Limited run, Big Boss token, Shipping & The Cook
over 5 years ago – Sun, Aug 12, 2018 at 01:11:43 AM

Thanks for a really great and inspiring day Homies! Tonight’s update is brought to you by Al, but read all the way to end for a peek at our day new unlock, The Cook! Take it away Al...

LIMITED RUN

What’s shakin’, Thug Life backers!

This is Al taking over the update tonight to go over a few production and shipping points as we dive into the final day of the campaign. Now that we have some realistic numbers, we can start addressing some of your questions about shipping and production. The first point we need to make is that this is going to be a very limited run of a passion driven project. Realistically speaking, Kickstarter may be the only way to get this incredibly unique game.

This limited run does give us some ideas for spicing things up. In particular, we are excited to get started on the:

SCULPTED BIG BOSS TOKEN

Rob and I happen to be old hats at prop making and toy prototyping, so we are going to lean into this tight community and hand produce an awesome centerpiece for your game. Rob will be sculpting the original and I will be striking the mold and pouring the casts right in our own backyards.

This handcrafted awesomeness will be available to Kickstarter backers ONLY.  Even if you pledged $1 on Kickstarter but upgraded to a full game later (through Backerkit), you will still receive a Big Boss token. New “late backers” via Backerkit will NOT receive this item.

This is going to be a special piece and we want to reserve this for the first ones to answer our call for support.

SHIPPING COSTS

Additionally: we are unlocking the “Ship Anywhere in the World” option for the remainder of the campaign! While we were always willing to ship anywhere, I realize we’ve been a bit cautious about offering it openly. A big reason for this relates to the second part of this post: Shipping Costs. Here are the rough numbers for some common inquiries based on our prototype box:

US: $15 (Priority Mail) Canada: $25 (First Class International) Mexico: $30 (First Class International) EU/Britain: $35 Australia: $35 Rest of the world: Please inquiry directly.

Our limited run does not give us access to the volume discounts and commercial rates larger companies have in the US and our box is too large to send via First Class mail. Without thousands of backers, these rates are something we cannot change. These rates are still about 15% cheaper than purchasing directly from the post office.

To wrap this up, I want to thank all of our backers for stepping up to support this project. It’s been a crazy ride to get here and I can’t wait to bring you the best version of this game possible.

~See you in the streets, Al

THE COOK

Get in the Game pledge, Twist gaming video and Crackity Jones
over 5 years ago – Sat, Aug 11, 2018 at 12:07:59 AM

A bit of a tldr post tonight but lots to talk about!

Twist Gaming live stream video

Here is a pretty cool bit of media from Gen Con where I talk (way too fast) about all things Thug Life and show off our battle worn demo copy to Ann on their live stream. Special shout out to Josh, Matt and Ann for having us and letting me say all the things. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atyYufjYck0&feature=youtu.be

Get in the Game pledge level

We finally have the time (and a sample) to discuss our Get in the Game pledge level so let’s get into it. At this pledge level we will feature the exact likeness of you (or of someone you choose) in a unique piece of card art. The art style and the level of finish will match the rest of the game of course. We will work with each “Get in the Game” backer to create a power or effect that simultaneously works in the game and is also super fun for you to play with your friends. How we package this extra content is still to be determined and may vary from card to card. 

Check out (the very rough) work in progress pic by Gerald Pilare of Super Backer Cap n Howdy and his son Mac (named after MacReady from The Thing...no big deal!). Don’t worry about Mac though, he can handle himself, just make sure he gets the flamethrower!   

Crackity Jones & Blue Cloud X2

Pretty excited about these 3, yes 3, pieces of additional content! Our street deck has many card synergies built into it and these cards add even more. Blue Cloud is a Crime with really good rewards but it also allows you to bring Crackity Jones in to play or take control of him. Crackity Jones can be used to recover Blue Cloud Crime cards. That is a pretty great little mini engine right there and on top of that these art pieces are pretty great. 

I loved the character the minute Sucka Punch drew him and the mechanics of both cards practically designed themselves on the spot. Can’t wait to get these into our next demo!

Kickstarter countdown & Sculpted Big Boss token update!
over 5 years ago – Thu, Aug 09, 2018 at 11:14:54 PM

Kickstarter countdown

Just got in from dinner (yes, you are still allowed to eat and sleep while you have a Kickstarter live) to discover the 72 hour campaign clock is now ticking on our page instead of the day count. After a month of blood, sweat, tears and staring at our dashboard, the end is finally upon us. It shocked me a bit, but i'm ok, no worries.

We still have lots to chat about tomorrow and Saturday including our most accurate shipping numbers, more awesome unlocks but on Sunday it's au revoir Homies, well at least to the campaign. We will absolutely keep you updated every step of the way!

Sculpted Big Boss token

Very happy now, to show you all an early sketch and the latest wip pic of the Big Boss token we mentioned a couple of nights ago. In the words of Dwarven Forge founder Stefan Pokorny,  Behold...

Weapon Pack 2
over 5 years ago – Thu, Aug 09, 2018 at 03:13:46 AM

Went pretty late tonight with demos so just a quick update about...

Weapon Pack 2

What game designer doesn’t love talking about content? Today’s content update is a quick twofer, featuring two totally overpowered cards, Special Delivery and Flamethrower.

Last night we talked about how powerful Turf cards are. Cards like Arson and Claim Turf can balance out Turfs but as Crimes, they can be risky. Flamethrower is a weapon card that can be used to destroy a Turf in a virtually risk free ball of fire. Good stuff.

Special Delivery is even even meaner. As a Caution card, Special Delivery can be played during an opponent’s turn to destroy a Ride and everything in it. No die roll, no guess work, just BOOM and ouch. 

We will update the campaign in the morning. We will also talk about shipping, share a Big Boss token update and discuss our premium pledge level tomorrow.

Bromar unlocked!
over 5 years ago – Wed, Aug 08, 2018 at 09:25:46 AM

Bromar

As promised we will be unlocking a new piece of content every day until our campaign ends and tonight is my favorite piece of art in the game, Bromar! If your a fan of gritty urban television dramas, it won't be hard to figure where our inspiration for this Homie came from.

He isn't just an amazing piece of art though. He has one of the most interesting mechanics in the game. When you place Bromar into the Streets you take the rewards of another Boss' Turf and flip that card over, exhausting it for the turn. By itself this is already pretty powerful, Turfs are the best cards in the game and being able to steal their rewards from another player is a double rainbow. 

Thematically, Bromar is performing a street crime called a Rip and Run; looting another criminal's stash house and getting the hell out. We liked it so much we plan to add Rip and Run Crime cards into the final edition of the game that mimics this ability. This is the same Crime that our Homie's inspiration performed in the urban crime drama we mentioned earlier.

This blend of theme, art and mechanics is what Thug Life has always been about. For those that knew about our game before this current campaign, you probably also know that this has been a long and storied journey but we are just getting started! We are definitely going HAM all week and it's all of you who keep us going!

We'll have more fun stuff to talk about tomorrow and some more progress to show on our sculpted Big Boss token as well!

Night Homies!