS including the “swanky edition” of the base game and a new expansion:
It looks awesome and the area control / sandbox gameplay with a character journey theme is really attractive to me. Also, the game can play quite quickly, which means I’m hoping to get it to the table more often (there are very few sessions where I have time for sprawling epic games).
Wendelius
I have this game. We have not had a chance to pay it yet but the component are really nice, especially the metal pieces.
I am not a fan of their please don’t make use replace any broken pieces email because we’re small and poor approach though.
I didn’t know they did that. After 2 successful Kickstarters under their belt, I certainly hope they will learn to rethink their customer service approach.
As for the game, from what I’ve seen, it’s easy enough to learn and quite the immersive experience. Just make sure you don’t throw in any of the optional expansions in your first game.
If you get to play it, I’ll be looking forward to your impressions in the boardgames thread.
To be clear, they’re not actually refusing to replace broken parts.
Something wrong? Oh noes! We’re so sorry that happened! If you have a part that you can glue/repair, you have our sincere gratitude for doing so. If you have a box with a slight dent or ding and can live with it — thank you! It’s very expensive for our tiny company to ship and manage replacement parts. However, we want you to be happy and if you require a replacement sent, please contact [email protected] and inform them of the issue with photos. Replacement parts will be shipped at the beginning of each month. Thank you for being part of this with us!
I’ve done a lot of Kickstarters over the years. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen something like that before, like trying to guilt someone into not asking for a replacement for their part. The thing is, especially with board games, if their packaging isn’t good, something is breaking often because of how it’s in the box, they should want to know that for any reprints or retail shipping. Even if someone were to glue one of the minis, it seems ideal they be aware they have a weak spot and the packaging is inadequate.
Looks like they’re trying to make sure this one is well packaged:
Looks cool, I’d pick it up if it were soloable.
Hey look. Their pieces came in a box, definitely an improvement!
Darkest Dungeon is my number one. Its kickstarter project is already over and the game is available now. That is the first project I really liked there. And it costs extremely few for Apple products.
I can’t believe a business would type something so condescending, especially in a help section!
(and also so antiquated…)
Don’t know if anyone is still keeping up with Steve Jackson’s various kickstarts, but he just fired off a new one for various pocket games recreations of their 80s designs:
I am tempted, but I still own my OGRE and Car Wars pocket games from way back, so I kind of feel like I’d be wasting my money. I reserve the right to change my mind though.
I had, like, all of those pocket box games. That Car Wars was my introduction to the entire hobby of gaming. And Undead is actually a really fascinating game. It kind of awkwardly requires a sort of GM to administer between two teams (Dracula and the hunters). So unlike Descent or whatever other one-vs-many games, the GM doesn’t exactly get to do much. He just knows each side’s secrets, like where they are hiding for the day/night, so that when the two sides encounter each other, they know. Fury of Dracula is definitely a more polished version of a similar idea, but there’s a lot that’s more intimate and detailed than Fury in the game Undead.
This conversation was brought back to mind because I received my copy of Viticulture Essential Edition yesterday (I’ve fancied trying it for quite some time and it just came back in stock). I started playing solo to get my head round the rules (that version comes with a neat automata system to play solo) and noticed that my player colour was missing a single meeple.
Here is what they have to say about replacements: Replacement Parts – Stonemaier Games
To replace or not to replace: It’s important to us that you get the full and best version of your game, and we will respond to any requests for replacement parts. That said, we ask for your compassion and understanding if certain types of tokens are missing or broken. For example, in Euphoria, 1 missing water token out of 18 isn’t going to impact the game, and it is quite expensive to send even a small token to international backers. On the other hand, you need exactly 10 authority tokens and 4 dice per player—if any of them are missing, definitely let us know right away so we can replace them at no cost to you.
It’s phrased differently, but the sentiment is similar. Those companies aren’t huge publishers and it’s not unfair for them to ask for some consideration before you ask them to get something replaced.
That said, as far as I know, both companies will still happily replace your damaged components to ensure you enjoy your games.
Personally, I don’t see it as condescending or bad customer service.
Those who want a solo mode with their game might be pleased to hear that the Vindication Kickstarter seems on track to reach a final stretch goal to deliver one:
Update 11 - Two New Companions and Some Mode No One Wanted
…
Those of you who took part in the most recent livestream will remember us saying that giving solo mode the diligence it deserves is a big deal for us, and the funding level we’ve associated it with was chosen accordingly, but we believe this community will have no problem reaching that level of success and unlocking this content! The call has gone out - time for us all to rise up and answer!We’ve been elated as we’ve watched the joyous reactions pour in all day and are right there with you. The more we thought about building an adventure mode for this game, compared notes, debated ideas; the more we realized just how primed for a solo experience this big modular sandbox-y game really is and we could not possibly be more excited for what it has become and what it is adding to the Leaders & Alliances experience!
The reason that goal is so high is because they expect quite a bit of work to have to go into making a satisfying and challenging solo mode for the game. It wasn’t designed that way, but the community has been clamouring for it and has been submitting ideas. They want to make it happen.
I’m in regardless as I almost never play solo. Viticulture yesterday was an exception, and I was pleasantly surprised at the configurable challenge offered by the solo experience which, I think, was originally introduced in the Tuscany expansion. So who knows, I might even give it a try if Vindication comes with one.
How many times have you seen that?
Gloomhaven and Gloomhaven founders not only didn’t send a response like that, he sent you to a form where you could actually select through drop downs and visual aids exactly what you were missing. One of the first things I do when I receive a new game is check the components. If there is one missing, I will ask for a replacement. If they are not willing to give one, I will return it to the store and tell them it’s incomplete.
Vindication, original KS release, has poor packaging. My expansion wasn’t even in the box. It was shrink wrapped around the outside the box and doesn’t fit in the box very well either.
The customer is not asking for something they didn’t already pay for. In addition, the Kickstarter gave them money in the hopes, in good faith, that an item would be delivered and they have so little faith in the Kickstarter which gave them money based on little more than a good marketing effort that they’re going to require proof of damage?
I think that is the wrong approach from a group that wants to rely on the same customers for future efforts. They were given faith, perhaps they should return an ounce of it.
This hits so many of my nostalgia buttons but… I don’t think I could ever go back to CarWars. The incredible flexibility of vehicle creation was tons of fun for young me but the actual play was glacial.
Maybe some of these other titles have aged better?
Solo play mode has been unlocked for
Vindication:
No telling how good it will be yet, but they set the goal high to give themselves the resources to design and play test it with the community.
I wasn’t that interested in solo play for my boardgames, but have been surprised how much I’ve been enjoying Viticulture, as mentioned above, and some Arkham Horror Card Game.
So now I’m looking forward to this one, as it seems the kind of game I won’t be able to play as often with more casual gamers in the family.
I’ve tried to take it out multiple times myself, no success yet. I got a good feeling about the next game night though.
I’m looking forward to your impressions if it his the table.
I was impressed by the quality of the components outside the plastic that covers the play trays. that’s pretty cheap stuff there. I can foresee replacing that, eventually.
These don’t sit quite right, at least not on my version.