Kickstarter backer playtests went really well!
over 9 years ago – Thu, Aug 18, 2016 at 11:46:52 PM

Hi Everyone

Last week we had 24 kickstarter backers come along to try out Plague Inc: The Board Game in London (split between our office and a nearby pub). We had various groups of 2,3,4 and 5 players and I'm pleased to report that it went really well and everyone had a great time! You can see some photos of it all here 

Some of my personal highlights: 

•  Hearing one group chanting "Death, Death, Death..." and pounding the table in unison whenever one of them was rolling the death dice to try and kill a country 
• Seeing 2 people who had a tie at the end of the game both pretending to be dead in order to win the tie break 
•  Watching a player hold the Olympics in Ethiopia - only for someone else to immediately nuke the country

Here are some of the comments from players at the end of the game:

• "Easily replayable - the game will feel different every time I play" 
• "Really fun game. It felt smooth and had a logical flow once you get the hang of it." 
• "I enjoyed it a lot – refreshing and different. Not like other games." 
• "Very good game. I liked the different countries having different resistances, enjoyed wide range of trait cards and really liked the look of the design ." 
• "I really enjoyed it. An entirely new experience for me. I really liked the graphic design – thought it was spot on." 

We also got lots of useful feedback which we have actioned including:

• Clarifying that trait cards must be discarded if you discard a Country Card
• Fixed a very cool exploit combo between 2 Event Cards (Temporary Mutation and Opportunistic Breakdown) 
• Tweaked wording around DNA points (get -> score) to help remind people that DNA refers to the DNA score track 
• Fixed a place where we said DNA cost on Trait Cards was on the right (it is now on the left) 

Thanks so much to everyone who came along and gave me feedback - really helpful :)

In other news - we are currently expecting to receive the pre-production copy of the game which is very exciting as this is the final step before manufacturing begins. Will be sharing more news soon! 

p.s. there is still time to make a late pledge and receive a copy of Plague Inc: The Board Game - head here if interested!

Come play the game in London this week
over 9 years ago – Wed, Aug 03, 2016 at 11:16:27 PM

Hey everyone

If you live in London and want to come play the board game this Friday / Sunday/ Monday - then fill out the form here https://goo.gl/forms/XR6I3NypRoxHmiiC2 and we will get you and your friends strapped into the testing chair!

Looking both for groups of people - and people who want to play the single version. The more people who play it before we press the manufacture button - the better as it helps us spot printing errors etc. 

Separately - 290 people still need to complete their survey - if you don't fill it in, we can't send the game to you so please check your email for a link and send us a private message if you are having difficulties.

Stay healthy and hopefully meet some of you in the next few days when you play the game.

James

Plague Token, DNA Marker, and Death Dice Component samples
over 9 years ago – Fri, Jul 22, 2016 at 11:36:46 PM

Hello Backers! Here are the latest Plague Inc: The Board Game developments as well as a poll to vote on the custom death dice that we include with the game:

Digital Proofs - We have received the digital proofs of all the printed components of the board game from our manufacturer. From here, we are checking that all the wording, dimensions, and graphics are correct prior to starting manufacturing. Once we are happy - a pre production copy will be made - hopefully arriving to us in the next 3 weeks.

DNA Points Marker - Here is a 3d model of our new custom molded DNA Points Markers. They look great and feel study, which makes them suitable for stacking (if you catch yourself on the same DNA count as someone else). The markers will be manufactured in colors to match the different player colors.

Plague Tokens - These are still similar in shape and feel to the Plague Tokens you might have seen in pictures or videos, but they now have a Biohazard symbol molded in the top. This makes them much more appealing to look at, and their color will also be matched to the player colors. Note - the final mold will have a deeper indentation for the Biohazard than shown in the photo.

Death Dice (Die) - This has been the hardest component to get right and thanks to all of you for your input regarding the custom Death Dice stretch goal. We explored many options such as biohazard or skull dice pips as well as a Glow-in-the-Dark theme as suggested by the community. However, during tests with manufacturers, we found that biohazard / skull custom shapes just didn’t work on the size of dice. If we used the same shape on all faces of the dice - then we had to make them so small that it was either hard to make out what the shape was - or hard to read the value of the dice. We also thought about using a custom shape just for the #1 but this then impacted the consistency of the game as testers asked what the ‘special side’ of the dice meant. 

So, we went back to the drawing board to find a way to make dice that were unique, functional, and appropriately themed for the game. In the end, we managed to get some ‘diseased dice’ made that we really like. In the photo below, you will see that there are little flecks of colour in the dice which feel like disease dots from the game. Below you will see images of the Diseased Death Dice samples. Take a look at them and then vote in the poll here to let us know which you think we should use in the game : http://goo.gl/forms/uylir7NC7K39puPC2

That’s all for now. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a post in our comments section. If you haven’t received the BackerKit survey yet - please private message us.

 As always, stay healthy!

James

Surveys being sent out this week - check your inbox for BackerKit email
over 9 years ago – Thu, Jul 14, 2016 at 12:46:26 AM

Hey everyone

Action required!

All the people who backed Plague Inc: The Board Game on Kickstarter should receive a invitation email from BackerKit today. This email contains a link to your personal survey where you can confirm your reward option, set your shipping address and get any add-ons that you want (like a second copy of the game with free shipping)

It is important to submit your responses as quickly as you can since we need this information to process your rewards. You do not need to create a BackerKit account to fill out your survey, just click on the survey link, fill it out, and you’re all good to go!

If you need to update your shipping information in the future, you can click on the link in your survey email again or request your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page.

If you used Facebook to log into your Kickstarter account, the BackerKit survey link will be sent to the email you used for your Facebook account. If you have another email address that you'd prefer to use, please message me.

Plague Enthusiast digital codes:

If you are a Plague Enthusiast backer - digital codes will be sent out with BackerKit once your survey is completed and we have confirmed it (locked it down). The first batch of codes will be sent out on Friday so try and complete the survey by then! Anyone who doesn't complete the survey by that date - don't worry - we will send out other batches of code every few days :)

Do you need help / are you not sure what to do?

If you have any issues with anything or didn't receive a link to the survey by Thursday - please message us and we will sort it out!

James

Solo Play Rules and General Update
over 9 years ago – Sun, Jul 10, 2016 at 12:17:39 AM

Hey Everyone

It has been a busy few weeks and here is the latest update on how things are progressing with Plague Inc: The Board Game.

Single Player Rules - your feedback wanted: The big thing to share with everyone are the draft rules for the Solo variant of the game. This is an optional rule set that comes with the game (stretch goal) and can be used to play Plague Inc: The Board Game against an artificial opponent (the PlagueBot) if you like that kind of thing.

If you are a fan of single player variants - you can find the draft rules here - please check them out and let me know any thoughts / questions you have in the comments. Really helpful getting your feedback - especially on anything that you think is unclear.

Business / Survey: All the funds from the campaign have been confirmed and we have been processing everyone's pledges to determine the number of rewards to manufacture. Next week - we will be sending out a BackerKit survey to collect your address and confirm your reward. We will also be using a more streamlined system to allow people to make late pledges so if you missed out before - then check back here next week.

Steam Codes for Enthusiast Backers: Enthusiast backers will be emailed their Steam codes next week. Keep an eye out!

Collector Edition poster - voting results: A few weeks ago - the Enthusiast Backers voted on which poster they wanted. Luckily there was a clear winner - the poster will be a Plague red map of the world with infection dots and game accurate ports / airports (76% of the vote). Will share a preview of it in the future.

Gameplay: I continue to make minor tweaks to rule explanations and some of the event card text based on player feedback but nothing major to report here.

Manufacturing: Production of final component samples is underway and Panda (our manufacturer) has told us that we should have them in our hands by 20th July so keep an eye out for some photos. The pre production copy of the game should also be started in the next few days but it has been slowed down a bit due to a few issues in the graphics files that had to be fixed first.

Stay Healthy!

James